How is it that you have come to arrive here? Part 1

Last October, it became quite clear that the corporate culture at Sargent Aerospace was toxic. Both the General Manager and VP of Operations started at Sargent as interns from the UofA. Over 20 years ago. They had never received a paycheck that did not have “Sargent” written on the top of it. If this was not your career history, you were, at best, ignored or, at worst, actively undermined. One of the lifers decided that the salted caramel syrup that I added to my coffee (because it sucked) was actually bourbon. And decided my boss needed to hear that from them directly. Then my boss had the balls to say, “You know, your coffee does smell funny sometimes.” At which point I stormed out of his office, returned to mine, retrieved said syrup, returned to his office and (rather loudly) placed it on his desk.

A second lifer decided he needed to know that I sit out in my car at lunch, listen to podcasts and sometimes rest my eyes. After this, I stopped parking in the “office” lot and started parking in the “production” lot at the other end of the building. You know, the one where the production personnel sit in their cars at lunch and listen to the radio while eating lunch.