What To Do When It Happens
Write it down. The date. The time. What they said. What you said. What you couldn’t. This isn’t overreacting. It’s documenting.
Tell someone you trust. Not the one who explains it away. The one who believes you.
Save everything. Emails, DMs, texts. Rename the folder something boring.
Find the policy. It’s probably buried under “Respect in the Workplace.” Highlight it like your job depends on it—because it might.
Pay attention to what happens next. The silence. The cold shoulder. The missed invites. That counts too.
If it gets worse, you're not imagining it. Retaliation is common. It’s also illegal.
Don’t quit just to make it stop. Not before you talk to someone. A lawyer. A hotline. A friend who’s been there.
Crying in the bathroom is not unprofessional. Neither is dissociating. Nor surviving.
It’s okay to stay. It’s okay to leave. Either way, you’re strong.
What happened to you matters. Even if you stayed quiet. Even if you laughed. Even if you stayed quiet for a long, long, time.
NOTE: I wrote this on paper first (pic above) but realised my handwriting is mostly indecipherable trash. Didn't want to put you through that. Also, can people born after 2000 even read cursive nowadays? I truly have no idea.
😇😌🫨
