Member-only story

WORK | BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

How I Managed My Boss’ Breakdown Without An Instruction Manual

No amount of schooling can prepare you for some sh** in the workplace

Anne Kruse, M.S.
Zenite
Published in
10 min readJul 25, 2024

--

A woman’s face with tears running down her cheek
Photo credit Karolina Kaboompics on Pexels.com

If I could coin a phrase to explain what I feel about THEE most pivotal time in my career it would be, “Toxic nostalgia.” Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing for wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy associations. The toxic part went a little something like this:

Lipstick drags across a wall scrawling letter by letter…H-E-L-P, I-S, O-N, I-T-S, W-A-Y.

This hotel room likely never experienced such an event.

The three women cowering in the corner being held at knifepoint never had either, let alone by their boss.

Sweat and manic desperation engulf an unhinged woman, knife in one hand, lipstick in the other. Yep, she’s the boss and owner of the company whose rants make little sense as she prances around the room.

KNOCK-KNOCK! She skatters to the door and opens it.

Three police officers enter the room and size up the situation. The three women jump to their feet giving every indication that something has gone terribly wrong during this after-hours business…

--

--

Zenite
Zenite

Published in Zenite

Alchemy Publications’ haven for thought-provoking stories from all walks of the human experience and knowledge.

Anne Kruse, M.S.
Anne Kruse, M.S.

Written by Anne Kruse, M.S.

Writer, Career Psychology, Conveyor of humor, insightful absurdities, and some stuff we really should talk about. annekrusethewriter.com.

Responses (6)