Read & listen to the conversation

Vanessa: I did the stupidest thing the other day. I’m embarrassed to even talk about it.

Louis: Haha, come on, fess up! What’d you do?

Vanessa: Remember I told you about how my boss always talks down to me and treats me like I’m incompetent?

Louis: Yeah, and I said you should speak up – it’s not right to treat an employee like that.

Vanessa: Well, I didn’t want to cause any problems, so I usually just try to tune him out. But yesterday I finally got fed up and called him out on it – respectfully, of course. I just pointed out that I’ve been with the company for two years and he doesn’t need to spell out every single task as if I were a child.

Louis: Oooh, good for you! How’d he react?

Vanessa: He didn’t even let me finish! He cut me off and said I was challenging his authority. Then he rattled off all his own accomplishments and started harping on the importance of new employees needing to respect the company hierarchy.

Louis: Ugh – so did you keep quiet or tell him off?

Vanessa: Before I could say anything, another colleague of mine butted in – I thought she was going to stand up for me, but she backed him up instead! That really stung, because I had opened up to her about my frustrations and she had promised to help me out.

Louis: So… I don’t get it. What was the stupid part?

Vanessa: I was at a restaurant with my best friend and I had been ranting about my boss for a solid ten minutes when suddenly my friend blurted out, “Look behind you!”

Louis: Let me guess – your boss was right there.

Vanessa: Bingo.

Louis: How much did he overhear?

Vanessa: Enough to make him furious, although he was trying not to let on because he was having dinner with his wife and kids. But I could tell by the look on his face that he’s definitely going to bring up my “attitude problem” at the next performance review.

Louis: Ouch. Well, lesson learned – always check your surroundings before you start to vent!