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Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Today we received some exciting news that we can head home from 12 noon. One of my colleagues announced she will go home first. She’s really the type who has strong personality and known to be very direct to a point of borderline being rude to others. I attempted to give her a farewell hug. I now realize that I may have pushed for this physical interaction despite her discomfort.

In response, and I was really in shock, she struck my shoulder with significant force, causing immediate pain and a burning ache in my arm, which persists til now. The incident was loud and startling and was in front of my manager and another colleague. She said “I warned you didn’t I?” I was in so much shock I didn’t even know how to compose myself afterwards. It was a significant hit she made as otherwise my shoulder wouldn’t still be in pain now, and it was really loud when she hit me.

i came home today and the moment I arrived at my house I was shaking and crying uncontrollably. I thought I could sleep it off but I’m awake now and still feel very humiliated to be hit like that, and to walk out in silence as you don’t know to respond, and to now bear the pain. I still cried hard after waking up. In hindsight I shouldn’t have persisted giving her a warm. I normally don’t do that but today was different as everyone was going home merrily and wishing everyone a great Xmas but truthfully how she treated really ruined my perception of a great workplace culture now.

3 replies

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In response to: Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Re: Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Hi @brokencolleague and welcome to the forums👋.

What an incredibly difficult day you've had at work, being hurt by a colleague. It makes sense this has bought up all sorts of emotions for you, including shock and humiliation, as well as the physical pain - that's no good 🥀 What was your boss and other colleagues' reaction to what the colleague did to you?

I'm very glad that you have found this forum and that you've felt able to post and I do hope that you will feel the support of the community during this time🌠.

If you're needing some immediate support and someone to talk through how you're feeling, I encourage you to get in touch with Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can also contact Health Direct for medical information if you continue to be concerned for your physical well-being🌿

TunedIn😎

In response to: Re: Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Re: Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Hi @TunedIn I think they were in as much shock as me. They just continued on with the conversation because the other person who struck me was leading the conversation as she was about to go home.

And I continued on pretending to do work, or else I would have broken down in tears if I didn’t shift my focus.

I hope to overcome this feeling before meeting my family over the Christmas period but it will certainly be a problem for me when I return after the 2 week break as I won’t know how to deal with her or act around her when I return whilst maintaining to still be professional.

In response to: Re: Rough last day before Xmas holidays

Re: Rough last day before Xmas holidays

@brokencolleague I can hear how much this interaction has affected you and it sounds like it was something that everyone present recognised wasn't an appropriate reaction so it's disappointing that nobody spoke up or checked on you. Does your workplace have a HR person that you would feel comfortable talking to about this? Perhaps contacting them before you break for the holidays could help you make feel a bit more comfortable when you return to work

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