《The Seven Helpful Sins》Chapter 4: Wrath in the Workplace
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It’s been several days since I’ve started work, and I’ve finally gotten my first paycheck. I fell to my knees. The other sins hovered around me while Greed sat with a knowing grin near my bed. I finally got my future back, the pay from this job would cover my father’s hospital fees, I didn’t have to rely on my college funds anymore. I strolled to work with a grin on my face, knowing that my finances were finally safe and completely oblivious of the gangster-like figure hovering through the crowd.
Arriving at work I greeted the receptionist, his name was Tom and he was a father of two daughters. We chatted about how his and his daughters lives were going. His younger daughter Sam was going through her first year of elementary school and she was the first in her class to count to 100, his other daughter was going through 3rd grade and was a big fan of writing poems, he joked about how he might need to get another fridge for all the poems she writes. His wife is actually a nurse at the hospital my dad is staying at, curious I asked if he knew any of her patients, he shook his head in response saying that she isn’t the best at remembering names. Slightly disappointed after the conversation ended I gave a slight wave and made my way to the elevator.
“I would’ve punched him in the face if he kept on blabberin’ ” I jolted hearing the rough voice from behind me, the owner being none other than Wrath.
“What? He was just telling me how his life was going, we normally do this every few days.”
“You put up with that weak-ass shit more than once a week?”
“Wrath I feel as though you don’t really get the aspect of kindness”
“Well why the hell should I? Kid my name is W R A T H, if you think I’m gonna be all nicey-nice because you want me to be moral you have another fucking thing coming.” Before I could argue the elevator doors opened and I left towards my cubicle amidst the other employees.
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At my desk I was confused, “Hey Wrath, what could you even help me with? What good is anger in an office setting?”
“Maybe if you took that stick out of your ass I could fill you in.”
“Listen I don’t know why you’re being so uppity, I’m just doing my best to live a better life, I came here to work, not to fight.”
“If you can say that every day isn’t a fight then you’re either a pampered brat or delusional. You have to fight to get up, fight to keep up appearances, fight to do your best, fight to fucking live. You see now smartass? Not every fight is physical, most of the times it’s mental.” Completely dumbfounded by how he sounded so wise given his personality, I thought over what he said.
While I was pondering Wrath's words, the phone began to ring. “Hello, this is the customer service for the Long Reach Analyst Firm, my name is Joseph, what seems to be the issue?” Another caller who had overly simple questions. “Sir are you sure you compiled the program properly and all of the class paths were written properly?” And they’re also over-confident. “Ah so the issue was that some of the variables weren’t capitalized? I’m glad I could help you through it.” Annnd he hung up saying I didn’t help,
“You deal with these jackasses with such a pleasant voice but I can tell how pissed you are.”
“Do you really think anyone wouldn’t be upset dealing with a jerk? Thanks captain obvious.” Visibly upset, he seemed to phase through the floors into the next level, good riddance.
After the call I went back to my current project with an airline service program, but then came Jim. “So what’s it like being stuck handling the customers?”
“Oh just dealing with angry clients who refuse help, I’m absolutely peachy.”
“Ha, it’s pretty nice being a supervisor, all I need to do is just check in on you guys and my job is done, I may as well get paid to breathe.” Just wait until somebody asks you for help, I thought to myself. Almost as if sensing my annoyance Wrath poked his head through the ceiling, flashing a wicked grin.
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Shrugging it off I went back to my conversation with Jim, “Yeah, but at least I have my lunch, so I guess dealing with the clients isn’t all bad.”
I thought I saw an annoyed look flash across his face but replied “Well I guess every position has it perks, keep up the good work.” As he walked away.
Shortly after he left I turned back to my screen only to see Wrath poking his face through it. “So who was that you were talking too ya doormat?"
“He’s one of the company supervisors Jim, he got this job through his father.”
“Aw now isn’t that a shame, I’m sure you’re so glad you get to work with such a hard-working person.” The sarcasm was practically dripping from his words.
As I went back to work I decided to respond “Listen Wrath, I’m not sure you know how society works, just because we don’t like someone does not give us a right to be upset with them. As he’s my superior and the son of a manager if I get on bad terms with him then my job is put on the line.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re a doormat?”
“Did you even listen to what I said? I don’t have a choice in this matter”
“So you’re taking your anger out on me instead of the source?”
“What the hell else am I supposed to do?”
“Are you an idiot, get mad, use your anger in a way that counts, haven’t you thought of, I don’t know, letting the boss know?”
“How is one peon like me going to convince a father that his son isn’t doing his job right?”
“Who said you were the only one? Kid I’m the sin of Wrath, I know everyone slight annoyances and you are far from the only one annoyed with that stuck-up punk.” Gah, why does he have to be right.
“Alright so who else is against him?”
“Well while you were pushing buttons I was scoping up the other floors and found about 5 other people annoyed enough with him that they would consider going up to the boss.” After he told me the names during my break I decided to pay them all a visit and worked out a date when we would all convince the boss that Jim wasn’t doing such a good job.
The plan went quite smoothly and we seemed to convince the boss, some of the other employees even had video evidence of his behavior. I was quite surprised and a little bit worried that I might be recorded one day, but shrugging that off I was glad that it seemed like my days could get a bit better. Just then Wrath bumped up against me in the air, “See kid what’d I tell ya? You don’t really need to hold in your anger that much dontcha?”
“Yeah just like how I was really pissed with your attitude earlier this day.” I retorted jokingly
“Aw looks like the doormat has stood up, just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean I’ll change but it’s good to know you can say that kinda stuff now.” It seemed like maybe Wrath wasn’t all as bad as I made him out to be, despite his personality.
As I returned to my apartment I was once again greeted with a pleasant dinner from gluttony. I’m quite surprised at how he can almost always tell just what I’m in the mood for the day, but perhaps that’s the effect of his sin. After finishing off my plate I did my nightly routine, took a shower and went to sleep. I wonder what tomorrow may hold now that Jim’s actions are out.
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