Office Game of Thrones
The story
The only person at the office party whose rebellion I agreed with was a young woman whose delicate family situation had been exploited—a disappearance, the body of which has never been found, following a tragedy that left the area utterly devastated. The young woman highlighted the authorities' efforts in acting quietly, concealing their actions, as their efforts had not been made public. In fact, there were other efforts that were public. Initially, the young woman demonstrated her inability to apologize for previous incidents where her image had been completely destroyed, at the cost of her not attending meetings. Most likely, they didn't expect her to attend this meeting, given her history of absence. She is breaking with her previous image of being naive about those who have abandoned her, now demanding accountability for them, making people feel subjugated and forcing her office group to compromise in order to prevent external conflicts. Her situation is delicate; however, I stand with her in everything that's happening, given that from the beginning, her social development was manipulated, making it seem as if she were welcome by others when that wasn't the case at all. In fact, they were creating traps for when something happened that could condemn her, which it did.
That these authorities have played with the price of a disappearance is something that fills me with dread. It terrifies me to see, from every perspective, how one of them, who hadn't asked any questions, approached her just to avoid being left out. Her situation has been exploited to gain a reputation for cooperation at any cost, but she has made sure that's not possible, overshadowing any effort to make it stand out, to bring it to light, so that they can't take advantage of her vulnerable situation. Definitely, it's not the right way to treat anyone, and I agree that this is a matter of total defense. It happened to me too, which is why I tried so hard to tear everything to shreds, so as not to be left with the impression that everything had turned out alright. In my opinion, between them and me, I come first. It's incredible to see how vulnerable situations are exploited shamelessly at the expense of image, especially after all the hell that has gone on beforehand. What has happened with this girl is everyone's eagerness to silence her, since there are always others around who listen amidst the pain, profiting from the pain, to question her past actions, to make her realize what they've done, their omissions, how they played with her naiveté, their hypocrisy. The situation of her disappearance now has resulted in a kind of every-man-for-himself scenario.
Of course, the issue isn't as simple as that. I speak for her because she's the one I interact with most, the one I feel closest to, simply because we're contemporaries. And I confess that in the office, having someone like her, who can understand me, is something I deeply appreciate. It's not easy being surrounded by older people, all caught up in their own worlds, and well, she's not exactly different in that respect. However, I feel she understands me deeply, and we understand each other, and in the face of the world, being together, we're not alone. Now, the issue with her is that in the past, she didn't keep her promises. In fact, instead of focusing on socializing, she would act in ways that completely disregarded others, making her inconsistent with that spirit of giving, overly familiar, which led people to perceive her as abusive towards others. It's not easy. In fact, I myself saw her once break a promise right in front of me, which, indeed, had its consequences in terms of her refusing to submit. In fact, she once omitted me when it was a family health issue, knowing I was worried about her, and I felt that was a complete and utter abuse. Indeed, our relationship was fragile, and her approaching me so openly was a relief, but it perpetuated the cycle. Of course, I did point things out, but others, unless they were radical and drastic, didn't, and that's precisely what allowed her to defend herself by avoiding any comment.
The young woman, without a doubt, paved the way for everyone to sideline her. When I arrived at the office, they were in the midst of that struggle, trying to see who would remain, for some reason, due to some external factor, amidst such doubt that any comment she made was subject to criticism, to severe bias from the group that was in a strong position. Indeed, I had a conflict with the girl and they sought to put me on a pedestal in return; however, they distanced me from my feelings for her, they omitted it, they made me look the other way.
She, on the other hand, sought to be humble in every situation. She never pressured me, she let me be who I wanted, and whenever I felt disappointed, she lifted my spirits; she was always there. In a way, and that's why I'm with her, that lying, breaking the promise, and even omitting things, were clear ways of not leaving me out, of giving me a little push to keep me with her, to ensure that I wouldn't be overlooked in her life, in something that could concern others. She always wanted me to be there, while the others changed drastically, from not wanting to be with me to wanting to be. However, that wasn't what I disliked. She remained consistent, the others didn't, and that bothered me. I felt they were being completely hypocritical with me, because after the conflict, I had managed to create that much-desired doubt in the girl, and in fact, they tried to make any attempt to dissuade her see it as me seeking something that would make me lose control. They went that far. However, paradise, or rather hell, made me feel unfree, and I couldn't allow that. That's why I decided to act entirely in favor of the structure, as it should be, which just so happened to align with her, causing my department to collapse, to the point that today my boss is being persecuted again, not only by the girl, but also by the other bosses, in a radical way.
