Maybe right now I am under the influence of some red wine, but I am sitting here and crying because I learned about the background of Casey, the boy who stood up to the bullies and fought back. I have just learned that Casey’s cousin committed suicide because of bullying. For some reason, when I hear about the tragic consequences of bullying I burst into tears. Actually, I know the reason because I have been a victim of bullying, at school and in the workplace. My whole history is full of stories about bullying. This is why I am crying for Casey’s cousin. I know and I understand what it is like to be bullied. Even a person who is over 50 knows that the effects never really go away.
Unfortunately this brings me to the point of talking about the allegations against the US Republican hopeful Herman Cain. I am suspicious about the allegations that were levelled against Herman Cain for a variety of reasons. First of all, it seems strange to me that the women making the allegations are both white and blonde. It seems to be too much of a coincidence. On top of that it seems that both of the women who have come forward and who have been named have a history of making allegations.
To be honest when women make claims of sexual harassment in a workplace, they do no one a favour. There is a bias against men, and for some inexplicable reason that bias seems to be that if there is an allegation that it must be true. What people do not understand is that there is another form of harassment… workplace harassment… and, more often than not the perpetrator of such harassment happens to be a woman. However, back to Herman Cain…. these allegations smack of being something that has been drummed up. In this case, somebody accessed personnel records at the National Restaurant Association, and that information was passed on to an individual (David Axelrod being the most likely person) and then the people who made the allegations were located and their stories were used by Politico to create a smear against the candidate. The problem is that Herman Cain has worked in other places and there are no such allegations. Do I smell a rat? Yes and his name is David Axelrod. Who else would have put Sharon Bialek into the hands of Ms Aldred the publicity seeker, and the lawyer who does not give a rats about her clients?
However, back to my own story of harassment. Where do I begin. I do not want to sound like a whiney victim, yet the truth is that throughout my early life I was a victim of bullying at school and in the home. I had a terrible time at school. I cannot say that those school days were the happiest of my life. I would rather forget those school days than remember the bullying that took place. To this day I am continuing to feel the after effects of some of that bullying in the form of arthritis in my ankles.
The bullying did not stop at school. It was in the home. Maybe I should not go there, after all, one of the ones responsible has passed away. The other is still alive and I do not want to have all that much contact with that person who is after all a sibling of mine. I feel alone and so isolated as a result of my early life.
My workplace experiences were no better than those of my early life. However, there is one experience that I feel needs to be repeated. I was working for an American company at the time. I was a contract worker and I was doing the right thing, getting in the money for the company, negotiating with those who would not talk to other people and I migh add, getting money from an individual who refused to even talk to the woman who was my supervisor. This is not about my supervisor, at least not initially. The whole issue blew up in the space of a week. At the time my father was dying, and he did in fact die so I had to travel from Sydney to Melbourne for the funeral.
Here is the story leading up to what amounted to even further bullying by others within the company. In this case the woman had it in for me and I have no understanding as to why she was hostile. What I do know is that she had a history of being cranky with others. On the day that hostilities broke out, all I can say is that I did not know that she left her work station at about the same time as myself. When I left my workstation I stopped and hesitated, then I felt someone pushing into my back. Under my breath I called her a bitch. I have no regrets calling this particular woman a bitch.. because she was one. Even though she had walked out of earshot, the bitch actually heard my whisper. There was a bit of a confrontation. The bitch then went off to do whatever she was doing, and I headed off to upstairs where I was seeking information.
