Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I have a meeting with Mr. Frodo this afternoon.
I have some news for him, and it doesn’t have anything to do with car insurance.
I’m letting him know that he’s got a week before I take this situation to the media.
I’m tired of screwing around with this entire company, and I’m not prepared to put up with it any longer.
What’s he going to do?
I mean, yeah, he could threaten to fire me, but if he does fire me for this, then it gets a whole lot bigger.
And I can’t sit around afraid of being fired for doing what I know needs to be done, and probably should have been done a long time ago.
It’s not like they’re going to have a change of heart, and just all the sudden stop jerking me around.
They’ll do that as long as I let them get away with it.
They’re not going to fix the situation, and there’s no reason for me to believe anything they say about it.
I’ve done that for the last three, going on four months, and it’s done nothing but bring me more disappointment.
So I figure, what the hell.
I asked about the former support team member, the one who got fired a couple of weeks ago for speaking out about business practices we all know are inethical.
She’s apparently landed on her feet.
She has a new job, and she’s better off than she was while she was working here.
That helped a little to crystalize my final decision.
I mean, I was intent on coming in this morning and letting Mr. Frodo know the deal, but knowing that my former coworker landed on her feet after the crucifixion she received from the thugs in power sort of cemented my resolve.
And then I thought about the fact that I have someone who’ll catch me if I fall.
He helped me out of a really bad situation financially recently, and is behind me regarding the crap going on at work.
I told him last night that I was going to drop the media bomb, and he didn’t advise against it.
I have to add that I always take his advice into consideration, not because I’m incapable of making my own decisions, but because I’ve never found it to be wrong.
If he’s not sure about something, he won’t give advice on the subject.
If something happens, then he’ll be there to catch me, because he knows I’m not doing this because I want to be an idiot.
I’m doing it because someone has to put an end to this, and it’s not going to be the thugs that run this place.
They could care less.
The only reason they haven’t let me go before now is because they know they can’t.
And there’s no reason why they should be allowed to just continue letting things go on like they have.
I sat at the same table as Mr. Frodo while I was in the break room eating lunch.
I felt a little guilty about being nice to him knowing what I’m going to tell him this afternoon, but then I considered that it would really do any good to be a wench.
After all, business is business.
I can’t say I don’t relish the opportunity to put the fear of God into him, because he’s a rube, and he needs something like that to happen.
For months now, he’s sauntered around here, trying to level the playing field every time he talks to me because he’s intimidated by me.
He always gives me the run-around, and pretty much just brushes me off, while not saying anything derogatory in order to avoid an HR issue.
To say I haven’t imagined what it will be like to see him squirm, however slightly, would be a lie.
But it’s not going to bother me if he doesn’t.
If he wants to call my bluff, then fine.
But either way, something needs to happen.
I can’t just sit here and allow myself to be pushed around.
To those who might say I should be greatful I’m getting paid, and that I have no choice but to take it, I respectfully submit that you’re very wrong.
I’m still being paid due to the fact that I can’t be fired for this, not due to any graciousness or generosity on the part of my employer.
And besides, people don’t have to accept the short end of the stick just because that’s all that’s offered.
Sure, they can, and I’d never fault anyone for doing so if that’s what they believe they need to do, because God will reward them for it in the hereafter or something.
But at the same time, it would be seriously disrespectful to myself to accept the short end of the stick without question, or to just take it when offered, mumble my thanks, and then bitch about it later.
Coming back to my former coworker, I think that maybe her finding a new and better job so quickly was her reward for being willing to speak the truth, and even going so far as to act upon that willingness, even if it meant losing her job.
I’m not saying that’s a surity, just a possibility.
And coming back to the person who’s been here supporting me through all of this, and every other time I’ve been knocked to the ground by this company, sometimes I wonder if he’s not been the answer to all the prayers I’ve prayed every time I end up in a bind.
I’m not saying that he’s being micromanaged by God or anything like that.
That would be too simplistic and foolish.
But he’s always been there to extend a hand when I needed it, or a shoulder, or an ear.
He’s been a true companion through all of the ups and downs I’ve been through over the last several years.
And he’s done more than just be there, he’s acted as well, before I even had the chance or urge to ask.
Surely he’ll be there once more if the need arrises.
OK, I’m done waxing philosophical.