Chapter 48- Taking Higher Grounds

         Some people change and some don’t. What’s important for me is making sure I am who I am. I will make changes if necessary in order to improve myself and how I want people to treat me.

         One day at work, I got called to the big boss’ office to have a meeting. The big boss and a supervisor came to meet me saying that I had failed my probation at the department I was in. The boss who picked on me whom I’ve been talking about in previous chapters didn’t like my performance as well as another coworker who was a mother. Eventually, only two young girls were left in that department and I knew he liked the young girls. The big boss said that previous department that I used to work with wanted to give me a second chance. I was going to move back to my original department and also have my probation extended for an extra month.

            For me, I believe in self improvement and I wanted to know exactly how I had failed. The big boss said that I would have to wait a few hours before he got to work. I waited and finally saw him. He and another supervisor sat down with me to discuss. He said that he did not have to give me the reason why I failed or even tell me. I responded by saying that I wanted to know what I did wrong so that I can improve. Still no answer, but instead he yelled at me for saying that I wanted to improve when it was too late and I didn’t improve when I was working with him. He told me that he had the final say after talking with other supervisors and leads. He also mentioned that it wasn’t personal because if it was, I wouldn’t have stayed in his department that long. Deep down in my mind, I knew it was personal since the very first day he said he was going to be pick on me more because I was a guy. He only wanted girls to work with him and only the young ones. I thanked him for his support while I was in his department and requested a reference. He didn’t want to give me one and simply referred it to my big boss. I shook his hand and walked out feeling upset.

            The big boss was outside and asked me to have a chat. The first thing he said was that I shouldn’t worry about my probation and that I can pass. Next he said that my boss shouldn’t have raised his voice at me because I haven’t done any thing that’s wrong significantly. He leveled down with me and said to look at him now. He was my big boss. H e said that one day I might be a boss or his boss or the boss of the company. I felt inspired and became emotional. This was a good boss, a good man. He is who I envision to be a true leader.

            That night, I was upset yet inspired. I realized one thing; I was going to let this all go. There was no point in holding a grudge against my sexist boss. The actions he had made were unjust and unfair. He was too hardened to feel for others. I’m not going to be mad at him or act differently when I see him. I was going to be a better man and take the higher grounds with my morals and ethics intact.