If you’re still reading my blog, thank you. If you just started reading
it, then thank you and please don’t give up on me! Last time I’ve been part of
society, I didn’t really realize that it’s a jungle out there! Survival of the
strongest. Really?? Since when! In all my years of employment I happened to
have developed a syndrome. It’s called anti-backstabbing bitches syndrome.
Seriously! What gives? I’ve switched employers a couple of times and my last
employer. Well, let’s just not get there! Well, let’s! Why not! After all
that’s the whole purpose of this blog isn’t it? Bashing people! In the last two
years I happened to work with people who apparently have different mentalities
than I’m used to. How you ask? Well, wait for the gory details! I don’t really
understand the sense of insecurity a lot of people in our society suffer from,
but apparently it existed way long before I’ve been part of it. I happen to
have a good sense of fashion (yes I do! Live with it!) so on my first day of
work, I had no idea my reputation has raced me all the way to the office.
People were both intimidated and resentful of me. Even before seeing me. My
name was probably too tainted for them (or was it my masters degree??) anyway,
picture this! My first day in the office, I enter the office with a smile on my
face and greet the “ladies” in there. And let me tell you that I don’t
exaggerate when I say this, but there were two men and 20 women in that
department. My first reaction was, oh crap! Tangible tangible negativity! So a
new employee walks in (yours truly) and people just decide to hate her! I sat
there on my desk extremely shocked. I mean when you think about it. Why would
people just decide to hate you when they haven’t even said hello to you? That
still blows my mind every time I remember it. For two months, they just decided
that I wasn’t worth talking to. I tried complimenting their abayas (I cringe
just thinking about it) pretending to be interested in whatever they like, etc
etc. them on the other hand, refused to work with me, eat with me, respond to
my morning greetings. three months of complete ignorance. In normal
circumstances I normally confront someone who’d treat me like that, but on this
case I just decided that maybe I should simply back off a little bit and
observe. Of course in those three months I have been emotionally abused to the
bone. The hints, the remarks and the tangible negativity in the air that had
literally made the air thick! It was really awkward. Every morning I’d enter
the office and greet invisible people who simply pretended that I haven’t
existed. To make things worse, they started talking behind my back to others in
other departments. Everybody around me knew of their jealousy. There was this
time when a guy from a different department (and a different floor) has
literally approached me to tell me not to let them get to me because they’re
jealous. It took me three months to break the ice. They have realized that I
really suck in the house department. I can’t cook, I can’t properly clean and I
don’t understand the stuff they understand when it comes to soug al jomla
(wholesale market). I think that broke the ice for them because they realized
that probably I’m not as knowledgeable as they thought I was. I never pretended
to know everything! I have an attention span of a fish! How would I be wise?
Seriously! But guess what, that wasn’t the whole picture. They didn’t stop
talking behind my back. Well ignoring me for a second, I was able to observe
the environment as a whole. I realized that everybody talked behind everybody’s
back. It was like a rite of passage. Befriend someone, talk behind their back
and suddenly you’re likeable. Everybody would be your friend. Not because they
liked you, but because you were able to extract the juicy secrets about someone
and used them against them. It was weird to me to see how okay it seemed for
two best friends to kiss and hug, but bitch about each other and backstab them.
God forbid if an employee got a promotion. If it’s a guy, then he’s friends
with the big wigs. If it’s a female employee then oh yes she slept around. It
was too toxic. I couldn’t (and still can’t) believe that the mentality of some
local women was this tainted. I’ve never worked with this big number of Emirati
women before. The majority of my generation has probably gone to private
schools, universities like Zayed where the education is mainly western or they
have at least been watching shows like gossip girls, friends and desperate
housewives. This has shaped them a little bit differently, and the fact that
most of us in the working field have gotten mixed with people from different
cultures, beliefs, genders and backgrounds has exposed us to different forms of
working environments. The environment I have been working within in the last
two years is different. I have been able to see a different side of the female
spirit. Watch Hareem Al Sultan, it’s the same exact environment. The deceit,
the backstabbing and the plotting, it’s the same exact spirit, and it’s really
sad. Instead of them focusing on what would make them better people, they were
focusing on how to stop the new people from applying new thoughts and ideas to
the departments so they don’t look bad. Well I’ve reached my limits and to me
enough was enough. You want to know the funny part? They begged me not to leave
(but still bitched about me behind my back anyway. It’s what they do best) they
keep telling me that “mekanee khalee” and I shouldn’t have resigned. What
happened to me you say? Well I’m having the time of my life writing this blog.
I’m not trying to expose them as human beings, but if you find yourself
addressing the negative before the positive, seeing the worst in people instead
of their best traits, well you’re one of them! And you’re doomed for life! No
I’m just kidding! Just remember karma is a bitch! If you’re backstabbing someone,
then beware because they might be writing a blog entry about you somewhere. I
have noticed that in our society, this is not backstabbing. Simply, it’s
addressing the flaws we don’t want to have (or so a lot of us think). Remember,
you are not the judge of the looks, the behaviors, the clothes, the makeup, the
upbringing and the environment. Hating on people for no reason would only
affect you. You would grow to be bitter, despiteful and you will never be able
to develop yourself as a person. You would simply be thinking about nothing but
how to put people down only to feel good about yourself. Just because they get
promoted and you don’t, it doesn’t mean that they slept their way to the top.
Look within yourself and you’ll see what a little negative bitch you have been
all along. It’s not them, it’s you. Love yourself, only then you’ll be able to
cleanse your soul from all the hate you have for the world around you. Remember
there are always people who are better looking, have better education and speak
better English than you do. Don’t hate them for what they have achieved; love
yourself to learn to step up to their level. In that office, I was the younger
woman who has a master’s degree and her own sense of style. I think I just
reminded them of everything they are not. Don’t be like that. People you know
were not created by Allah to piss you off and disturb your buzz! They’re not
there to mess up your mood. They are individuals who happened to probably work
a little bit harder than you do. So don’t take their success as a personal
offense to you. They did not do it to piss you off. You probably didn’t even
cross their minds when they have gotten a higher degree, or bought that Abaya
you couldn’t afford, or barged into the office in those louboutins you only saw
online. Get over yourselves. If you’re not like that, then never change who you
are, be yourself and celebrate with me, because life is a satire.
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