If there is such a thing…”karma” is a dish best served cold.

I walked away with a reference letter and my entitlements. I left because of the toxic culture which was encouraged by my store manager. She loved pitting staff against each other. It had been my sixth year in my first “real” full-time job at a duty free store. I was studying and working, but was also experiencing severe depressive episodes and struggled to manage my condition while working at the store, under her commands. The manager believed that a competitive culture among staff was one of the best ways to drive and meet sales targets. There were female staff throwing things at each other and pulling each other’s hair in front of customers in a battle for the sale, bribes, double-standards, and illegal sales, all of which were encouraged and looked over.

I gave my resignation as the last straw after the manager blamed my depression on what she thought or believed as a lack of self care, including bad nutrition. She also lectured me on how depression turns people into drug addicts and thieves. On my last day, she ordered the store security guard to escort me back to the locker room, carry out a possession search through my locker, and escort me out of the building. I felt sorry for the security guard, as we were close, and as he kept apologising. After a week, I received my reference letter in the mail.

Approximately one and half months later, I heard from a colleague that she had sold commercial quantities of alcohol and tobacco to one person, who ended up not taking it through the customs (keeping it within the country), which triggered the suspicion of the customs officers, who raided and questioned the manager, which resulted in her getting fired. Without the entitlements she would’ve received, had it not been for her greed and toxic level of desire for success.

I didn’t have to lift a finger to serve my dish which is best served cold.