Ordinary Narratives: O.D.

No.1

Alicia didn't know anything about life when she had to go to work as a teenager to take care of herself.

She was good at answering and making calls, she managed the agendas and the language because she read a lot and needed to stay afloat. She was also punctual and responsible.

The place where they hired her was an architectural firm, Grupo 7 it was called, and it was almost in front of a very famous department store; the neighborhood, the schedule, the place, and her salary seemed appropriate to her. Everything indicated that the woman interviewed her was also convinced about her skills.

This was many years ago, Alicia today tells this story to her colleagues and friends because she wants them to be careful with their decisions.

The difference between the past and the present time is that before Alicia considered that she had experienced an extraordinary situation, out of the ordinary, and today, however, she knows that, in many companies, in too many companies, organizational chaos reigns.

Alicia attributes part of the responsibility for these destructive and sometimes suicidal practices for the organization and its business to the lack of vision and leadership of those who manage the companies who have habits and beliefs from when being a foreman and exercising power arbitrarily was normal.

She is also convinced that servility, which is not at all helpful, is the perfect match for this power dance between bosses and employees, and ends up diminishing all those who participate in this sinister conduct.

On a bright and warm afternoon after several months working there, the architect and general manager arrived at the office. A few minutes later, he called Alicia to his office and asked her for a coffee. She promptly brought it to him, and when she arrived at the office, he asked her to place the coffee next to his right hand, meaning she had to walk halfway around the desk and leave it exactly next to his right hand.

When Alicia approaches with suspicion, she smells the alcohol emanating from the body of the chief architect and, when she approaches to place the cup he places a 22-caliber pistol on her thigh. Alicia gets very scared but tells him to put the gun away.

"Put the gun away, it could kill me if it goes off..." Alicia said, annoyed and firm.

The general director of the micro-business that worked for the government, giving bribes here and there, laughed out loud.

Alice then said:

-My father knows about weapons and he told me to be very careful when handling a gun of that caliber and taking steps back, she walked away and left the office.

Alicia sat at her desk while she shivered without anyone seeing her. The day after, she told the woman who hired her about the incident, since she was responsible for the human resources area.

After telling about the incident, Alicia felt relieved since this woman assured her that it would not happen again.

Out of nowhere, but a few days later the woman began to give her an amount of typing work that Alicia would not finish even in two shifts and typing was not part of her job as a receptionist, according to her contract.

Alicia struggled and tried to do the work to keep her job: she paid her bills and was afraid of losing her livelihood. However, it was impossible to stay since, sometime later, when she was already exhausted from the long days that now included Saturdays, a friend of the owners casually told her that the human resources woman and the general director architect, were lovers.

Alicia resigned.

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