Having some concerns/issues with a coworker at the school I work at. I recently transferred schools and I talked with the head custodian about joining his team. Mainly a certain employee that works there, he has issues with me but I just stick to my work and don’t bother him. Anyways my new boss talked with this employee, we’ll call him Barry for namesake, told him there was a possibility that I would be joining their custodial team and did he have any issues with it because now is the time to say them. Barry say he has no problems with it and that it will be fine.
So I start working there and Barry likes to think he’s in charge and tells everyone what to do (mainly do his work so he has less to do) I was told by the head custodian that it is my job to gather all the garbage and it is Barry’s job to take it out (Barry has a 5 hour area and for his last 3 hours he’s supposed to go to the other custodians and help them with their work to make sure we all finish on time). After a week Barry tells me “we take turns doing garbage and tomorrow nights your turn” I said “no Barry I’m sorry and I’m not trying to make you mad but our head custodian told me what our roles are and yours is to take out the garbage I’m just supposed to load it” Barry obviously didn’t like that I stood my ground and said whatever and walked away.
So before I go any further I’ll tell you all Barry has mental health issues, he’s disappeared from work for months to go under psychic evaluation when he either stops taking his meds or they stop working. His end of the year evaluations are never good and the head custodian makes sure to document that he makes people uncomfortable. Most of the time he hides around corners and watches you work, randomly shows up in your work area, and has even been caught on camera following a female custodian into the bathroom. He has yelled at custodians for not doing what he says as well.
So a couple weeks ago Barry went up to my water fountains and sniffed them, then confronted me about using wd40 on them, I tried to calmly explain to him that it was a technique I was told about from our head maintenance man and multiple other coworkers and head custodians and assured him I wasn’t putting it on the spout or just spraying it on, I used a cloth and applied it that way after cleaning it. Barry shook his head and told me “we don’t do that here” which I said we all clean differently but as along as the job gets done it shouldn’t be an issue and he angrily walked away. I did bring it up with our head custodian and he was actually happy to hear I was doing it and told me he had no issues.
It’s around this time that Barry started acting differently. He has a certain routine that he sticks to religiously because he takes his meds at certain times as well as lunch and if he strays from this he starts to lose it. One day I tried to relay a message our head custodian had for him and he walked right by me with this blank stare as if he didn’t hear me or even see me. Then I noticed he wasn’t taking his lunches at his normal time as well as his breaks. I got a weird feeling so I decided to hide on the other side of the school until it was time to go home. The following day our head custodian reported that Barry just walked around his area last night and didn’t do any of his task, then called off last minute, we assumed and were correct that he was about to have another long absence from work, but before he was committed this time he told our head custodian he wanted a meeting with him at his car at 2:30 alone, the head custodian didn’t go and was advised not too by people who knew his wife from the other school saying Barry was having another episode. Needless to say he’s been gone for a couple weeks now and in his absence he’s been telling our principal that myself and another employee were poisoning his food and that I was using my EarPods to intercept his phone calls and eavesdrop on his conversations.
Barry is due back on Monday and my coworkers and I feel unsafe. We want to go to talk to our principal to voice our concerns but he is on vacation for the time being. Has anyone had an experience similar to this or have any advice on what we can do to find a solution that works for everyone? Any and all advice is appreciated cause I feel like I should get some mace or pepper spray.
The Prime Minister of Australia, ooɹɐƃuɐꓘ ǝǝpunⱭ, held many records. He was the first member of the Greens party to ever come into power, and the longest running Prime Minister in the history of the country. He'd been the most popular and successful leader since Harold Holt. He thought of himself as bold, courageous, charismatic - Who else could turn the 2030 Australian crisis into one of the best political comebacks in recorded history?
But ooɹɐƃuɐꓘ ǝǝpunⱭ (or ooɹɐƃ, as his friends called him) couldn't help but pace nervously. He felt anxious. ooɹɐƃ was supposed to be talking to his father today, but the developing state of some recent failures - however minor - spurred his worry. What was his father going to think?
The door to the secret room opened, its hinges groaning at the weight of the thing. He really needed to get those lubricated, but that'd mean questions concerning why he's bringing WD40 over to a bookshelf, and ooɹɐƃ really didn't want to deal with that sort of hassle. He would've gotten an assistant to do it by now if that didn't mean revealing that he had a secret room in the first place, and sharing that kind of information really ruins the point of a secret room.
No, the only other person in the country that knew about this place was the
surrogate, the man who was coming down the ladder now, and he definitely hadn't brought any WD40. To be fairly honest, ooɹɐƃ wasn't sure if the man had a soul, either. The surrogate carried the emotional depth of a spoon.
"Gary," the surrogate said in acknowledgement, having made his way down the ladder.
"It's pronounced ooɹɐƃ," the Prime Minister muttered under his breath for the umpteenth time. The surrogate had a very strong accent, a rural New South Wales-level intensity. His father kept insisting that this guy was a pro, but ooɹɐƃ wasn't that sure.
