...life?...

The quarantine

Well I guess I should also tell you were exactly these suburbs, with the little row-house that we live in, are... in the country with happiest people.

You call also call me sweet, because I am a Dane. And I live in terrible little isolated Denmark. And trust me, it was long before quarantine that Denmark was a little isolation bubble.

And the worst part about Denmark. Isn’t even the terrible gouvernement or the fake monarchs. Not even the high-taxes. And the best part about Denmark isn’t the free health or education system.

....

“You have to tell us what’s wrong for us to help you. Do you get that?”

....

Do I get that?... Did I not spend so long trying to ask for help, exposing myself, and explaining myself. With every fiber of my being screaming for me to shut up.

Do you just say that to yourself so you can feel better about the fact that you get a salary for telling me there’s nothing you can do to help me.

Because the things that I told you... are things that are illegal to tell here. Because that’s too indecent. Because other people can be harmed by all the sh*t that happened to me.

And you say it’s my fault like I don’t already blame myself and loath myself for it all.

....

It’s February 1st and Denmark is on lockdown for the second time.

Well the second lockdown has been going on for a while. Actually a long while. Since December last year. It’s such a long while ago that I can’t even remember the date.

But the first lockdown when it all went to sh*t was March 11th 2020.

....

“ We have as the administration, as citizens and as a country one responsible greater than any other, we have to avoid to many Danes getting the corona-virus....

Especially helping the weakest members of our society....most vulnerable.... no economic crisis.... every school and all day care centers will from Monday and two weeks ahead be closed...”

....

Right at that moment time froze and it’s been stuck since. But at the same time, time manages to kick my a**

....

“ I DON’T CARE IF THE NEIGHBORS HEAR ME. LET THEM HEAR ME!”

The fight and the yelling went on for a long time. But for the first time in a while my voice didn’t crack.

I thought I had the strength. Who gave a sh*t about anything. I didn’t give a sh*t about what the guy I liked would think. He thinks I’m to stiff anyway. Who cares about my boss. The thing I call “family”.

So this time I wasn’t going to break.

I thought...

....

Elle Anderson - December 2020

“Hi”, I said and waved to my boss and colleague at the counter. I was just going to drop of my jacket in the back before getting to work.

But before I could even get out of the little office in the back. My boss came in and said we needed to talk.

And no this isn’t going to be him raping me or him being an arrogant a**.

He asked me to sit down and at the last minute my boss’s boss slipped through the door. He was here to visit and check up on the store since he was our district manager. In the little city store I worked there weren’t a lot of workers.

We were placed in a semi small mall. We were the Store Manager Luke. Demi-store manger Matt. A full time worker Cam. And two apprentices Minnie and Mark. And then we were four part-time sales assistants. Sarah, Sandra, Addy and I.

I usually worked Thursdays which meant that I worked the closing shift with the Demi-manager and the apprentice Minnie. My father works for the same company. And I needed the job and it was something that interested me. He just mentioned me and they were ready to hire me. My dad was probably as feared as respected. But I insisted on a kind-of job interview. Well I ended up with the job and started a little later because I had to have a certain age to be allowed to work.

But when those days came it just broke unsteady me.

The district manager sat down at our little dinning table which was also our meeting table. It was wood I think but covered in an oilcloth. My boss also kept standing like myself. He then just started saying it...

“So Friday after your Thursday-shift with Matt and Minnie, they came to me and Matt said that you had an attitude with him and Minnie said that you undermined her work and said that it wasn’t good enough. So I just need to hear what that was really about.”

I just stood there in a shock. Luke had kept a sympathetic smile on his face. I think he knows I wouldn’t do it, but what do I know. He probably agreed. Luke was a nice boss kind and would take some of the work. He would make people do their jobs but also in a nice way. He would also do some of the dirty-work so the rest of us also got to do something fun.

I knew that it was his job. He had to ask me. So I answered?

“Yeah Matt said to be that I had an attitude with him. And he said I had a perverted language. But I thought that it was a disagreement about towels. And I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. And I really have no clue what the Minnie thing is about.”

The district Manager all of a sudden “came to my rescue”?

“Did they say what it was about more specifically?”

“No, I really don’t know what you did. They just came with this complaint, Elle” Luke answered me even though it wasn’t I who asked the question.

Luke made a comment on how Matt was my boss and I had to remember and respect that. He said himself, that this was something he had to do.

I just said okay and left. Luke asked me if I was okay. I just said yeah and left with tears streaming down my face and trying my best to hide it because I had to look customers and my colleagues in the eye. But it had already been a crappy day. And this was not what I needed.

......