Bookshop Bullying

by David
(London)

I worked in a small bookshop. I enjoyed working with the manager until the appointment of a new member of staff. The new person quickly became aggressive toward me though I really could not understand why. The verbal abuse grew more and more intense as the weeks went by.

One of his pet themes to me was 'no one would care if you died.' He would also take regular readings from the till to check my time for going to lunch and returning. He criticized me in every conceivable way including personal insults about my taste in music, clothes, films and books.

If a friend rang for me he never failed to laugh at the private content of the call. This verbal abuse culminated in an assault when one day he suddenly swung a plastic bag that was full of parcels into my stomach. I simply didn't know what to do . The abuse grew worse and worse with non stop verbal abuse that impacted on my job.

I left the bookshop in state of depression and had a minor breakdown.