Snitches Get Stitches

 After reading ferrerman's post about shitty bosses, it reminded me of the boss from hell I dealt with for a couple of years.

Life was not going well. I had been unemployed for a year and funds were shrinking. No one would hire me. I never even got call back. I was seriously weeks away from being homeless, until I received a call from a woman who was the supervisor of maintaining the cleanliness of six apartment buildings. She called me in for an interview and we sat outside the manager's office and talked about cleaning supplies. Throughout the interview she continually asked me what products I'd use to clean this or that. I wanted the job so bad I made shit up. What the fuck. I use soap, water and a rag. She was a nice old lady. She reminded me of the actress, Pat Crawford Brown, who was a great character actor. I wasn't feeling positive when I drove home on a near empty tank of gas. I was at the point where I was going to call an estranged sibling to beg for help. I didn't even have a bar of soap in the house. "Pat" called me again to set up another interview to talk with her supervisor. For Pete's sake, it was a cleaning position! I was going to clean vacant apartments for minimum wage. With little choice I went and was asked the same ridiculous questions about my favorite cleaning products. Plus, the general stupid queries like, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Not here, that's for sure. But, I played the game. I smiled, looked interested in the process of wet versus dry applications. Being an introvert, I was dying inside. I went home absolutely exhausted and defeated.

Three days later Pat called and told me the job was mine. Never was I so happy to be able to clean toilets for next to nothing!

For the first two weeks I was slowly adjusting to the intense physical activity. I was used to sitting at a desk, not climbing ladders, pulling out refrigerators and scrubbing floors. I like to clean so I did get some satisfaction from that and the other cleaning staff were all friendly and helpful.

One Monday morning I walk into the office to find a woman sitting at Pat's desk. I thought maybe she was a tenant. I was about to ask her who she was when Pat's supervisor walked in and introduced us to "Cammie," our new boss. Pat had been ready to retire when she had interviewed me. I was a bit miffed because no one had mentioned this. I liked Pat. She was a very good boss, the kind who sticks up for her staff. Looking at Cammie, my heart sunk. She was a valley girl type, only she was located in Wisconsin. She smiled with a big, fake grin and waved, then went into her office and rarely came out again.

A few things to know about Cammie. She loved the men. In fact, she flirted with every single man that came near her. She was on her third marriage, having known the guy for two months. She had a giant head and a bubble butt. She was lazy. This was her first job as a manager. She mentioned once she was a nurse. When asked why she'd want to do this rather than nursing she mumbled something and walked away.

I hated her. She hated me. She would try to delegate a male cleaner's schedule to me so he could keep her company or do manly stuff like check the alarm system every week. Mostly, he sat in his car, smoking and listening to music.

I stopped complaining about him to her, knowing it would do no good. I did start taking pictures of electrical cords hanging out of walls. Light fixtures that no longer worked, leaking pipes, holes in walls... all the jobs that were being ignored because Cammie was not inspecting any of it. She sat in her office, eating gummy bears and talking on the phone.

I gathered up all the times, dates, pictures and emailed them to corporate. 

Apparently corporate went straight to Cammie who now suspected I was the one who snitched on her. Blowing the whistle did get her out of the office and repairs were made. But, I was on her shit list, which turned out to be the end for me. Along with our meager salary we were awarded money at the end of each month if we went above and beyond by cleaning a certain number of apartments, or by receiving compliments from tenants, which I did because I was good at my job. Cammie stopped rewarding me, instead giving the bonuses to the lazy employee who took naps in his car.

I walked in her office and told her I was giving notice. She smiled her shit grin and waved me goodbye.

Months later, after I was fortunate enough to find something that was truly rewarding, I forgot about Cammie. A former coworker who had quit shortly after me called me one night and said she still kept in touch with one of the maintenance workers, who had some interesting news. He was in the employee kitchen when he heard a commotion in the adjacent office. Three people from corporate were standing in Cammie's office. One was putting ledgers in a box while the other two escorted her out of the office. Apparently Cammie had been stealing from the company for quite some time, using the corporate card to buy things for her home and to have the on call painting crew paint the interior of her home. My coworker knew I'd be happy to hear that Karma had visited. They witnessed how she had treated me. Yes, I was glad she was fired, but it was a hollow victory. I wish I could have been there as they walked her out. I noticed she was on Facebook, surrounded by her family, still grinning like the Cheshire cat. I thought for about two seconds to send her a DM but to what purpose? She would continue to be Cammie. 

When I start feeling angry, fuming over past slights, I remember the phrase, "Don't look back, you're not going that way."