Revenge Fantasies Are Normal, Right?

When I moved back to Tennessee in 2004, I took a job working for an individual who was less than desirable. When I worked for him, there was nothing that I could do that was right. If you did 9,999 things out of 10,000 correctly, he would focus on the one thing that went wrong. He apparently loved to yell at his employees and at his wife (who also worked there). I began to doubt my actual effectiveness. He made me doubt my abilities. I felt terrible and my confidence was shot.

I quit after working there after about eight months.

Yesterday, I had one of those "full circle" moments. I received a written appraisal from my current boss at my current job. I had received great written appraisals in the past from other bosses, but this one took the cake. Words were used like "valuable", "irreplaceable" and "exceptional". At the end of it, my boss even recommended me for a promotion. I actually thought to myself at the end of reading it, "Wow, how am I supposed to top this next year?"

Deep down, there is a part of me that desperately wants to take this appraisal and duct tape it to the windshield of that old boss's obnoxious sports car. Maybe even super glue it. And write on it in big red letters...

Did you ever stop to think that maybe YOU were the problem?

I won't...(mainly because I don't actually do those sort of things and I like the fact that I don't have a criminal record or restraining orders against me) but just fantasizing about it makes me smile just a little.

Does that make me a bad person?