Ever had a bully for a boss?

[Alkene]

57. I'm still looking for work...

after walking out in September on a sociopathic narcissist whom I put up with for the previous six years. She did not fit your model of micromanaging, however, but would only immerse herself in realities and situations that suited her pursuit of being the center of the universe- her version of the universe; the details of your job and working conditions were irrelevant as long as she could be the central focus and authority on a bizarre and often disconnected array of concerns which she deemed to be of importance, including subordinates' personal lives.

To mention just a few details of the continuous freak show:

Her desktop wallpaper was a picture of herself on holiday standing alone in front of the Eiffel Tower. No other friends or family members who accompanied her on the trip, just her. To be there to admire all day, every day.

At the funeral Mass of a coworker's husband she wore a bright red outfit and behaved in an obnoxious and self-preoccupied manner at the reception in order to maintain her need to always be the center of attention, to the distress of the widow and the diminishment of the occasion.

When a coworker called in to report that her mother had died unexpectedly just before a scheduled doctor's appointment, the boss laughed uproariously and joked openly for a good half hour about irony of that- while the rest of us, or at least some of us not in her clique of minions, transitioned from reverent reflection at the sad news to the horror of being in the presence of a sick monster.

I'll spare you the myriad details of the horror her callous and cruel treatment of me caused over six agonizing years, because that experience occurred simultaneously to my wife's illness and death and is too detailed and painful to post fully. Suffice to say I stayed on because of the need for health care benefits and the distress it caused my wife to consider any employment changes. I fulfilled my promises to my wife, and the boss no longer had that particular control over me. The power to say, no more, came and I used it.

As I calmly and unceremoniously handed her my key card on a Friday, remarking only, "I won't be coming in anymore," and simply walked out while ignoring her as best I could, she followed behind me babbling something about my not being able to do this.

By playing a wild card she didn't foresee, I had taken away her control; control was her self-defining characteristic and only consistent workplace goal. That, and vendetta.

I hope I made the right decision.