Flowers In The Attic

It is a pretty horrible scenario when you equate your job to horrible pop-culture references, but that is the state of affairs for me.

This story all begins one year prior to now. Last winter, there was a lot of chaos in my job, and a LOT of instability. This was in result of us, going to outside people for assistance regarding some injustices that have been occurring as a result of some people not pulling their weight.

What occurred after many months of not knowing if we would have jobs from one day to the next, as being told that this could be so by our superiors, was that the two who caused the most havoc, were given exit packages.

After nearly 9 months of torment, and uncertainty, things finally seemed to evolve. Sure, my boss and us have our issues with trusting one another, but in time, it would seem things would go back to normal--or at least it is how it seemed.

Sadly, it isn't the case. My superior, fueled by her own insecurity and controlling anxiety, met with a few of us to going over some protocols. Such as "Can't means Won't", "This is a democracy, but the buck stops with me (an oxy moron, if you will)", and using phrases like "insubordination and debating"

Basically, I left the meeting with impression that we are just suppose to say Yes to whatever she wanted--end of story. And anything that might seem like a differeing of opinion would be viewed as an attack.

This reminds me of some pop culture references, such as: Flowers in the Attic, and the Burning Bed. If you haven't seen either, you must, because they are both too fabulous not to see. But, the reality of these two stories is very real, and quite abusive situations for the victims. Farrah Fawcett, in the Burning Bed, is married to this Pr**k of a husband who beats her, plainly for sport. And during the movie she just takes it, with the hopes that it'll get better, like it used to be before he started beating her brains out.

And for the Flowers in the Attic, the mother basically abandoms her children and allows for them to be abused by their mentally ill grandmother, so she can go off and have a fabulous life without them.

These references I use, because that is what seems to be the case for me and my colleagues. We don't get any of the rewards from the fruit of our labors, and we keep hoping that while we are getting kicked when we are down, that things will still get better-- and refert back to the way were before--- when everything was "better".

At the end of both of these films, the "victims" became empowered. Farrah, with her heroine hairstyle, burned down her house, while her husband was sleeping in bed. And the Children in the Attic escaped their Grandmother's wrath, and moved to Florida, where there are constantly "flowers" in bloom.

The perplexing thing about being actively involved in any dysfunctional/abusive relationship is that, you never see outside of yourself, to know that things could be better. Instead, you keep hoping things will eventually get better where you are, and are far too afraid that if you do take the leap of faith, you will wind up in a worse place than you are currently.

The reality is that there are choices in life, despite at times, when you can be made to feel that there aren't. As a result, you need to make a stance. Either stay in the attic, or get beat to death by the bed, OR climb down the drain pipe to find a better pasture.

And I believe this is the time I go and find me some flowers. Otherwise, I might wind up burning that bed-- and I cannot rock being a prison bitch.