I worked in the legal community for about 25 years. Since 1984, however, I took jobs no one else would do. I did this because I needed a ton of money to put my daughter through a music conservatory, which she would need to attend for 5 years, the tuition for which was the same as an Ivy League law school. This is just a roundabout way of saying I didn't do it for myself.
The last one was the most horrendous. No one in this huge firm would work for one of my two partners, no one in administration would address his horrendous, outrageous behavior because they were afraid of him and because he brought in too much money. My blood pressure increased 50 points the last year I was there, and my doctor told me I had to get my stress under control because I was the perfect candidate for a heart attack or stroke. After about 4 years in this position, I walked away from the job. It was the most lucrative job I had ever had.
I did not know the extent of my boss' bullying when I took the job. I was recruited into the firm by another employee who called and told me I should come on over, the benefits were excellent. I found out later no agency in DC would even try to fill the position because everyone knew this attorney's reputation. I will say this. I learned how to repel his bullying tactics, one of which included coming to my desk, yelling at the top of his John McLaughlin-type voice that I must drop what I was doing and immediately take on his project. He used words to intimidate and humiliate me in front of the rest of the hallway. I got to the point where I simply said, "I am not doing this today" and I would turn my back to him and continue the project I was working on. BTW, he also used these tactics on other attorneys who worked with him, all of which told me they didn't know how I did what I did.
Eventually, he got to know me so well that he learned when his tactics had failed him. Once I planted my flag, he knew by my response when he needed to get assistance from Word Processing.
So today, having been away from all this 3 years, my blood pressure has finally returned to only 8 points above normal, and I can discontinue my medicine after this year. I am a much more impoverished person, but in so many other ways, so much richer.
Just needed to share my story after reading your remarks. Thanks.
Sam
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