hey, so this happened during the pandemic but I would still like to share it now because I still think about it often.
so at the time i (24,f) was working part time at a gastroenterology ambulance in a hospital. I was working part time because I took weekend classes and needed some time to study during the week. My plan was to only stay at this job for a year until I finish my exams and then get a better paying full time job somewhere else. My coworkers didnt know about this though because I didnt know how quickly I would find a job after passing my exams.
When I started working there another woman had started just a month before me. Lets call her A. I had a permanent contract (i hope im saying this right english isnt my first language) and A was only there to fill in for someone on maternity leave.
So this workplace was extremely toxic. My coworkers disliked me from the very beginning. I was always kind to everyone even when they were mean to me. Im definitely a bit of a pushover person so I think the meaner they were to me the nicer I was to them. But that doesn’t justify the emotional damage they have caused me over the span of the year. Im still struggling with it today.
Anyways when A was close to leaving soon my coworkers all tried to find ways to make her stay. Aside from me they all got along together great. We were completely full though and didnt have a free spot for her to stay.
Obviously I felt that they all wanted me to go so A can stay and it made me feel very uncomfortable. So one day I did something really bad but honestly I dont regret it. My superior, the team leader, had left her emails open and I took a glance and immediately found an email she had sent to our boss the chief of gastroenterology, asking him if he can fire me so that A can stay. He replied saying he legally cant fire me for no real reason because thats a law the hospital has.
A few days later my superior had asked me if we can talk in private. In that conversation she was being extremely friendly and asked me about my future plans and what kind of things I plan on doing. Obviously she was trying to talk me into quitting so I can take on a new job.
Then she was saying how much A enjoys working here and its a great job for her because its close to her home and she has small kids, so she can always be home quick if there is some sort of emergency.
As the pushover I am I agreed with her and said that I would be leaving soon so A can stay. Like i was clearly aware of how I was being manipulated but I felt so unwanted and uncomfortable at this workplace that I didnt care anymore I just wanted to leave.
So in the end I left the same month I had exams and with the pandemic and all it was really hard to find a job. I was unemployed for 2 months when I could have just stayed at the old workplace. I ended up taking the next best job I could find which ended up being horrible too.