QUESTION FROM READER

I have been working as a part timer at a nearby supermarket for 10 years. I started to be responsible for various things as a middle-level managerial worker. The store chief who has just started, however, seems to dislike me, makes trivial complains, and tries to correct me in front of the staff. It looks to me that, under his influence, other staff now avoid me and follow the chief’s orders only but not mine. One day, my co-workers left the foyer to stop their chat when I entered the room. I cannot enjoy working under such a circumstance and want to quit my job. But I cannot do it because I have to pay the bills. I wish I could afford quitting. What shall I do? (57-year old female part time worker from Gifu Pref.)

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REPLY FROM FEMINIST COUNSELOR KIYOMI KAWANO

Before the new chief came in, was everything fine at the store? It seems, as you mentioned, that your achievement would have been recognized by your co-workers. Have your colleagues changed their behavior just because of chief’s reaction to you? I don’t know your situation actually, but may I offer you some way of thinking.

There’s a phrase “delusional mood (feeling),” which is used when you feel being ignored, avoided, or that everybody shuts their mouth when you enter the room, although there are no objective facts. Whether there are such facts or not, if someone strongly believes in own feeling, it is called “paranoia.” No, no, I am not saying that you are such a person, so please don’t misunderstand me. The difference between “the pathological” and “the sound” can’t be separated because both are just gradiences. For example, there are times when you think you heard someone say something but he/she didn’t. Or dry branches far in the dark sometimes look like a ghost, don’t they? We neither call it as “auditory hallucination” or “visual hallucination” every time. But we usually easily say to each other “that is your victim paranoia.”

When you are particularly tired, feel depressed and/or weak, tend to be timid, you could be caught with such “victim paranoia”. Are there any evidences around you? Please calmly check them. It could be just your imagination. I’d suggest that you try not to pay much attention to your boss.