The last six months at work have been difficult for me. Not because my work is hard, because it’s not. I loved what I did, and I didn’t have to wear a uniform. That was always nice. What was difficult was the fact that literally since January of this year, I have been sick on and off. That’s not an exaggeration. Another reason why it was difficult was because of my boss. At first, he seemed like a great boss. He seemed like he valued my work and me as an employee. Boy did that change. I have never had such an awful boss in all my years of working.
First thing that happened was he called me a liar because I told him that the computer program, we use for what we do kept freezing and I wasn’t able to do my job correctly. Yeah, for whatever reason he didn’t believe me and thought I was making it up. Even though I had THREE witnesses that saw it happen to me. He still thought I was making it up. This happened often, and he continued to tell me he didn’t believe me. It happened for SIX months and I even got written warnings for it.
Second thing that happened was, one day, I came to work in the dead of summer, 112-degree weather in shorts. They weren’t my short shorts, they were longer ones that were fingertip length. It doesn’t matter what I wear, everything looks short on me because I have super long legs. Anyways, he called me into his office and told me that my shorts were against dress code and told me not to wear them anymore. I tried to show him that they were fingertip length and he still thought they were too short. Whatever, I told him I wouldn’t wear them anymore. About a week later, I came to work in a skirt because it was laundry day and all I had were dresses and skirts. (Anyone who really knows me, knows that I wouldn’t normally choose to wear dresses and skirts over pants, and especially not to work.) The skirt I wore was a longer skirt, but it had slits up both sides and honestly showed more leg than the shorts I got dress coded for. If I had to choose which one was more work inappropriate, I would have picked the skirt. Well, this same manager who was already giving me a hard time walked past me, stopped and turned around, looked me up and down and said, “Hey, I meant to tell you earlier… That skirt is really snazzy.” It bothered me and made me uncomfortable.
Third thing that happened was him calling me into his office (for like the fifth time in 2 months) to give me a write up for attendance, even though I was never under hours and ALWAYS covered my missed time with my sick time and had doctor’s notes for them as well. He asked me why I was missing work (Which was none of his business really), and I told him the truth and told him that I was always sick. I wish I were kidding about always being sick. He looked at me and chuckled and said, “Really? That much?” Yes, that much, Asshole. I wish I were kidding, but I have the medical bills to prove it. So, he pretty much didn’t believe me about this either. I have always done my job right and never broke the rules. The only time I was having a difficult time doing my job is when I was sick. (For my job, I had to use my voice because I captioned phone calls for a hard of hearing telephone, so I always did a lot of talking.) When I was sick and came to work, I could hardly breathe, or I was sneezing or coughing to the point of becoming dizzy. See how this would affect my job and why I would have to call out?

It got to the point that I felt so miserable going to work and I loved what I did. I dealt with what my boss was doing for over six months and it eventually took a toll on me. I was always in a bad mood and brought it home with me. I never wanted to go to work anymore to the point where I made myself sick because of all the anxiety it gave me. I have never dreaded going somewhere like I did this place. I was trying to get my anxiety problems in check, not make them worse.
The last two months of my employment there, I was actively looking for another job. I applied to over 75 places, took over 45 assessment tests, had over 8 interviews and 3 second interviews. I was determined to get out of that toxic place. Well, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I was offered a HIGHER PAYING job to WORK FROM HOME. As soon as I was offered this job, I emailed one of the managers on my previous job and quit! I know, not the professional way of doing it, but I could stand to be there for two more weeks. Besides, I know he would have made my work life hell in those two weeks anyways and I couldn’t handle anymore anxiety. It just wasn’t worth it to me.

I start my new job on the 23^rd of this month AND I can do it in pajamas AND, I don’t have to share a toilet with nasty strangers.
Moral of the story don’t stay with a company that doesn’t value you or if they harass you. If you are unhappy, but need a job, do something about it. Change your unhappiness. Don’t just stay with the company you are already employed with because it’s easier. Do something and change it!