Monday, February 20, 2012

I Used to Work at a LYS

Let me begin by stating the obvious. Given the number of people involved, there are at least three versions of this narrative. This is mine.

I used to work at a yarn store. For years, in fact.

I liked the job, and really liked my co-workers, although the relationship with one employee grew progressively more "difficult." Eventually she posted threats on Ravelry, followed by accusations that I was mentally ill (again on Ravelry).

When I protested to my employer, I faced pressure to keep quiet, to pretend that she hadn't really been talking about me, to accept what all three of us knew was patently a pseudo-apology.

For a long time, I did keep quiet, but I had been here before. Years ago, a fellow grad student became a boyfriend, then an abusive boyfriend, then an ex. All along, I had faced pressure from my department to keep quiet. Eventually, he assaulted me (even after he was an ex) and I had to turn to the school's judicial system.

Keeping quiet in the face of threats of violence is never the right choice.

This current time, I finally reached out to LB; my sister, a former criminal attorney; and two social worker friends, one of whom specialized in troubled teenagers. By talking to all four, I was able to keep my concerns out of the local knitting community and I got some great advice.

I asked my boss not to assign me to work the same shift as this employee. I explained why. Several times. Several times, because I kept being assigned to work the same shift as someone who had threatened me.

The end result was that my boss elected to keep the other employee instead of me.

This pressure to keep silent, about the threats, about the online accusations, about a lot of other behavior, and then finally about the loss of my job, has been tough. And like I said, keeping silent in such situations is never a long-term solution.

So I'm not.

That's my story. I used to work at a yarn store.



Thanks for the comments everyone. I have (for now) taken them down, since like I said, this post is my version only of what happened and I don't want those employees whom I really cared about have to experience negative consequences of someone else's online behavior like I did. If you want to comment on this post, I will definitely read it, but won't post it. I can't thank you enough for the positive messages and encouragment though. It has meant the world.

8 comments:

Bridgett said...
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Stephanie Ann said...
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Kate said...
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Tempest ina Pot of Tea said...
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Susan Armstrong said...
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Crafty and Crap said...
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