The Shocking Announcement
I sat in Janet’s office, hands folded neatly in my lap, expecting to discuss Becca’s inappropriate video. Instead, Janet cleared her throat and said, ‘Cathy, we wanted to inform you that the management position has been filled.
‘ I nodded, waiting for her to continue with what I assumed would be an apology about me not getting the role. ‘Becca will be stepping into the position effective next Monday.’ The words hit me like a physical blow.
I actually laughed, thinking it was some kind of bizarre joke.
‘Becca?’ I repeated. ‘The same Becca who’s been here six months? Who still can’t file a basic claim without assistance?’ Janet avoided my eyes, suddenly very interested in straightening papers on her desk.
‘She brings… a modern energy,’ Mr. Daniels chimed in from the corner of the room. I hadn’t even noticed him sitting there. ‘We’re trying to evolve with the times, Cathy.’ I felt my face grow hot as fifteen years of loyalty crashed down around me.
Fifteen years of staying late, of training others, of knowing every client by name—all trumped by six months of TikTok videos and ‘modern energy.
‘ I wanted to scream, to flip Janet’s neat stack of papers across the room, to ask if ‘evolving with the times’ meant promoting someone who publicly mocked her coworkers. Instead, I nodded stiffly and thanked them for letting me know.
As I walked back to my desk on legs that felt like they might give out any second, one thought kept circling in my mind: this wasn’t just about a promotion anymore—this was about dignity.
And I was about to learn just how little of that was left for me at Midwest Mutual.