1.2.7 Playing Favorites
Having Vaughn at the helm went pretty well–for a while. Before long, though, he was back to his old ways of dismissing me.
It started out innocent enough–a denial here and there was to be expected; after all, not every idea is a winner. Before long, however, I started to suspect he had it out for me specifically.
Watching my co-worker’s ideas come to life on the screen while mine stayed planted firmly in my head was getting to me. I’m a creative person, so not having an outlet was discouraging. I decided to talk things out with Vaughn man to man.
“I can’t help but feel like you don’t like me,” I tell him after our morning meeting, where he shut me down once more.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he replies. Even his denial of disliking me is dismissive. “It’s nothing personal. Sometimes your ideas aren’t going to make it past the pitch.”
“Sometimes I can understand. But every time?”
“Look, I don’t want to be rude here,” he begins. He pushes his glasses up with his index finger. “I would use any pitch I felt would be good for the channel. So far, yours haven’t been up to standard.”
“That’s bullshit, Vaughn.” My voice is rising and my co-workers are starting to take notice of our discussion. “If my ideas are so bad, how come my pitches made it to filming when Lucy was here?”
“I think you know why.”
“Oh? Enlighten me.”
“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that having your sister-in-law as your boss grants you certain privileges.”
“That’s not fair. Lucy has been my boss since way before I married her brother, and she’s always supported me.”
“Yeah, because you’re friends. Lucy is a great person, but she doesn’t know how to separate her work from her personal life.”
“If that’s the case, then why did she get promoted?”
“That’s another can of worms. This place is rampant with favoritism. Let’s not forget our CEO is also related to you. You guys are all bumping elbows outside of the workplace, so it’s no wonder certain people get rewarded and others don’t.”
“Says the guy who just got a promotion.”
“Yeah, well, I interviewed for the Executive Producer position as well. This was my consolation prize. I knew it would be Lucy all along. Anyway, I’ve said too much. The last thing I need is you running to our bosses trying to get me fired.”
“I’m not going to do that. I’m just asking you to consider some of my pitches every once in a while.”
“I will once you give me a good one.” Vaughn turns and walks away, leaving me standing in the middle of the room with all eyes on me.
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