Humans are bound to be provoked once in a while as long as we are living. We cannot escape it. In this blog, I will be sharing one of the times I was provoked and let loose my temper.
In the previous organisation I worked at, once in a while we shared the task of calling some clients to make requests for a particular product, and whenever the product was to be delivered, we also called to ensure the product was promptly delivered through waybill. We just had to be active in following up the product delivery because a missed call could cause the product to be taken to another location, as there was no nearby bus terminal for the transport company.
One Tuesday afternoon, the director of the organisation came in with his face filled with anger and landed on my spot with queries as to why I hadn't called the supplier of the product earlier that day. I was confused because I was the one who made the call the previous week, and another person was supposed to follow up the following week. I tried to explain that it wasn't my turn, but the director didn’t take it lightly, he raised his voice and started shouting at me. I was angered and confused as to why he wasn’t listening to my explanation, especially since whatever was happening wasn’t my fault.
With slight annoyance, I reached out to Rebecca, who was supposed to coordinate the supply delivery, but she wasn’t available. She had come to work that day, but she left early in the morning, and I assumed she took care of the task before leaving. When I called her on the phone to explain to the director what was happening, because I truly didn’t understand why the manager was pouring his anger on me, she started saying that she told me to call the supplier on her behalf because she was going somewhere.
[Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/vectors/angry-man-phone-communication-call-6733037/)
I was surprised, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Unfortunately, the call was on loudspeaker, and the director heard what she said. I was trying to ask her if she was drunk because she never mentioned anything like that. She cut off the call, and her line became unreachable.
The director became even more angry with me because, according to him, a proof that I was supposed to make the call had just been gotten. The director was so mean in his words, as if we had unresolved issues earlier. When it got to a point where I couldn’t take it anymore, I raised my voice back at him. Other staff were present, and they quickly rushed to beg me to stop exchanging words. I knew what I did was wrong challenging a senior person in words, but I had to do it because my temper was hot at that moment. It was really a heated argument at that point.
Fortunately, my position in the workplace was a sensitive one, and I couldn’t be asked to leave work that day. When Rebecca returned from wherever she went, I confronted her too, but she said she was referring to another staff member, and she couldn’t explain properly because her phone battery went dead.
The end of the story is that Rebecca begged for forgiveness from me and the boss, and that settled the issue. Maybe because she's a lady, the director didn't reach much again.
Thanks!