Week end Charter : Marianne's version

The days I met the Macbeth witches on my way to work

I’ve been on my way to work for 10 years, now. God, I feel old. I still consider I’m on my way to work, because it seems to me I’ve spent ages trying to find the right job. I’m not even sure I found the right one yet, but I do hope so.

The first witch showed up on my way to my first job interview. I was on the train, heading to some ugly town in the Paris suburbs, and she sat next to me. She told me that I should take this job, that there was nothing more I could do anyway, that I was never going to make it in publishing. She also said I had to take it so that I could learn how to behave with others, how to keep my mouth shut and how to deal with hierarchy. She laughed, too. I believed her instantly, after all I’d been looking for a job as a junior editor for a whole year and nothing had come out of it except a lot of frustration. So I went to the interview, smiled, and met my first boss ever, who I was about to name Cruella.

The second witch showed up when my first child, my son, turned one. I was on my computer trying to find a nice cake to bake that he wouldn’t choke on and I saw an ad for a job. I figured I could give it a try. I sent an email and went to the interview the following week. The witch came with me on my first day, laughing really hard. She told me that she thought it was great that I took this job, but that I still had no idea how to deal with hierarchy problems and that her sister had asked too much of me the first time. So she said that she was sorry, but she had to send me there so that I could work on it. So I stayed for a little bit more than a year, and I left pretty abruptly, after a big fight and not feeling good about myself at all.

The third witch came to the next job interview. She was laughing even harder than her sister, and I really had trouble understanding what she said. I somehow managed to hear the words « hierarchy, this time we’ll have fun ». I really thought she was wrong, that I’d grown up and learnt. Well, she was right. I think that job was the worst situation eve for me : I worked for a couple, and the woman was both bi-polar and jealous. Not a good cocktail, trust me. However, I managed to leave elegantly, not get mad and not hit the bi-polar woman.

I started a new job last Monday. I’ll be a partner in the company pretty soon if things work out, so I’m pretty happy about it. For the first time ever I made a sensible decision, I gave it some thought, some time, I think I just became an adult !

On my way to work, I thought I heard a muffled sound, like a laugh. I shut my eyes really hard and repeated those words like a mantra « go away, go away, go away ». She never showed up. I think they’re on to someone else, now, heading to a new target. Please, please, let it be Cruella ;)