In the end I had to put in a complaint to Human Resources and here is the reason why I had to take that action. After the confrontation the bitch decided to follow me. I was spooked by her actions. It may sound trivial until you understand my background. Here is the story: when I was about 13 years old there was an incident in my life that I have rarely repeated. However, it should be told because it serves as a warning to others. It was a Saturday, and I was out delivering pamphlets for my father’s business. I was a distance from home, but not all that far from my grandmother’s house, and even better, I was close to the house of a school friend by the name of Christine H. As I was delivering the pamphlets I was stopped by a man (probably Middle Eastern) in a car who wanted directions. I answered his query. However, he wanted me to get into his car. I did not do as he asked. Instead, I indicated NO and walked away, but the man followed me. I was creeped out. Luckily I was near Christine’s house and I fled there. It was a good move. Several years later there was another incident where a man (who was married to another employee at the same factory) decided to follow me home. Again I was creeped out. I used to walk home from the factory where I had a temporary job. It was a bit of a distance but I could walk that distance quite easily. Luckily for me, on that particular day, there was a woman working in her garden, and so I spoke to her…. the man then moved on. It was with this history (as well as some more trivial incidents) that seems to come to the fore when I am being followed in the manner in which the woman was following me. I took my complaint to the Human Resources person because the action of that woman brought to mind those other earlier incidents in my life. I really do get creeped out when I am being followed in that fashion.
My story here is about real harassment. It is not a pretty story, and this part of it is only the beginning. What happened next was horrible because during the time that I was away the woman was made redundant by the company. She did in fact have a period of time before she left the company. It was enough time to lie and to leave her poison amongst my work colleagues. From what I can deduce, this bitch told the others that I was instrumental in her losing her job. It was not true. It is more likely that my complaint was the icing on the cake. She had a history of behaviour and the company wanted to get rid of her, and yes, they were setting her up to lose her job, regardless of what she did to me. However, poison works, and as a result of that poison I was sent into Coventry. It was unpleasant, yet it was obvious that something had happened especially when another co-worker who had always been friendly was suddenly unfriendly. It was like that until I left the company when my contract had ended. The poison was such that I was left alone and isolated. This was the work of a woman.
Almost every story that I can relate is one that also involves another woman being in charge. For the most part as a woman I have found that it is other women who are the perpetrators of harassment. One of those women even believed that she was “good to my staff”, and this was despite the fact that the majority of staff used to say some dreadful things behind her back. The comments that I heard were in fact well deserved. This was a woman who had a managerial position within the public service. She was a hatchet woman who was more than willing to end the careers of my colleagues. If only she knew what was said behind her back!! Another friend of mine was a victim of workplace bullying and harassment. In the end she was offered sanctuary within the department where I was working. The bitch who had been her supervisor was busy trying to make sure that my friend ended up without a job. On one particular occasion I overheard a conversation between her ex-boss, and the the woman who was my boss. As a result I alerted her about what had taken place. It was a case of “she has to go”. My friend did find work in another department where she did manage to shine despite what these two bitches had tried to do to her. Helen had a lot of struggles in her life and she really did not need these bitches making it even harder. Needless to say I struggled with that bitch who was my supervisor in a number of ways. She even went as far as taking away from me a piece of equipment that I needed and replacing it with something that was utterly useless.. the BITCH. Like I said, she had no real idea concerning what my colleagues were saying about her and her lieutenant. It was not pretty and there was plenty of ammunition for innuendo. This bitch also put me into coventry. It was horrible but it was the way in which the bitch operated. I have a bit of a temper and there were times when I used to hit back against the bitch so I am not entirely innocent. There were those occasions when I would strike back and just let her have it because I really hated her… not just because of what she did to me, but because of the way she treated the others, and the way that she used people to get information. She really was a bully and a bitch.
With my background, you would think that I would automatically feel sorry for anyone who alleges harassment, but that is not the case. As I have watched the Herman Cain saga unfold, I have not had that empathy for the alleged victims. Perhaps it is because Sharon Bialek’s story sounded as though it was concocted, but more so because the other woman who has now released her name claimed “It was something like that”, even though she has never outlined her allegations. I just get that feeling that her claims are false. The Sharon Bialek story sounds utterly false especially when it seems that the women is white and blonde. Does Herman Cain really have a prediliction for white women with Blonde hair? It simply does not plausible. There are details that are missing… like two women who have a history of making harassment complaints that are groundless in the first place.
Perhaps people should be investigating the David Axelrod link to the women who have come forward. It might help their credibility or lack thereof……
Aussie
