Tuesday 10 December 2024 in 2024

Work today was… well, let’s call it eventful. Passive aggression was on the menu, served up piping hot by none other than Emma from marketing.

It started with an email. The subject line read: “Quick FYI—urgent.” Harmless enough, right? But the email itself was a masterpiece of carefully crafted condescension. “Hi Victoria, just looping you in on this since I assumed you might not have seen the original deadline (attached for ease!). Let me know if you’d like me to explain.”

Explain? Explain what, Emma? How deadlines work? How calendars work? I stared at the email for a full thirty seconds, weighing my options. I could respond politely, pretending her tone didn’t make my teeth grind, or I could subtly return the favour. I went with option two.

“Thanks for flagging, Emma! Already had it on my radar, but appreciate the reminder. Just to confirm, the original deadline wasn’t attached—could you resend? Thanks so much!”

A small win, maybe, but I could practically hear her teeth grinding from across the office.

The cherry on top came during lunch when she “casually” brought up the project in the break room, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Oh, I was just worried Victoria might have missed the deadline. These things can slip through the cracks sometimes.”

I smiled, sweet as sugar. “Don’t worry, Em. I’ve got it completely under control. Always good to have extra eyes on things, though.” She looked mildly defeated, which is about as much of a victory as you can get in these situations.

By the time I got home, I was still fuming, so I scrambled some eggs for dinner—a tried-and-true stress meal. Now, I’m in bed, typing up this diary entry and trying to let it go. But let’s be honest, I’ll probably spend the next thirty minutes rewriting the perfect comeback in my head. Classic corporate slug behaviour, I know.

V