ISWEARTAGAWD! A flying chop to her throat was my first thought.
"3 days on the job and YOU 👏🏽 DID 👏🏽WHAAAAT!?"
A flood of additional thoughts burst into my mind:
But I told them YOU'RE THE BEST.
People ALREADY think y'all are hoodrats who don't wanna work.
You KNOOOWWWW BETTER!
Why was THAT the response that you thought made sense?
Didn't we talk about this during training?
My FRIENDS believe in you! What will they think NOW?
...etc.
My momentary immaturity could impact my career with the company but also trickle down negatively as perceptions of everyone who looks like me.
I was so irritated that I just went to sleep. In those quiet moments, I remembered some of the immature stuff that I did at work when I was 20-something. I remembered the looks on my then-supervisors' faces who had to check my behavior. I also remembered how my work-mamas would pull me aside to lay the REAL explanation of how my momentary immaturity could impact my career with the company but also trickle down negatively as perceptions of everyone who looks like me. Women. DC natives. Gen X. HBCU students. African Americans.
I remembered how I felt motivated to change my behavior after hearing heartfelt instruction from a trusted mentor.
So,
I didn't chop her in the throat. Instead, I breathed deeply and realized the very thing I mentioned in my last blog post:
"THEY" is ME.
"THEY" deserve the grace, support, and direction that so many people poured into me, decades ago.
"THEY" have work to do.
And, so do I.
CitiLife Development collaborates with FLINT, LLC and Hospitality to Work to develop an excellence-driven workforce for the hospitality and tourism industry and beyond.