Her actions put the authorities in a position of inferiority to the girl, and at the same time, she tried to ensure that her accidents weren't seen as accidents. For my part, he was isolated. I'm talking about my boss, but only within the realm of work and his secretary. He couldn't care less about what happens to that man. He's desperately trying to overwhelm him with worry so that it becomes crystal clear he's a complete egomaniac who only thinks about himself. His attempt to position himself as a role model among the other authorities through a matter that wasn't his, ended up backfiring spectacularly, generating a reaction of absolute rejection. It's definitely not right, but I'm not going to do anything about it, since going beyond the scope of work causes me problems, something he didn't foresee either. He was under the illusion that he'd have the matter completely resolved by challenging me to confront him, that I didn't want that with him, but he was wrong. He abused the trust I had in him, my need for everyone in the department to be on good terms, to avoid conflicts. A typical end for someone of his caliber.
He lives constantly fleeing from any conflict he finds, for whatever reason, circumstance, or whatever. His evident abuse of power only served to establish that the current administration was corrupt in some way, failing to prevent certain situations. This led the other authorities to isolate him immediately. Meanwhile, the girl's group, led by their leader, is at the forefront precisely because she didn't abuse her authority, but rather accepted and lived with the events that unfolded; in other words, she didn't abuse the structure.
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Points of view
OMG same, happened b4.
wow, that's a pretty tangled web there. reminds me of this time at my last job when we had this colleague who just refused to play the office politics game; she was always super straightforward and it threw everyone off balance because they weren't used to it. kind of like your story, people got all defensive and unsure how to handle someone who wasn’t afraid to call things out as they saw them; no doubt, it's tricky navigating those dynamics! 😅
The young woman sounds like quite a force to be reckoned with. Her story of facing such dishonesty and manipulation is powerful. Was there ever a point where she considered just walking away from it all? Given your choice stands with her, do you think there's any chance that these struggles in workplace dynamics could change for the better soon?
Wow, what a tangled web of office politics and personal dynamics. It's wild how people will exploit others' vulnerability for their own gain!!! The way the young woman stood her ground is pretty admirable. Sounds like the "boss" definitely got what was coming, thinking he could manipulate stuff for his own benefit; classic power trip. Office environments can be such a battlefield sometimes.
Damn, sounds like one huge mess where everyone's just looking out for themselves 💥; can't help but think that if more people spoke up like she did, maybe the whole place wouldn't be such a dumpster fire.
Wow, this reads like a soap opera or something. Seriously, it's like everyone in that office is just trying to one-up each other; so much drama!!! I get that you're supporting her, but damn, nobody seems innocent here. The whole "promises" thing... I mean, really??? It’s hard to sympathize when it feels like everyone's playing games and screwing each other over. Reminds me of my old job where backstabbing was practically a team sport!
sounds like a classic case of the office drama where everyone underestimates the power dynamics until it blows up in their face. it's wild how some people just use those vulnerable situations to climb higher without considering what they're doing to others, huh? reminds me how sometimes the ones who are quietly resilient end up making the biggest waves when pushed too far, while others scramble to keep their facades from crumbling.
yass but hard tho
Oh man, this is some serious drama. Reminds me of when I was involved in a similar mess at my last job. There was this guy who ended up uncovering a whole bunch of shady dealings after getting shafted by management. The whole place went into chaos because no one expected him to take a stand like that! It’s wild how one person refusing to play the game can flip everything on its head and make people show their true colors. It's sad how often power dynamics get used to steamroll over people just trying to do right by themselves and others.
honestly, it sounds like not much is going to change regardless of what this girl does or doesn't do. i mean, she's trying and that's commendable, but sometimes it's just like rolling a rock uphill only for it to slide back down again. when are people going to wake up and realize this isn't sustainable in the long run?
True! It's so frustrating seeing people go round in circles.
welp its pointless rlly smh
Idk bro she might be rong
maybe theyll learn idk
idk maybe smth is fishy???
I can see why you'd support her fight against exploitation and image teardown, but I'm concerned about how sustainable this struggle is if nothing really changes. At some point, external validations need to mix with internal strength.
Absolutely agree with everyone's eagerness to side-line her ignores the bigger issue at hand. Heck, I’ve been there too and working under hostile environments is soul-draining! Kudos to her for sticking by truth here.
u say all dis n 4 wat? rly dont get y stay n dat office world peace no thx watever anyways ansrisor here's obvs b'out leavin peeps behind yuk on repeat guess keep movin or ya totally stuck jus like last in line