an old friend. (venting out) *Part Three of Four* in disappointment.

I made a friend at work once… she was different I would say. Even though our age differences weren’t even close to the same category she will always be the best friend I could of ever asked for. She was basically like another mom in my eyes, whenever I had a bad situation or just wanting someone to vent out to she was there. Even when she needed me of course I did everything in return, anything for her. If I wanted to go out on a work night she was always right behind me and we would still come into work the next day (she was a blast to take gambling with) but at this hell hole that we worked at together was a little brighter when we were together.
But sadly it didn’t last of course, not what Upper Management did to her. She was a woman who already had a lot of issues with her past, and she was finally able to overcome those obstacles. She worked with me for about a year and a half, she was a great worker. Whenever their was an issue she would jump straight on and try to fix it anyway she can. She would bring smiles in the room when everybody was stressing out over work. She would also get her work done in flying colors, she was the best. But the thing about the job we worked at… they sucked whenever it came down to payday. It was always late never on time (I don’t even remember the last time we were actually paid on time). But we would get either paid 3 or 4 days late and usually bills don’t wait for paychecks! Everyone was usually furious about this and would complain to Upper Management but of course they would grant empty promises and would never live up to them (what a disappointment). But my friend was usually pretty vocal about this situation especially since her son was graduating soon and she needed the money asap. But the payment became later and later, and she was just sick and tired of it.
One day when the “Owner” called asking some questions, my friend felt like it was time for her to ask. She asked:
“Are we going to get paid today?”
Just a simple question because she has every right to know if we were going to get paid or not. It’s her money that she worked so damn hard for and Upper Management just likes to delay it and never give us some warning ahead of time whether we were going to get paid that day or not, we usually just had to guess on our own (IT SUCKED). And when she asked that simple question the “owner” blew up. She started yelling and screaming at her on the phone I could literally hear her yelling when I was all the way across the room. I was actually surprised to see my friend not talking back because she’s usually known not to back down. The “owner” was basically calling her: “Stupid, rude, disrespectful” and things like “How dare you ask when you’ll be getting paid?!” (like what kind of shit is that?) when my friend hung up the phone she was balling her eyes out (that’s the thing working at that horrible place, all the problems were personal and they would always try to bring you down or just kick you where it hurts with no remorse) she went to our “Managers” office and complained to him about this and was basically saying that she couldn’t take it anymore that she wanted to quit. Our “Manager” just sent her home early for the day and just told her to take the rest of the day off to cool down. (He didn’t address anything to Upper Management since they are relatives) it broke my heart seeing her that way. I always saw her as a strong independent woman and seeing her broken and crying her eyes out made me want to cry as well.
She ended up calling out of work the next day… she just couldn’t come in. The “owner” ended up calling again making a big huge scene (which was completely normal to us, sadly). She kept going on and on saying how disrespectful my friend was to her, and how she was talking back to her and being rude (which was all bullshit because my friend didn’t even say one word when they were on the phone together she was just listening to all the shit she had to say), she was also saying how she wanted an apology from her (BULLSHIT). I was so annoyed and pissed that day because of how childish the “owner” was acting. Upper Management even had a meeting regarding this issue and the “owner” (I put “owner” in quotation marks because she qualified herself as the owner but when Clients would ask if she was the owner she would deny it and say she didn’t work there? / pretty confusing… I know) wanted to fire her because of this. My Supervisor at the time was standing up for her, he didn’t want to let her go because she was a good worker. He didn’t have any issues with her and why would they fire someone who was simply just asking a normal question and that somebody knew what she was doing and did her job right.
But the next day came… and she came into work. I just happen to not come in that day because I had a doctors appointment but one of my other coworkers told me everything. Then it became 12 in the afternoon, and the “owner” called once again and spoke to our Supervisor. He ended up calling my friend into his office and he had to fire her. He didn’t want to and he tried his best to keep her here but the “owner” wouldn’t budge. She was so adamant about receiving an apology from her but my friend wouldn’t give her the pleasure of one. Because she knew she what she did wasn’t wrong just asking for her money was nothing. She said goodbye to everyone and even shed a few tears here and there. Even though the job she had was stressful and complete bullshit at the time she would always have a soft spot for everybody in the building she loved every single one of them even when they didn’t deserve it. And just seeing her go was really heart breaking because she didn’t want to leave but at the same time she did.
It was complete bullshit what they did to her that day. Literally firing her over her asking for her money, it’s just ridiculous. And since the day she was fired the office never felt the same again. Everything got more stressful, no body got along with each other, everyone was trying to get work done, it was just a mess. I missed her very much. I did try to see her but something happened to her that just ruined her. I won’t go into further detail about her just out of respect. But she was different, she just wasn’t the same person I knew before. She basically just broke down… she’s doing better now as she’s getting her life back together.
I just wish things were different because she didn’t deserve any of it.