It would be remiss of me not to reflect on a chance near meeting in my local supermarket today. I was busy checking the reduced bakery items on display when I saw one of the managers from the British Red Cross office I left under extremely painful circumstances shortly over a year ago. My loyal reader will know that I was the victim of bullying and abuse from two particular managers, something that directly caused a dramatic deterioration in my mental health. This particular manager was not one of the abusers. In fact, I rather liked her. She definitely saw me today, too, looking straight into my eyes, but instead of asking how I was, she immediately shuffled off down the adjacent aisle in order to avoid having to say hello. I am not sure what, if anything, this meant.
The terrible treatment I received at the hands of this vast corporate monster, masquerading as a charity, was denied by the British Red Cross CEO Mike Adamson, salary nearly £200k. He was sorry how I felt, but obviously I completely made up the claims of bullying and abuse and was only pretending to have a mental breakdown. Of course, I was. You’d give up the best job you ever had, wouldn’t you, with the working pattern you always dreamed of in order to make up a story and then go mad.
I felt like pursuing the manager, just to say hello. She was very nice to me at the British Red Cross, as were most of the staff and managers. The trouble is, you only need a few bad apples to spoil everything. What would I have said? I was very calm and clear. I would say hello, ask her how she was and left it at that. After all, there was no point in having a forced conversation about some ghastly events that occurred around two years ago. My guess is that she was extremely embarrassed to see me and couldn’t get out of the store quick enough.
All of which tells you all you need to know about what happened. They know of the torrid time I had but they all rather wish it would go away. When I left, there were no good-bye wishes from anyone. Nothing. ‘Refusing to ignore people in crisis’ was the byline when I worked there. ‘Unless they work for us’ was the unsaid final line.
I would like to think I am an honest and decent person. I do not tell lies, I am always polite and respectful with those I work with. I certainly don’t bear a grudge with those who were not involved in the dark side of my time with the British Red Cross, although I do and always will at those who made my life hell. And for the manager to be so gutless as to not even said hello, that sums up the organisation to me. They made me very ill and they have no shame.
