"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Suess Describe a time when you expressed how you felt... no matter the consequences.

I used to work with a lady named Tricia who was head of accounting at Wells Fargo. Tricia had an extremely difficult personality, which is putting it mildly. She frequently grated on people's nerves and she could be downright cruel and insulting at times. When my friend Josette was hired to work in the same office with her, Tricia made things so unbearable that Josette burst into tears one day. She had a penchant for wearing low-cut, cleavage-showing blouses. and maybe that's why our mostly male engineering office put up with her antics for so long. I remember with amusement when one of the older ladies who worked with us handed her a safety pin one day and told her to cover herself up.

Like everyone else, I put up with a lot of grief from Tricia. On the day that sticks in my mind, I had gone out for lunch and bought some office supplies, including a large piece of plexiglass to put under the typesetter sitting on a big, metal flat file in my office. Not only did the plexiglass cut down on the noise from the rattling metal, but it also kept the top of the file cabinet from being scratched by the constant shaking of the equipment. I had grown accustomed to buying the supplies I needed for my own office without any questions being asked. We were on the honor system, and my boss trusted each of us in this capacity.

When I turned in the receipts, Tricia lost no time tracking me down and hurling a barrage of questions at me. What the hell is this $30.00 piece of plexiglass for? Who gave you permission to buy it? Do you think you can just go out and buy whatever you want without having to account to anyone? She was very insulting and loud, and I knew that the three engineers upstairs with me could all hear what was going on. She was attacking my honesty and integrity for no good reason. The more I explained, the more she attacked, until I finally had enough. Just as loudly, with my voice straining, I told her to GET OUT. She stood and stared at me, dumbfounded. I repeated, GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!

I have to say that it felt really, really good and satisfying to order her out! It's the only time in my life I've ever done anything like that, other than throwing my little brother out of my bedroom when he was being a pain! After she left, one of the engineers came to my office doorway and applauded. Tricia later told my co-worker Steve D. that I was immature, which actually made me laugh. Wow, pot calling kettle! It wasn't much longer before she had crossed too many lines with too many people in our office, and she was "transferred" to the central station in Los Angeles. She later filed unfounded harrassment charges against her new boss (not hard to imagine with her personality) and she was out of there as well.

So yeah, it doesn't often happen that I completely lose my cool, especially at work. But that's the story of how I actually grew some cojones and ordered someone out of my office one day!