I figure I should probably post this here because I’m really upset and I don’t know what to do.
I have officially been at my job for two years. In that time, I’ve written probably one story a month or every two months about this dog problem. It’s a really big problem and we want nothing more than to help these people.
One of the residents reached out to me last week and told me about a homeowners meeting that week. I told her I unfortunately couldn’t go but I would ask for the recording (they record it and send it to people who need it). She said she was hoping there was a way I could make an exception and I told her I just couldn’t. I had another meeting to go to that was not going to be recorded.
She ended up writing a letter to the editor and saying I had suddenly decided I didn’t want to help them anymore and I was the only one who could actually get through to people in power. She said she wasn’t surprised I lost interest, which is not at all true. I’m still very much interested but I had to go to something more important and it’s not like I couldn’t have watched the recording of the meeting.
My boss is really upset about the issue and said I deserve to have it blasted on social media because of what I did was wrong. I told her it wasn’t a matter of me not wanting to do it but it’s not like I couldn’t have watched the recording later. She’s taking it as a personal attack on her business, and I totally get why she’s upset because it’s her business, but my other boss is totally fine with it and he is not in any way upset at me. I just think my other boss is overreacting and she knows it’s not my fault.
I don’t typically get emotional or stressed over work but last night I cried. I’ve been there for two years and that’s how I’m treated. It’s not my fault someone decided to overreact and my boss knows the lady was in the wrong it just seems like she wants to place blame on someone who is not gonna fight back.
Freedom of speech is very important and, as a writer, it’s only fair to give people the right to say what they want, but that doesn’t mean you have to agree with it. It seems like she agrees with what this person is saying and I’m not OK with it. I also don’t feel like I have to be okay with doing so many things for this woman and her neighborhood and then the one time I can’t do something I’m seen as the villain.