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Nicolette
Supporter Admin
I have had numerous unfortunate situations in my life and a few of those have been at the hands of men in workplace situations, usually those with 'power' over me.
Anyway, there's one place where I work where a man would generally walk a very fine line with all the females saying inappropriate things but in a joking way. I felt awkward getting a kiss on the cheek from a man I didn't know but he did it to everyone so I struggled past it.
One day, this man tried to show off in front of another male in the workplace and, as I walked between them to use the photocopier, decided to plant a kiss on my lips and then brag to the other male. Now the past has taught me that speaking up would mean eventually losing my job..... I sat on it for an hour or two and really thought about it, feeling disgust and knowing I had done nothing to encourage such a situation.
Despite all my past experiences, and disappointing outcomes when approaching my superiors with such a situation, I still knew I had to stop it if I was to continue working there. So I decided to see my boss (male) and while holding back tears and shaking, I told him what happened and simply asked him to make it stop. I didn't want any drama or the guy to loose his job etc but I wanted a line cleary drawn in the sand. So I was very direct and just articulated my problem and the resolution I wanted.
Well, I'm proud to say that the situation was dealt with perfectly by my boss, whom I have the utmost respect for, without anything further and I have now even been brave enough to acknowledge the man who acted inappropriately when he is around my work area in an attempt to rise above it and demonstrate I have no shame for drawing a line.
Who would have thought I would have ever ended up with strength after being pulled down by similar situations in the past. :tup:
Anyway, there's one place where I work where a man would generally walk a very fine line with all the females saying inappropriate things but in a joking way. I felt awkward getting a kiss on the cheek from a man I didn't know but he did it to everyone so I struggled past it.
One day, this man tried to show off in front of another male in the workplace and, as I walked between them to use the photocopier, decided to plant a kiss on my lips and then brag to the other male. Now the past has taught me that speaking up would mean eventually losing my job..... I sat on it for an hour or two and really thought about it, feeling disgust and knowing I had done nothing to encourage such a situation.
Despite all my past experiences, and disappointing outcomes when approaching my superiors with such a situation, I still knew I had to stop it if I was to continue working there. So I decided to see my boss (male) and while holding back tears and shaking, I told him what happened and simply asked him to make it stop. I didn't want any drama or the guy to loose his job etc but I wanted a line cleary drawn in the sand. So I was very direct and just articulated my problem and the resolution I wanted.
Well, I'm proud to say that the situation was dealt with perfectly by my boss, whom I have the utmost respect for, without anything further and I have now even been brave enough to acknowledge the man who acted inappropriately when he is around my work area in an attempt to rise above it and demonstrate I have no shame for drawing a line.
Who would have thought I would have ever ended up with strength after being pulled down by similar situations in the past. :tup:
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