i'm at work right now and i just got the craziest news... the whole investigation that was going on concerning the use of inappropriate touching, talking, etc. has finally reached a point where it's just surreal...
about a week ago i was sitting here by myself watching both the store and admissions b/c my boss was away at lunch... when suddenly mr. offender came just waltzing down the stairs and went into the cafeteria area to warm up his lunch... and last i'd heard he wasn't supposed to leave his office at all... so i told my boss when she got back and she freaked out... which was good b/c i'd freaked out when i saw him and had run back into the office so he wouldn't see me... now that he knows who came forward and has read our statements, i'm a little weirded out that he might try to say something to me or someone else even though he has been told not to... especially since he denied some of the things that we'd said... who's to say he wouldn't deny trying to talk to us...
so anyways, my boss and i decided we weren't at all happy with this... we put ourselves out there to even say something about this whole situation and we still are feeling worried and, well, threatened, at work even if it is indirectly... and here he is just walking around and emailing like nothing even happened... so we called the lawyer and asked to talk to him... he came in and we sat down with him and made it very clear how we didn't ever want to see this guy again... period. or even the chance of seeing him. him being able to walk within 15 feet of us, even if there is a huge glass window in between, doesn't make me feel at all comfortable... so the lawyer said he'd see what he could do...
and lo and behold, i guess they took us seriously... the powers the be were alerted to his behavior, and the CEO gave his suggestion to the board and they took it... they are asking for his resignation. he will no longer be able to come in to work at all during the day. now the sticky situation is that the only other girl who can handle money and do payroll is in australia for the next three weeks... so the solution is to have this guy come in early in the mornings and get deposits from downstairs and be up in his office by 7... and then when he's done with those things he is to leave the building. if he is out of his office for any reason while he's here, he will be asked to leave immediately...
and it all happened so fast and so definitively that it's kind of weirding me out, but i guess in a satisfied good way. it's what i wanted. but it's also very sad. something like this, right before an old man's retirement, could not make him feel good. and yeah, he is a creepy old man, but i know this still must be very embarrassing for him. part of me wants to feel sorry for him b/c i'm ruining his retirement and he's being forced to leave a job that he was devoted to for two years... it's going into his permanent record and a board of about 15 very well respected peers of his all know about it... i've met his wife and his grandkids and i wonder what this is doing to them or if they even know... i don't know if i could handle something like that, and i really do feel sorry that he has to... but the other side of me says fuck 'em... he knew it was wrong and he did it anyways... he pushed the limits for two years, and i know in my heart that the way he acted wasn't something he just started doing overnight... it is just the way he was... and it was wrong... and he got what he deserved...
so i guess my day is ending on a high-to-low note... i guess the best thing here is that i don't ever have to decide because this is someone that i will never have to see again... and weeks are going to go by and i'm going to hear a few more things, but really it's over now... and i'm going to forget about it and move on and not have to decide how i feel about all this because, frankly, it isn't my problem anymore... it never should have been in the first place.
