At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)
Last week I asked "What if the one person you thought you could trust betrayed you?" The responses ran from possible forgiveness to cutting that person out of one's life completely. Which is to be expected. But it leads to a follow up question. Sort of.
Okay, so this one person you thought you could trust betrayed you. I'll leave the details up to your interpretation. But consider the term "betrayed". Whatever happened was bad.
Now, let's say that this person is now thrown into your orbit again...
What if you were forced to work with a person who betrayed you in the past towards a common goal?
When I say "forced to work with", I mean that someone you can't refuse has put the two of you together again. Like, a boss who puts the two of you on a project. Or a relative who you can't turn down. You might be able to argue against the partnership, but refusing would negatively impact you in a big way.
And make sure to stop by Unicorn Bell today for Theresa Milstein's book tour...
I guess I would suck up and proceed with caution.
ReplyDeleteI was in that position in the past. You suck it up and do it but you cover your ass meaning you document everything! You make it known that you document everything and that way you are covered. It helped me because this person i was forced to work with tried to sabotage and when my boss came to me, I had everything documented and the big thing...when this even was supposed to happen by me, I was sick that day.
ReplyDeleteSo, you're our go-to for this sort of thing. I'm sorry you actually had to live through something like this.
DeleteYes, I was. My first 7 years at my work was difficult due to 2 women...girls, who had issues but guess who still is working there:)
DeleteThe power of documentation.
DeleteI agree with the two comments above. I'm thankful I haven't been in that situation before though :)
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteI agree with Alex to CYA on everything and anything because I do believe if someone betrayed you once, they would have no qualms to do it again.
ReplyDeletebetty
First I would ask to switch anyway. Then, if that was refused, I would screw up the project in such a way that it would look like they ruined everything.
ReplyDeleteWhat. Come on, no one else had any funny answers.
Work with that someone, I am pretty good about hiding my feelings enough to do the job. But, this person that betrayed me was really close so I would more then likely throw in a few choice comments along the way.
ReplyDeleteOooh, that might not be fun for them ;)
DeleteI've been there. I would agree with Bridget (and I would also purchase a couple of large bottles of antacids.) Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think Birgit knows what she's talking about.
DeleteIf all possible it would be time to move on.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
Ideally, yeah. But this isn't an ideal situation.
DeleteI can work with them, I just won't trust them, or like them. I'll do all the important shit myself, just to be sure. Never give someone more than one opportunity to betray you.
ReplyDeleteThis is true. They've already shown their nature.
DeleteI would do it but be VERY VERY careful and never let them see or know my true feelings. Fool me once...
ReplyDeleteYes, being careful would be necessary.
DeleteNope. Unless it's life or death I'm out. I'd take the negative impact. Thank goodness I'm my own boss, though, and really don't care what most of my family thinks. lol
ReplyDeleteBirgit's comment made the most sense. I hadn't thought of documenting. The only thing that came to mind was to suck it up and work anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like she's been through it, so I would look to her for advice.
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