I am shaking. My hands are trembling so bad that I can barely type. And yet I don’t feel like crying…progress!

I am shaking because I just have been through a not so very lady-like screaming match with such mentioned man-child.

It never fails to amaze me the entitled whiny attitude of some of the men I work with. There is one in particular that my assistant and I have nicknamed “only child”. Clearly his parents did everything he wanted when he wanted so now he wants the rest of the world to cater to him also.

Not on my watch!

He doesn’t know how to hear a “No” or to be asked to do something or comply with some rule. I don’t make the rules I am just the enforcer. I do everything here, from Human Resources to Compliance, so I need to interact with the brokers and make sure that they are doing what needs to be done. I am often the bad guy, but I do it well and often work with them on getting things done. I look the other way on minor offenses and give them second and third chances. I often go out of my way for them and that is why I get so annoyed when someone that I keep going out of my way for has the nerve to attack me.

I expect to get what I give, respect and not a condescending tone. I don’t care who you are. I expect not to be told how to do my job when my job is performed beyond reproach, plus I don’t tell them how to broker, even though I would probably do a better job than some here. And I especially expect not to have this firm compared with prior places of employments. If those places were so good why didn’t he stay there? Because we pay a better commission and at the end of the day there is nothing he likes more than money.

I am in the Wall Street/Financial world. Here money rules, and more than once I have been told by the brokers here that their job is to make money as if that is an excuse not to follow rules and regulations and not do what I need them to do.

About once a month for the past 3 years every time I need certain receipts this broker whines about it and starts to tell me that certain receipts shouldn’t be required, and that the distrust level here is too much. Do you think I can use that line with the IRS?

Today again he started giving me the same speech, he raised his voice and upgraded his tone to an even more condescending one if that is at all possible. Again, calmly, I explained that those were the requirements and no matter how many times he questioned them they wouldn’t be changing. Again he used the “distrust” line and started telling what his prior employer use to require. I cut him off and he said: Can you let me speak? I said no. I am done with that subject.

He left my office mad saying how this place is this and this place is that (really meaning me) and went straight to another partner yelling and complaining about me and how I do things. I don’t remember exactly the order and all that was said, but I pretty much went out on the floor after him and said I was not going to be talked to in such tone. I said I was tired and done with him, and that if he wants to get paid he better produce receipts.

He asked if I was really saying I was done with him in front of everyone and on tape (everything that is said on the floor is recorded). I said yes. He said: Don’t speak to me. I said: gladly!

Normally when I get upset with one of the brokers I may regret it later and I will tell them I should have handled differently. Especially since I am one of the partners here I think I should not stoop to their level and not engage in the back and forth shouting. But this time I think he got what he deserved. I only regret not saying more.  Enough is enough! I don’t care who he thinks he is and I don’t care how much money he makes.

This was mostly about his tone of voice and attitude and not necessarily about what he actually said today, as I am used to hearing all sorts of things from all brokers.  But I will never get used to being talked to as if I am of an inferior kind.

Thanks for letting me vent!  I feel better already!

“Create boundaries. Honor your limits. Say no. Take a break. Let go. Stay grounded. Nurture your body. Love your vulnerability. And if all else fails, breathe deeply.” ― Aletheia Luna