Who's afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

On most days, I'm more than capable of being a big girl and fighting my own battles. I've been involved in messy legal battles, nasty interdepartmental fights and various squabbles with friends, the French and boyfriends and have come out the other side with my trusty stilettos, Thomas Pink shirt and winning smile intact.

What I take exception to however, is a Big Bad Director publicly attacking me when he has been misinformed by his own staff. Starting the week with a more than slightly unfair email is hardly a barrel of laughs but if that's how he'd like to play, I'm game. First though, a quick cry in the Ladies is required.

Whilst some of you might say that having a quick cry in the loo is a bit much, I do feel that escalating an issue to my superior and blaming me for loss of revenue is a little over the top, especially given the tone of his email. He seems to have forgotten that this has never been raised to me before and doesn't even lie within my department's remit. Unfortunately, it does appear that BBD's plan of escalating this problem to my superior has fallen flatter than a failed souffle, as he would have discovered upon receipt of said superior's out of office notification.

Perhaps someone should suggest a training day for BBD to work on his interpersonal skills. I also have a great book that he may be interested in. Possibly a recommendation of how to manage his staff and get the full story as well as correct escalation points before launching into a very unpleasant tirade would also be in order. At the same time, someone really should point out that his shirts are a little too small and that when he leans back in his chair, one can see his fat, hairy tummy and the sweat patches under his arms. A couple of milligrams of botox would clear that right up, my dear.

Nastiness aside, I am continually amazed at how people word their emails. It seems that because they're safely behind a screen, they think that sending abusive and rash emails is completely justified. It is funny how if you call them immediately afterwards, they become quite apologetic when you politely point out the glaring errors in the offending communication. It's even funnier that once you've done this and followed up with a polite, well-written email of your own, you'll never receive an apology and by that stage, the damage has already been done.