A year ago today I was in deep shit at work and I made a gesture to mend some personal wounds over it.

At the time I was under a lot of pressure as a Team Leader with a very rough group of employees. I would swear that my team had the highest number of problems in the course of a single day. Made for some very interesting days. There was some incidence, and now I can't even remember what it was, that spilled over into the working relationships between myself, a supervisor and at least one other employee. Being as emotional a person as I am, it affected me. So much so that I decided to take some sick time and get away from work. Stress relief. And for me my greatest form of stress release is the movies.

I was without my own transportation at the time and had to rely on a "friend" for transportation back and forth to work. This person lived right around the corner and was not out of this person's way to bring me along. I offered money for gas but was rebuffed a number of times. A friend doing a friend a favor. Our friendship included helping out during a rough personal time with this person. As always I opened myself up to this person. Sometimes it comes back to bite you in the gonads.

As I readied myself to leave work I made plans with this person to pick me up on the way home; my movie would be getting out just as the work day ended. I would get away from my stress, I would get home with no problem and I would not inconvenience this "friend". This person was completely supportive of my decision, "I don't blame you. I'd do the same thing. No problem, I'll see you after 5."

However, soon after I left work this "friend" went to management complaining. As I waited for my ride to get me the top two members of management came riding up asking me how the movie was. Busted! I ended up in the most monumental of shit storms being accused to misuse of sick time, creating a hostile work environment by expecting a favor from a subordinate and saying insulting things about a friend supervisor. That last one was the one that put it over the top for me. I could have cared less about the job; the fact I was being accused to saying horrible things about a friend of mine to other employees was sickening. Lies were being thrown at me to break me. But I didn't break.

I used my sick time as stress relief because the situation at the time was so bad I was ill. My stomach hurt and my hands shook. I stood by that and refused to sign the disciplinary action paperwork. Mincemeat knew they wouldn't be able to make it stick; what I did with my time once I left the building was my own business and the reasons for leaving were of a health related nature.

To hear these other accusations being leveled at me was like a punch to the gut. My supervisor friend went along with this witch hunt. Today we finally buried the hatchet over this for good. In recent months we have been talking and joking like before and it seems to be water under the bridge. I had to let this person know though that the accusations against me were false. From talking with my friend I did learn that the accusations and how she handled it were all a part of office politics which she had no choice but to follow from higher ups.

closure is a good thing. I will admit, at least in this work environment, I am looking at some friendships through a different shaded eyeglass but I still try to hold on to the benefit of doubt when it comes to friends. Like Mary Richards said in the final episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show; "The people you work with are not just the people you work with."