The Devil wore Louis Vuitton

So I saw the trailer for the latest movie to hit theaters called Horrible Bosses and it got me to thinking. I am sure we all have a Horrible Boss story in our past somewhere.  So I thought I would share mine.
I was hired at a local physical therapy company by a woman named Leticia......not Latisha....Leticia! Ha! I would hear this line multiple times each day as she corrected callers who mispronounced her name. She would even take the time to correct sales people before she would then immediately tell them that she was not interested and hang up the phone. She started off nice enough. I would show up to work and she would already be there tooling away in her office rarely did she leave it. I had my own office that was such a mess she told me that once I organized it she would give me a $200.oo bonus check. Needless to say I had that check in matter of days. So it seemed like an OK gig to me. She promised lots of big bonuses and was nice and talked so highly of her favorite employee that you would think you had just landed a dream job.
Things would change over the next couple of weeks and months. I don't think she changed I just think that her spots started to show through! Eventually patients and staff would watch a shiny black Porsche pull up to the clinic only to see this 4 foot 10 inch woman step out. She would walk through the clinic in her Ally McBeal style dress wearing 4 inch Louis Vuitton heels and designer sunglasses and the biggest smile you ever saw and would say Hi to each and every patient as she walked through.  You knew immediately that she was the owner and a person of importance....that is the way she liked it. I too at first was enamored by her entrance but eventually I would watch this woman walk by and I swear I could hear the lost and screaming souls of former employees she had eaten screaming to be saved!!! Okay not really but still trying to paint this picture for you.
She was famous for putting people in their place, including me. I can remember working away only to have her stand right over my shoulder and ask me to show her how I had come up with a figure on an account. She would stand so close that her body would touch mine and I could feel her breath on the back of my neck. She would later tell me this was a position of power that she had learned. Just like when you walk someone into your office you give them permission to sit down and remain standing for 10 more seconds prior to sitting so they have to look up at you. I remember her talking about going to the theater the previous night and watching The Devil Wears Prada and proudly comparing herself to the character of Meryl Streep.
She was really good at the mind games and the digs she would take. Like the fact that she thought I was a little too chunky and banned employees from eating at their desks during the day. I was pretty sure that new rule was aimed directly at me. She pretty much guaranteed that the following day when she walked in and put a Myoplex Lite diet shake on my desk and told me that should be my new favorite lunch. She would later watch me drink it in the office we shared. She would begin the lecture of how I should start dieting and even went as far as to tell me I should do the Body for Life program that she had done. At that point I remember thinking how much dignity that I had just allowed her to steal from me. She would make more digs like at my birthday when she gave me the gift of used audio tapes copyrighted in 1986 (It is now 2005) on how to be a better parent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!No joke. I will give you a moment to pick your jaw up and off the floor from that one.
Later on as she started to get divorced from her husband it would only get worse. She rarely showed up and when she did we would hear of the drama. The company went from 3 locations and 6 employees down to one location with 2 employees. This is when the therapist and star employee Melissa and I would become such close friends. We shared a bond in this clinic. Melissa and I would later be called as witnesses in hearings between Leticia and her husband. Talk about the hot seat. We were like children testifying against our parents and did not know what was okay to say and which parent would end up with custody of the business and remain our boss. Eventually the judge ordered them to sell the business since they could not agree. Melissa stepped up to the plate and made an offer. This gave me a goal to work for. Hang in there as long as you can and it will all be better! But it came to a head as the lies started to poor in. She was bouncing paychecks to me as she was getting breast implant surgery she talked of moving into an apartment while she was really purchasing a million dollar plus home. I spent most of my work hours taking angry calls from bill collectors and waiting for the repo men to show up at the door. Needless to say the deal to purchase the clinic would fall through and that same day a lock smith showed up to change the locks while we were eating lunch. Clearly it was me that was going to get the ax at that point. The therapist generated income....I only collected it. So out she walks with an envelope that she handed to me. In it contained my last paycheck and a letter stating she could "no longer afford me". She never said a word to me! I remember laughing a nervous laugh inside my body. I then went and packed up my belongings in the office I shared with her, while she sat there putting on lipstick in a pocket mirror and adjusting her hair. That triggered something in me and I stood in her doorway with my box held high and told her what a miserable person I thought she was. I told her that "someday you will sit in this empty office with no employees and no business left and it will be your fault" I spit venom at her and walked out the door. I cannot remember a time that I was more angry and I cannot remember ever hating someone as much as I did her.
I will admit I found great satisfaction in the fact that her business came to a screeching halt within months of that speech. She lost everything. Her star employee had left and that repo man finally showed up along with the landlord to change her locks for good.
Fast forward several years and I can honestly say I am over my anger and hurt and I was able to find my dignity.  Melissa now owns her own clinic which I am proud to work at. She is the exact opposite of my former boss. Willing to take no pay over doing the right thing for a patient in need. She has never once treated me like I owed her something and I am sure she would give me the shirt off her back if I really needed it. I know if I had not dealt with that terrible boss that I would not be where I am today. But to make it clear I do not owe any of this to Leticia. I earned where I am today by being a good employee, a good person and a good friend. The only thing I will give Leticia credit for is teaching me that you can never let someone walk on you because once you let them take that first step they know they can walk for miles.