"That's what I said," the surrogate said emotionlessly. On the other side of the camera, ooɹɐƃ's father pinched his brow. "Wait, no, you're blaming the surrogate again, aren't you? I told you, ooɹɐƃ, this guy's a pro."
"Dad, a pro shouldn't keep mispronouncing my own name. It's degrading."
"Are you suggesting you don't like the name I gave you?"
"No! No, I-"
"You don't see Akahdemi Khan complaining," the surrogate said. "Might be why he's doing such a better job running Mongolia. You should be more like your brother, he's got his head screwed on straight."
ooɹɐƃ sighed, having heard this lecture a hundred times. "Dad-"
"I don't want to hear it," his adoptive father, Xi Jinping, sniffed. "Now, tell me about this coup."
ooɹɐƃ thought back. "Well, I got this tip off this morning that there's an ACIO faction contacting Laurentia and India," he said. "There's talk that India might've tried to pay them off, but we're not seeing much evidence supporting anything that could've helped them. We've already caught four of them, but the public
really isn't taking that too well. Don't really understand why, it felt out of the blue, some dues ex machina stuff."
"Jesus Christ, you can be dense sometimes," Xi said. "You already know the ACIO is trying to take you out of power, those riots are happening because they've gone ahead and instigated them. Don't you remember how I got you in this spot in the first place?"
The Prime Minister blinked. "Hey, that actually makes a lot of sense."
"You'd think so, if your head was attached to your shoulders. Roll your eyes at him." The surrogate rolled his eyes. "I don't understand why this is so hard for you. Akahdemi Khan's done wonderfully. His secret room doors don't squeak. Be more like your brother."
"Dad, it's not like that," ooɹɐƃ complained. "Australia's way harder than Mongolia, getting a pan-nationalist movement here is like a million times more challenging."
"Mongolia used to be in the ADL," Xi reminded him. "Besides, you never had any problem winning over Australia for years. Where's all this trouble coming from now?"
"I don't know!" ooɹɐƃ protested. "It's like there's somebody out there in Australia actively resisting China for some reason. I'm worried, Dad, I don't want to have to fight places like Laurentia because of this guy." He sniffled. "I'm scared."
Xi frowned. "Maybe I've been too harsh. C'mere. Open your arms." The surrogate opened his arms, and let ooɹɐƃ come in for a hug. "There, there. Pat him on the back." The surrogate professionally patted ooɹɐƃ's back, having performed actions like this for years.
"Thanks," ooɹɐƃ said quietly. "It's just all getting real stressful, making Mandarin mandatory and everything. I don't want to get assassinated. It sounds like it'd be horrible."
"It's okay," the surrogate told him. "Exit the hug." The surrogate exited the hug, and Xi continued: "Even if it does happen, I've got everything covered."
ooɹɐƃ frowned. "What?"
"Just look - Pull out the iPad - Open it, yeah, three-five-seven-six-one-one - Go to photos, yep, scroll down, find the picture of the guy I was talking about in the car - That's the one. Show him that." The surrogate flipped the tablet around to show ooɹɐƃ an image of a young adult man, sporting a full head of red hair and a couple hundred freckles.
"Who's that meant to be?" ooɹɐƃ asked.
"Your replacement!" Xi said happily, although the emotion wasn't conveyed by the surrogate. "This guy's name is
Samuel Guerney, no link to you or the People's Republic whatsoever. He's just become the forerunner for the Labour party, opposing you for the next election since they're the second most popular group - We got a girl climbing the ladder in the Liberals, too, she should be at the top by the time the next election is happening. Even if the ACIO somehow get rid of you, these guys are all prepared to step up to plate for us and keep the status quo going."
ooɹɐƃ was at a loss for words.
"You'll love them, promise," Xi told him. "Guerney's campaigning to bring up the lower economic class, Batton's all for winning over New Zealand. We checked out how you got found out to be connected to China and we've revamped the network entirely, it'll be a million times harder for anyone to spot the link to these guys."
"I'm still confused." ooɹɐƃ looked at the surrogate of his adoptive father. "You're replacing me?"
"What? Pssh, no. Laugh." The surrogate laughed at the suggestion. "No, these guys are contingencies. If something happens and you've got to step down or retire, you're fine. If India tries rigging the election again and it works, then we're still fine. Everything's going to be alright."
Maybe it was the hug, or maybe it was the kind, emotionless words of the surrogate, but ooɹɐƃ did feel a little bit better. "You're right, dad. It's all gonna work out. Just you watch, I'm gonna find those guys in the ACIO and sort this whole mess out no problem. I'll make you proud."
"I hope so," Xi said. "Time to go, turn around and climb the ladder." The surrogate moved away to exit the secret room, and just before he left, he said one more thing: "And fix this goddamn door!"