I have a bad habit. It is called mutiny. I have done it several times. It is not nice, especially for someone who preaches emotional intelligence. I realize that now. It started before I was aware of EQ. Let me tell you about it.
There are times in my life when I have felt taken for granted. Ever felt that way?
The first time in my working career was in a “secretary pool”. There were four of us - medical secretaries, and of course, I felt that I was the best, having excelled in high school as the fastest typist and the one who could take shorthand at 120 wpm. So, when my teacher called and asked me to be in this pool of secretaries, I jumped at the chance. I felt that I was being taken for granted because I was given more work than the others (that is what you get when you are good). So, I decided to get rid of the very person who got me the job - you’re right, my teacher! Oh, the audacity! She had a habit of spending her days talking to the doctors we were supposedly serving rather than doing her own typing. They knew it too, but let it go on for too long and upsetting the others in the pool. So, I reported her to the head doctor, who was quite unaware of the situation. A meeting was held. She got released.
The second time, I was working at a tourist agency with about seven other employees. One of them was superior to the rest of us. She was a real gem (meaning she was not). This particular person liked to be the boss and tell us all what we should do, and not in a very nice way. She did have more experience in the travel industry and would make sure we knew it every single day. It got to be very annoying to the rest of us. I was a personal secretary to the General Manager of the business, so I wasn’t directly under her, but saw the effect she had on the others. They would tell me about how she treated them and what she would say to upset them. I decided I would do something about it. We had a meeting one day, and I brought up the fact that the rest of us were not happy with the way she was treating everyone. Later, she told me that she couldn’t believe that I was on their side. We had been friends, and that put a kink in it.
Another time, I had signed up and paid a great deal for a training course to be a speaker. I diligently studied and was progressing quickly through the course. However, when I submitted my talks to the coaches, one of them told me it sounded too much like “me” and didn’t have enough meat to be a good speech or keep the audience interested. So, fine! I wrote three more speeches, each putting my heart and soul into each one. I submitted them. Nada. For several weeks, I heard nothing. I was not a happy person. When I approached the coach about it, he said he didn’t have time. I contacted the admin, and they said that the coaches were too busy with other students. My efforts were not recognized, and because I had paid thousands of dollars to be trained, I felt that I deserved the attention. So, I took sick leave - because I was (mentally ill). I wrote a letter to the admin. They ignored it. I wrote a letter to the owner of the company. He ignored it. So, I decided to start a mutiny. When I finally got the call, I told them how I felt. You know how they always tell you they are recording the call? Well, they were, and they sent me the recording of the whole call - which included what was said after the call (I was not supposed to hear that). What was said after the call was very demeaning to me, causing me to cry and become terribly upset. They were laughing and made fun of me and said very derogatory things, saying that it must be only me, that their coaches would never do what I said they did, etc. They even said they were not looking forward to talking to me in the first place and made fun of my pictures on my social media profiles (what were they doing looking at them anyway). I went to the Better Business Bureau, senior advocates (since I was a senior citizen), and even wrote to the head of the company. I told them I would sue them if they did not refund all of my money, give apologies for what they had said and done, and promise they would never do that to another person in the future, or I would take this further and they would be sued for much more. Just thinking about that time makes me teary-eyed. I did get my money back, although it was like pulling teeth, and got an official apology (forced), nevertheless, if you want to know the name of the company, I will probably give it to you.
Most recently, I got a call from an old acquaintance who is a self-made millionaire. He asked how I was doing and then invited me to join in his venture. I thought, why not! I honestly had expectations of being a future millionaire like him. I paid a thousand dollars, thinking that would be my only investment, but then found out that I would have to purchase a funnel, pay someone to set it up, pay a monthly fee to keep it going, and then later on, he told me to join another group which would eventually cost me much more, and all the while I was training to become a millionaire, I was spending so much money, it was adding on to the credit card debt I was trying to reconcile. I stressed myself to keep up with the daily grind of taking the lessons, implementing what I had learned, paying the expenses, and then knowing that my debt was rising instead of diminishing, I became ill (physically, mentally, and emotionally). I snapped!
I started posting online all about this person who had reached out to me and tried to help me be financially better off, only to make my dreams a nightmare. My postings were pointed right at him, and his friends, and his coworkers, and the whole industry. It got attention. His friends were furious. How can you attack us like that? Why do you include all the others? What did we do to you? These are some of the questions I got back. I just wanted to expose them and tell the rest of the world the truth. I even went to the FTC and reported him. He sent me a message and said he had always helped me, and why would I say such words. Because I could. Because I like being a tattle tale. It is my way. When things are not right, I will let everyone know. Don’t cross me! I think I am the master of mutiny. I need to reconcile how emotional intelligence and mutiny are related. I’ll see you later.