Jump to content

Ran into an old boss- awkward


Recommended Posts

FallingLeaves

Hey everyone-

 

A few years back I worked for a company through my college as part of an internship. It was a very small group of workers, and I essentially had 2 direct bosses and another 2 indirect bosses that would still give me assignments and deadlines.

 

Unfortunately, the internship went extremely south. The work environment was poor at best, and I was coping with a lot of outside stressors I had absolutely no control over. I was escaping an abusive relationship, as well as working other odd jobs to make ends meet. I had trouble completing my work, and was constantly being asked to do other assignments by all my various bosses (who would also get angry with me for doing work for other bosses, essentially communication was in a bad state.) To cut a long story short, I ended up having my internship cut off. In non academic terms, I was flat out fired.

 

(Off topic, but I have a lot of mixed feelings over that internship. In some ways, I do feel that I deserved to be fired, as I was struggling deeply during that time, and as a result, my work suffered. But on the other hand, the way I was treated was honestly bad, and it was frustrating to always be getting the short end of the stick. I never received any positive enforcement, regardless of what I did. I would even put in 50 hour weeks and skip lunches trying to meet expectations.)

 

Fast forward to now, I have since worked in other similar companies and have done amazingly well. Though at the moment I'm working in food service by my own choice, as I'm currently in a transition period and it's a low stress job with a fun atmosphere.

 

Today, I ended up serving one of my old bosses. And I was mortified. I know by the end of my time there, I left a very poor impression upon them. And even though I know I have now held other similar jobs and have done well, I felt deeply ashamed that I ran into them in a food service job. It felt ever worse to be serving them.

 

I just need to ask...has anyone ever been in a similar situation? It's hard not to feel depressed over this, and I need some encouragement.

Link to post
Share on other sites
And even though I know I have now held other similar jobs and have done well, I felt deeply ashamed that I ran into them in a food service job. It felt ever worse to be serving them.

 

There's nothing to be ashamed of. Be proud of your job. You're doing honest work and you're having fun with it. You're doing fine.

 

If it helps, your ex-boss probably didn't give it much of a thought. Most people wouldn't. They would think, "Oh, right, she used to intern with us and it didn't work out. Now, what am I going to order?" If you think he sat there the whole time thinking about how much better he was than you, you'd probably be mistaken. But if you know he is the type of person who would think that way, then he's a dick and not worth the space you're allowing him to occupy in your brain.

 

I can't help but wonder if this is just, like, residual embarrassment from having been fired that's now carrying over into your present life. If that's the case, just let it go. It was a dysfunctional workplace and you had some personal issues holding you back - that combination of factors just didn't work out. Forgive yourself for your mistakes and move on from them. You're doing well now. Focus on that.

Edited by CC12
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
×
×
  • Create New...