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In my world as a freelancer, I wear a lot of hats, though my black felt pork pie is my absolute favorite.
I edit for a couple of sites, write and blog for more, am an autism advocate, podcaster and an IEP mentor among other things.
Most of my work is virtual and for the past three months, one of the people I work virtually with has been busting my chops for something really, really petty.
I rolled with it for a couple of months and did what I could to help, but even though I did everything that was asked of me (even though this person had no authority over me), I actually went above and beyond what I should have.
Every time I did, I was berated, belittled and made to feel like an idiot who didn’t know what I was doing. The only problem was I did know what I was doing and was doing things correctly. It was the other person who didn’t get that I was doing it right and was actually doing what they asked.
This person decided to go over my head and throw me under the bus. Those above me had my back from day one because they saw I was doing my job correctly, and I very much appreciated that.
But it didn’t stop.
It continued on to the point where the small panic attacks I’d been having every time this person ridiculed me, turned into larger panic attacks as he attacked my character, work ethic and skill level.
It got to the point where I didn’t want to even see this person’s name appear anywhere because it would start another panic attack. How awesome is that?
Then everything came to a head. Not only was I thrown under the bus harder than before, but this time it seemed I was tied up so I couldn’t escape and the bus backed over me again and again to the point I was a beat-up mess.
I’m writing this on Saturday morning and it got so bad at the end of the week I didn’t sleep at all last night because I couldn’t get the situation out of my mind. I wanted to but couldn’t.
It’s an autistic thing. If you’re on the spectrum you know what I’m talking about.
The point to all of this is not to have you feel sorry or feel bad for me, but rather to show you there are people in this world who believe everything is about them, and there’s no way they could make a mistake or be wrong.
People who handle their business in this way often have no clue how their actions affect other people or they simply don’t care. I don’t know what the deal was in this case because it’s not my place to judge them.
Whether you work in a physical workspace or work virtually as I do, bullying and harassment can be a real thing and one all of us need to be aware of and try to stop when we see it happening,
I’m thankful for those above me on the food chain for having my back and taking care of the situation. It helped the giant panic attack I’m still feeling to diminish a bit, but it will still be a few days before things level out and I’m feeling calm about things.
So what about you?
Are you on the spectrum and have someone in your life who bullies you, harasses you or messes with you just for fun? Share your stories with us because we want to hear them!
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Photo courtesy Pixabay.