I have worked different jobs, in different countries, and with different people. I have encountered many assholes and jerks throughout my career and my life. I usually have a high tolerance for assholes and I can deal with jerks, and sometimes even return a favor. Not that they don’t bother me, but I have accepted the reality that assholes are part of life and I need to be stronger, and better at what I’m doing, so they can’t harm me. George Bernard Shaw once said, ‘Never wrestle with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig enjoys it’. This is relevant to assholes too. Anyway, they are annoying nonetheless.

I have forgotten many of them, and this is the good thing about the human brain: we forget the bad things and after a while when we look back and review our memories, what we usually recall are mostly good memories and good people that we met. There is one specific person I will not forget as she was not only an asshole, but she was the vilest and vicious mother fucker I have ever met, and I hated her from the bottom of my heart.
I never understood how she still had a job that she had at the time, as she butted heads with many other employees. People usually tried to ignore her or just went along with whatever nonsense she was saying, just so they stayed on her safe side. Most assholes have some friends and they usually don’t bite them, this lady, however, was unpredictable. She could be your buddy today and tomorrow, she was planning something against you behind your back, and she would go the extra mile to hurt you. Again, an asshole or jerk won’t do the justice to describe this creature.
While I wasn’t reporting to her and she wasn’t my subordinate, in the organizational hierarchy, I was above her and we had to work together to service clients. The first few months after I got promoted, she went above and beyond to get me fired! Once she realized she couldn’t do that and her efforts were fruitless, she started to fire back at me anytime I said something to the client in an email. It was very annoying and made me hate everything at that time.
It was the time that our company was going through some big changes and almost every other day, we had an email that so and so decided to leave the company. Another one bites the dust, was a common phrase and we used it at least once or twice a day. Those emails would usually come out on Fridays, so we were very nervous on Fridays and sometimes betting on who is leaving next. Sometimes we learn about colleagues’ departure even before HR emails us. Those were not fun times, and working with a vicious asshole, made it even worse. I thought and prayed that I saw her name on those emails, and kept my fingers crossed.
There was this local organic store near our office, that we would go to now and then to buy lunch. I loved their Reuben sandwich and it was amazingly delicious. One day I got this coupon in the mail for a bottle of free wine! I don’t drink, but I thought it is a free wine and I can maybe give it to someone who drinks – as a gift of course! I walked over there and bought my lunch and got my free wine. I put the wine in my drawer in the office, and I kinda forgot about it, until the vicious lady started acting up again. Lots of back and forth email, and meeting for something so stupid that I couldn’t believe she is doing these things, but you know snakes bites, not because they hate you or something, it is snakes’ nature to bite. She was the same, vicious, mean, straight-up A-Grade asshole.
After the dust settled, I don’t know why, but I opened my drawer and I saw the wine there, and that brilliant idea came to me: I should keep the wine here, and open it and drink the whole damn thing on the day she bites the dust and leaves this company for good! I couldn’t believe it. I was willing to commit a sin if she leaves. God, I even prayed that she finds a better, higher-paying job, just leave us you vicious mother fucker.
A year or two passed, the wine still in my drawer and she is still here. I couldn’t get rid of her. Our

company was going through another big change, and I have had it enough, so I started looking for a job. After a few months, I found a job, accepted the offer, gave my notice, and went to the office to grab my stuff. And there it was, my free wine reserved for a special celebration that never happened to look at me, and this song came to my mind: ‘Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping…’
I sighed, packed my stuff and the last thing was the wine in its brown bag asking about her unclear future. I couldn’t just leave her here, the world is a dangerous place, especially for a lonely wine. I couldn’t take her with me either. She needed someone, someone who can fulfill her potential. So, I looked around, there it was Mr. B. I thought, well today is his lucky day. Walked towards him and said, hey do you drink wine? He said what do you have? I showed him the wine and he said, is this the free one you got a few years ago? And I said, yes it is. I was saving it for a special occasion but it never came.
Now, he was curious about what special occasion I was talking about. So, I said you know I actually saved this here for a day I saw this email about her leaving the company and the plan was to drink the whole thing and get drunk. Alas, she is still here, and I’m leaving for good, so I have no good use for it and if you drink you should have it. He laughed. We both laughed at how life is a funny game.




