u/MuseCatherine

Hi 👋. After a series of some VERY strange manifestations on a trip through Italy and France, I’ve arrived in Edinburgh to find this unexplainable thing. Mum bought me this fan in Rome and I used it daily due to the heatwave. We went to some very significant places like the Vatican. The fan was completely in tact and mine is uniquely patterned. Never left my hands or bag. After arriving in France I noticed the one spoke had come loose from its glue on the side where they all are glued to the fabric. I said ‘I’ll have to glue that back once I get home’ and saw it for days like this. I then travelled to Edinburgh and get it out to use today and it looks like this: the wooden spike is now on the other side of the fabric. Please forgive me if I am stupid but I’ve been examined it and there is NO physical way the wooden unbendable spoke could have done this - there are no breaks in the fabric part and it is secure and not able to slide up or down. The spoke can’t pass over others or either end. Yet it is now on the wrong side. How!??

Hi guys I'm not sure if anyone can give me some advice on how to to deal with this situation. I was hired as the manager of marketing and communications for a firm that's growing quite rapidly. Although I understand this means that therefore the organisational structure has to grow along with it,and the needs of the business will expand (meaning there has to be more roles involved) I still cannot understand the blindsiding and very upsetting thing that occurred in the last few days.

Last week with absolutely no notice at all literally two working days before this woman suddenly appeared and started working in the office - I was pulled aside by my two bosses and it was announced to me that this woman was coming onboard as the ‘Head of Marketing’ and would now suddenly be my manager?? I was so shocked as a recent review had them louding me as doing an excellent job, no issues etc etc and they had me put together whole marketing strategies and flown to management meetings to present in other cities etc.

In the meeting I told them point blank I was shocked and felt totally blindsided and that until 2 seconds ago I had been TOLD and give every impression that I was chosen specifically as I had the skill needed to take them the direction the want to go in. I held back angry and sad tears.

Now here are the kickers: the CEO (one of the bosses who told me in the room about this) - likes to hire fiends and family - a LOT. The literal weekend after the presentations and management strategy meeting I mentioned, he and his family go on a little get away with some of the long term friends/team members in the popularity club, including whom I just found out this woman was one of. Camping, bonding, drinking. They then went and decided they would swoop her, their buddy, in past me and do this. I literally came out of the meeting where they told me about this and five minutes later an ONBOARDING notification pops into my calendar for her. I was distraught and confused and knew this had been planned with no respect or consultation to me at all.

They try and gaslight me by saying she is head of a few functions and helping the executive direction etc etc. I then find out that no. She is ‘Head of Marketing’ the role I told them I wanted to work towards after they broke this news and said I was very unhappy about this. The CEO dug heels in worse an said he couldn’t ‘see’ me in that role (weeks before, it was the opposite).

Same day I discover on LinkedIn in that she spent most of her career as a nutritionist, but just enjoyed marketing so hired herself as a marketing ‘consultant’ in that industry for 11years. Limited short course certificate learning and a year or two in an agency I think. Cut to today - her first day. It is very apparent she is no where near carrying the skillset to f me or even understands the breadth of what I’ve been doing specific to the industry I am in. So how the hell can she head the department?

I have worked in the industry for 25 years, I have a bachelors in Communications and a Masters degree in Digital Media, with a distinction. I ran my own business for many years. I have So much experience. I have no idea what to do or how to even work like this. I cannot afford to lose my job and I don’t want to go through finding another job, a year into this position - where I have worked so hard and achieved a lot for them already, with no issue. I also have an assistant and this has been utterly humiliating to me. I cried a lot over the weekend. I find this whole situation so extremely unprofessional and cruel. I don’t know what to do.

Glitch in this fan, I can’t explain.

AIO: What do you make of this, how do I deal with it?