“‘Oh come now, Miss Coyne,’ he responded, as he patted me cheerfully on the upper arm, ‘your supervisor has been with this corporation for a long time. He has gotten more work done for us over the years, than anyone else I know. You’ll get to know, in time, that he’s a good sort. Don’t worry about a thing, Miss Coyne.’ He went cheerfully on his way. My problem hadn’t reached through to him to any depth. As capable a manager as he was, he was apparently unable to recognize my particular problem. My hope for survival in that corporation was diminished greatly in one brief conversation.
“In the weeks that followed, I made a brave effort to keep up and keep going. Occasionally, an added quandary would creep in on my mind. I would wonder if the general manager told the supervisor of my complaint against him, and if so would he be vindictive, or, would he improve his attitude towards me?
“As the weeks went by, I observed no change in the supervisor’s attitude towards me. I came to the conclusion then that the complaint had not gone further than the general manager, and also that with him it was just a frivolous matter that warranted no further attention.
“As disappointed as I now was, I decided to make a good stand, and hope that something would change. But nothing did. I surmised that, yes, I could stay on there and become hard as iron, insensitive and consequently characterless, if I wished to choose that way. But I decided against it. Like Gilda in her experience, I believe I am entitled to be free to be the pleasant person I really am, and prefer to be. Therefore I would leave this place and search for fulfillment elsewhere. I put in a month’s notice of leaving.
“About a week or so after my resignation became effective and all my ties were broken with the corporation, I received a phone call at home one evening. It was the supervisor of my first year department, as I have called it. ‘Donna,’ she said in earnest tones on the telephone, ‘I heard that you have left our corporation. I’m very sorry that it became necessary for you to do so, but I don’t want you to feel too badly. Similar has happened previously. Good people like yourself just don’t get past that supervisor. I have promoted others to his department, but for people like you it becomes the end of the line. I am very sorry indeed that lovely people like yourself have to be treated so. And since I am the one who has to promote such people as you into such a booby-trap predicament, I too am leaving the corporation.’
“‘Wait a minute,’ I frantically replied to her, ‘it isn’t your wrong doing. You don’t have to take the blame for what happened to me. You did well by me. You gave me a promotion that I welcomed and looked forward to. What happened afterwards wasn’t your fault.’
“‘No,’ the first year supervisor replied. ‘It isn’t that I shoulder the blame for what has happened, neither in your case nor that of others preceding you, Donna; rather, it’s the futility of the matter. I train and promote top quality employees only to have them turned away later. You see, Donna, it’s a dead-end for me too. I’ve been contemplating for some time now, whether to look for a position elsewhere. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s past time I did.’
“‘I think I understand,’ was my more positive response. ‘I’d like to thank you for calling me and for all your kindness to me in the past,’ I said, ‘I really did have a valuable experience in your department you know.’
“‘Good,’ replied the supervisor. ‘I hope you will have every opportunity to put it to better use in the future, and, lets keep in touch,’ she continued, as she gave me her phone number and address. ‘I would like to keep contact with you and to hear of what you will be doing in the future.’
“‘Great,’ I agreed. So a lasting friendship was formed.”
Collin was quick to say, “this is another of many examples I could give of businesses being deprived of their better employees by obnoxious people in their midst, and how the wayward ones manage to stay in there. The matter is practically unrecognized.” Then he continued, “One question, Donna. What was the assistant supervisor’s place and attitude through all this?”
“He was young, Collin, a whiz at his work, but with very little understanding of people and their behavior. To him, the second year supervisor was a man who knew his work but who simply got into a bad mood once in a while. I doubt if he ever paused to think it through more deeply than that.”
As if to spare Donna from more grueling questions after so long and arduous a session, Leo came to her rescue with what he meant to be the conclusion of the story in a sentence.
“And now Donna works in her father’s business where there is both challenge, and appreciation for her response to it, and where she can be the pleasant person she really is meant to be.”
Yes, Yes indeed, pondered Collin to himself. There is a lot to be said for being secure and comfortable in a family business. But also to be in business brings its own problems, and that is something else again. The independence of owning one’s own business does offer a measure of security to people such as us, provided we get wise to the obnoxious ones in that sphere as well, and can stay afloat in the learning process long enough to master the art of survival and success. This area of life rings a familiar bell too, and would make for meaningful discussion. But Donna has had enough. It isn’t easy reliving the unpleasant past, and also the evening is about gone. Brett Culver could best tell us about being in business for oneself.
“Brett,” said Collin, aloud. “You are in business for yourself. May I suggest you tell your story next session; what led you to where you are, and how you find things on the road of independence.”
Brett smiled slightly as he shook his head. “Okay with me, Collin, but I warn Leo and any others who may have a rosy conception of life for people like us in business for oneself, that I am not going bald without reason!”
There was laughter, and the group session adjourned in a relaxed mood, as the members gathered around Donna to express appreciation for her contribution to the support group. It was obvious they all were by now more at ease with each other and most of the time with Dr. Eldren. This would be of great help in their future story telling and analysis.
Dr. Eldren left for another appointment. The group members decided to proceed to The Corner Coffee Shop for refreshments and relaxation. Brett Culver asked to be excused from that. He and his wife had work to do at home pertaining to the next day’s operation of their family business.
Chapter Five
Another week had slipped by, and Collin Seldon once again approached Quilibet University to participate in the support group. His wife walked with him this time as he proceeded towards the now familiar doors of the Arts building from the parking lot down the street. It wasn’t easy on the mind of a man in late middle age to have thoughts of a difficult, sometimes torturous past revived each week by listening to the experiences of others.
He appreciated the words of St. Paul the Apostle, “....... forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal...” (Philippians 3:13-14 R.S.V). There certainly were times to forget the past. Collin had done so many times in order to survive. But now in this support group, it was a time to remember. As stressful, disturbing and pre-occupying as it might be for all concerned, here was a time to remember in order to help someone else; in order to help each other. Some good would come of it surely, for the younger ones at least. Collin, at his age, was reconciled to his lot in life. But these others in the group, they are still on the edge of things, young and looking for an opportunity to break into life and find fulfillment. Yes, there is a time to forget, but this is a time to remember.
It is a dangerous game to say the least. One of the mind-games posing the most danger to fine, but besieged people, is when the players of the games try to keep us guessing for answers and solutions when there often is nothing tangible to base our ponderings on. They would love to wear us out. Over the years, however, Collin had played along with their games sufficient to figure them out, and after