Picture this: An employee did not hear what his boss is clearly saying because his boss half shouted it from a distance of 300 meters. In between them are two sets of walls, one conference table and a crossway of all the employees in that floor. The boss comes in the room infuriated for the employee does not hear him. He is angry and points out that he ‘screamed to the top of his lungs’ and that anyone from the employees’ distance could be able to hear him. The employee tries to point out that his shouts are in audible and that even his fellow employee in the room could not hear it also (except the slamming of the entrance door). But the boss would not hear of it. The boss mocks the employee and says that the employee should not reason out for he, the employee, will, and always will be wrong. That it is pointless to argue because he is THE boss.
I hate the abuse of hierarchy.
Well, what gives, who wouldn’t hate it if he himself experiences it?
I am a victim of my father’s hierarchy abuse.
Our house is sandwiched by the national road, and a river, which up to now I still don’t know the name. Tatay, would usually, usually, beep the horn of his car and someone would open the gate for him and his ‘corporate-owned’ car. However, things due to other things went the other way. This afternoon, we were not able to hear the sound of the horn. It’s unusually really but I am not over-bluffing, we (our school girl and I) did not hear the sound of the horn, only the creaking of the gate and the slamming of the gate.
Tatay went inside and started yapping away. That I should be conscious of little things, that I was utterly lazy, that I was this and that, the usual dialog of discontent. When I tried to say that we are not able to hear that oh-so important honk, he would go on deaf ears and stop the conversation, saying that it is not a reason that we did not hear the honk. And that I shouldn’t argue on that fact because, as usual, I am the one wrong.
If you were me, what would you do?
I cannot defend myself for one second of his accusation; heck its one big trial room in the kitchen for one minute back there. I wasn’t raising my voice, neither flailing my arms like an uneducated person but he treats me like I am one. It’s as if I am too dumb and ignorant enough not to understand the gravity of the situation. That EVERYTHING IS JUST AN UNWANTED INCIDENT.
Okay, I didn’t hear him, we didn’t. So should we be blamed for that? Should I be blamed that there is a 300 meter gap from him and me? It’s just, like I said, an unwanted incident. I didn’t plan that to happen. I didn’t want to argue on such a low, dumb topic.
The sad thing is, I didn’t have the right to speak out. I could not defend myself. If that was in a court room I would be on my way to death row right now.
So what did I do with it?
Nothing. Silence will satisfy a yapping mouth. But folks, don’t be like me, stand up. Even though I didn’t, you should not let other people speak to you harsh words for things you did not do. But do it in a nice, non-screaming, non-violent way (I mean without fists clenched and mean eyes) so that they could not interpret its as fighting back. Why did I not do that, you may ask? Well, no matter how pleasantly I let them understand, they would look it up as speaking against them and challenging their authority.
I hate it when people think authority is everything in the world.
Change the world. As for me, I’ll just have to bear with my parents’ superior, non-removable thinking./KP
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