Aetherwing
Chymist
I have a tale to share.
About 2 years back, my work life was plunged into discord and chaos. Following is a true, unembellished account of my personal Frank Dominio experience.
On a particularly stressful day of a likewise stressful week, I made a comment in jest to a coworker, "Man, it's days like these that could send one on a killing spree." The comment was offhand, and totally nonserious.
Unfortunately for me, someone (their identity remains anonymous to this day, though I have a pretty darned good idea of whom the person is) overheard my statement. This individual (hereafter referred to as The Vile Betrayer, or TVB for short) took it upon themselves to call Corporate Security and report my statement. TVB ALSO took liberty to describe me as "a quiet sort, not very social, with a propensity for wearing black." Everyone in my department knows i collect swords, and that factoid was also reported.
As luck would have it, I had recently begun wearing my hair in a crewcut (the same way it is in my album pics here).
Security ransacked my desk that very night, and found a printed transcript of MWINYD. These braniacs read it, and assumed that it was my "manifesto", and was written by me, despite the name Tom Ligotti at the top of the first page.....
Well, my manager called me and told me that I was not to report to work until a full investigation could be conducted, at which time I would be summoned to the office, escorted to the Security Offices, and "evaluated".
To make matters worse, teh names of "the Seven Dwarfs" from the story all happen to be names of people in my department. See where this is headed?
The pompous security chief questioned me for over two hours. He wanted to know why I had threatened to embark on a "killing spree". He informed me that a sudden change in appearance (my drastic haircut) was a sign of possible mental instability. He wanted to know if I owned firearms. he wanted to know why I collected swords. He wanted to know why rumors of my threatening a black co-worker were circulating, and if I was a racist. He informed me that I had been labelled a White Supremicist by some anonymous co-workers. He wanted to know what i ahd against Barry, Kerry, Sherri, etc.
To my credit, some of my coworkers outright dismissed these allegations when they were questioned. Also, I was able to convince Mr. Security that
A) I'm totally non-violent
B) I'm not a racist nor a White Supremicist
C) The remark I made was merely a jest, and signified nothing.
Even so, I was remanded to the company shrink for "Anger Management Therapy". This was mandatory, twice a week, for 8 weeks.
I was given 4 days suspension sans pay.
To make matters worse, the Gestapo-like techniques of investigation insured that even though this matter was meant to be kept confidential, that just about everyone knew some distorted version of this debacle.
For months, I had to endure sullen and furtive looks from people who I didn't even know. More frightening, those Racist rumors ensured that I was on the wrong end of many an angry stare by non-caucasian employees, including the security guards.
Thankfully, at this point no one seems to recall the incident. Even so, I become angry and trepidatious when I think back on those months. I narrowly escaped being sacked over this snafu, and felt enormously uncomfortable and paranoid for a long time afterward. Talk about the Sword of Damocles...
I loved MWINYD before the horror befell. Now that I have to some extent lived a similar situation, I love the story even more. It really hits home when you feel like poor "Domino".
I understand that Tom himself had similar experiences at the Gale Group he used to work for. I truly empathize with him, or anyone, who ever has to deal with this kind of atmosphere at work. Big Companies like the one I work for (Bellsouth telecom) can really chew you up and spit you out.
Well, that's my tale, and my work is now done.
-Aether
About 2 years back, my work life was plunged into discord and chaos. Following is a true, unembellished account of my personal Frank Dominio experience.
On a particularly stressful day of a likewise stressful week, I made a comment in jest to a coworker, "Man, it's days like these that could send one on a killing spree." The comment was offhand, and totally nonserious.
Unfortunately for me, someone (their identity remains anonymous to this day, though I have a pretty darned good idea of whom the person is) overheard my statement. This individual (hereafter referred to as The Vile Betrayer, or TVB for short) took it upon themselves to call Corporate Security and report my statement. TVB ALSO took liberty to describe me as "a quiet sort, not very social, with a propensity for wearing black." Everyone in my department knows i collect swords, and that factoid was also reported.
As luck would have it, I had recently begun wearing my hair in a crewcut (the same way it is in my album pics here).
Security ransacked my desk that very night, and found a printed transcript of MWINYD. These braniacs read it, and assumed that it was my "manifesto", and was written by me, despite the name Tom Ligotti at the top of the first page.....
Well, my manager called me and told me that I was not to report to work until a full investigation could be conducted, at which time I would be summoned to the office, escorted to the Security Offices, and "evaluated".
To make matters worse, teh names of "the Seven Dwarfs" from the story all happen to be names of people in my department. See where this is headed?
The pompous security chief questioned me for over two hours. He wanted to know why I had threatened to embark on a "killing spree". He informed me that a sudden change in appearance (my drastic haircut) was a sign of possible mental instability. He wanted to know if I owned firearms. he wanted to know why I collected swords. He wanted to know why rumors of my threatening a black co-worker were circulating, and if I was a racist. He informed me that I had been labelled a White Supremicist by some anonymous co-workers. He wanted to know what i ahd against Barry, Kerry, Sherri, etc.
To my credit, some of my coworkers outright dismissed these allegations when they were questioned. Also, I was able to convince Mr. Security that
A) I'm totally non-violent
B) I'm not a racist nor a White Supremicist
C) The remark I made was merely a jest, and signified nothing.
Even so, I was remanded to the company shrink for "Anger Management Therapy". This was mandatory, twice a week, for 8 weeks.
I was given 4 days suspension sans pay.
To make matters worse, the Gestapo-like techniques of investigation insured that even though this matter was meant to be kept confidential, that just about everyone knew some distorted version of this debacle.
For months, I had to endure sullen and furtive looks from people who I didn't even know. More frightening, those Racist rumors ensured that I was on the wrong end of many an angry stare by non-caucasian employees, including the security guards.
Thankfully, at this point no one seems to recall the incident. Even so, I become angry and trepidatious when I think back on those months. I narrowly escaped being sacked over this snafu, and felt enormously uncomfortable and paranoid for a long time afterward. Talk about the Sword of Damocles...
I loved MWINYD before the horror befell. Now that I have to some extent lived a similar situation, I love the story even more. It really hits home when you feel like poor "Domino".
I understand that Tom himself had similar experiences at the Gale Group he used to work for. I truly empathize with him, or anyone, who ever has to deal with this kind of atmosphere at work. Big Companies like the one I work for (Bellsouth telecom) can really chew you up and spit you out.
Well, that's my tale, and my work is now done.
-Aether
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