Mall Store Staff Quits, Leaves Abusive Boss Very Public Note

[tblue37]

123. I did point out in my post that Jamie's version is implausible,

specifically because of her claim about their having stolen merchandise. If they had done so, they would have been fired at the very least, and the police would probably have some sort of report about the theft. It is unlikely that they would have still been working there after stealing from the store.

That's what I meant about Jamie's taking her version one step too far. Because she's been publicly shamed, she feels the need to make the employees out to be such villains that her own "innocence" will be enhanced in the eyes of the public. But she goes too far and ends up making a claim that most people will find implausible because we know that is just not how things normally work in the real world. Yes, employees might just be reprimanded if they violate company policy. But if they STEAL from their employer, they are going to get fired, and if they steal merchandise, the cops are going to be called in, too.

Jamie's version violates plausibility, but it follows the conventions of melodramatic fiction, where the innocent are pure, abused victims, while their antagonists are villains, who operate out of extreme malice, always want to do the meanest, nastiest things they can to their innocent victims.