Unless Acier is over Abeille’s department or her branch, I don’t think he should be the one to talk to/reprimand her. It should start with Abeille being talked to by her direct supervisor, who is Botan. This is shifty.
Botan just distributes tasks to the team and he wasn’t “effective” in controlling her behaviour at all. He’s more a “team leader” than serious management.
Acier handles PR. And this IS a PR nightmare.
I’m worried. See… Botan doesn’t have the authority to fire her. Acier definitely does.
I agree. I do think Acier has a point in that he needs to control this PR nightmare, especially if Amaryllis, with Abeille not calling her back, has maybe tried to put things in motion at this point. If he handles this professionally – which might include firing Abeille – this won’t make me dislike him; he’ll just be someone doing his job then.
Now if he tries to pull some personal crap and try to meddle with the relationship of Miel and Abeille, though, that is different.
I actually did like Acier so far; it’s not like everyone can be a love-seeking toucher, it’s only realistic that there are strict bosses who have someone working for them whom they want to see succeed. But it’s one thing to be a strict boss and do your job and another to abuse your position and power to meddle. So far, Acier has shown worrying tendencies, but I was willing to believe in him. I feel that now will be the time where we’ll see just how good of a boss he really is.
Some small part of me suspects Abeille is about to be reassigned to the same place as Miel was offered. She couldbe assigned out of the public eye there *and* give a strong incentive for Miel to go there. Two birds with one stone.
I disagree. Acier wants Miel to go to Second City, and he’s basically trying to groom him to become his heir. Acier believes that Abeille is distracting Miel from his true calling: his work. I doubt that he would think that keeping Abeille around in any way–including sending her to Second City–would be beneficial to his plans of making Miel his successor.
That seems familiar. She is victimized, self-less and forgiving. Then she’s finally pushed too far into reacting and she is the one singled out for scrutiny. I think it’s related to allowing yourself to be abused.
The characters happy about the fight aren’t helpful. Advise to do what she did is pretty typical. There are options other than being a glutton for punishment as one extreme, or being reactionary and unforgiving as another extreme. This story does such a good job illustrating conflicts I’ve seen in my life.
Yup, been there. And it always seems to be what happens to the bullied. These days, with the “zero tolerance” policies at most schools, it even seems like those who finally reach their limit and fight back get it even worse than the bullies, because somehow “zero tolerance” does apply to small acts of daily bullying and mental/emotional torture, only to the big acts of fighting whether in self defense or not.
I can also say that people who cheer you on when you finally fight back are few and far between. From experience, even if they may think you are justified, they will never tell you, and will ostracize you because you stood up to the bully and drew attention to yourself. It’s a rough place to be…. but I will never discourage people from fighting back either. Because I can tell you for a fact that even if I was ostracized and got in trouble from my teacher/camp counselor/higher-up, it also stopped the worst of the bullying. They knew I had a line and they found out what happened when they crossed it. So good for Abeille here. Whatever happens next, at least people will know better than to talk in front of her if nothing else.
I still have faith that Acier is a good person and a good people manager — that he will or has found a way of handling the situations for the good of the employees, and as a side-effect, for the good of the company.
Welp, she’s toast. :`^( It’s not fair, but considering Abeille physically attacked someone just because he made fun of her, it’s within the company’s rights to terminate her employment. (Unless someone else – like the guy’s friend – says he was verbally bullying Abeille, he could just deny it & say she assaulted him w/out provocation.) Especially since her boss’s boss already views her as an unstable trouble-maker. And knowing Acier, he’ll probably say something along the lines of “If you really cared about Miel, you’d leave the planet because you’re ruining his career, blah, blah.” So unless someone higher ranking than Acier sticks up for Abeille… (Yeah, Miel could just say screw it, let’s both go to another planet & make a new life for ourselves…)
Heck, at this point even the other lunch ladies might come to back her up if Clove starts to be like “I n-need to g-go” and they realize where he’s going.
I second her working with the kids. I don’t think Acier would put in the effort to have Abielle be the one to initiate a break up as he sees her as more of an obstacle (& now a nuisance), but he’s got the authority and skill to smooth it over where (almost) everyone is happy…my ONLY concern is that this may have been spurred on further by everyone’s favorite Space Karen making a monstrous stink and maybe threatening to go to the press on top of filing the complaint. Don’t underestimate narcissistic parents, especially mothers, when they get backed into a corner. Those claws and fangs get bared.
Crying in a rage is being completely honest. She’s showing no fear. That’s a ferocious woman.
I doubt that people thinking they are better than her, weighs heavily on her mind. She’s replying to the specific attack. The spectacle directs people’s attention to the sexy cake tent incident.
Those of us who love Abeille might feel the tragedy. There is a lot in this story arc that I could relate to my life.
Poor Abeille. I hope she catches a little bit of a break here.
Unless Acier is over Abeille’s department or her branch, I don’t think he should be the one to talk to/reprimand her. It should start with Abeille being talked to by her direct supervisor, who is Botan. This is shifty.
Botan just distributes tasks to the team and he wasn’t “effective” in controlling her behaviour at all. He’s more a “team leader” than serious management.
Acier handles PR. And this IS a PR nightmare.
I’m worried. See… Botan doesn’t have the authority to fire her. Acier definitely does.
I agree. I do think Acier has a point in that he needs to control this PR nightmare, especially if Amaryllis, with Abeille not calling her back, has maybe tried to put things in motion at this point. If he handles this professionally – which might include firing Abeille – this won’t make me dislike him; he’ll just be someone doing his job then.
Now if he tries to pull some personal crap and try to meddle with the relationship of Miel and Abeille, though, that is different.
I actually did like Acier so far; it’s not like everyone can be a love-seeking toucher, it’s only realistic that there are strict bosses who have someone working for them whom they want to see succeed. But it’s one thing to be a strict boss and do your job and another to abuse your position and power to meddle. So far, Acier has shown worrying tendencies, but I was willing to believe in him. I feel that now will be the time where we’ll see just how good of a boss he really is.
Some small part of me suspects Abeille is about to be reassigned to the same place as Miel was offered. She couldbe assigned out of the public eye there *and* give a strong incentive for Miel to go there. Two birds with one stone.
I disagree. Acier wants Miel to go to Second City, and he’s basically trying to groom him to become his heir. Acier believes that Abeille is distracting Miel from his true calling: his work. I doubt that he would think that keeping Abeille around in any way–including sending her to Second City–would be beneficial to his plans of making Miel his successor.
That seems familiar. She is victimized, self-less and forgiving. Then she’s finally pushed too far into reacting and she is the one singled out for scrutiny. I think it’s related to allowing yourself to be abused.
The characters happy about the fight aren’t helpful. Advise to do what she did is pretty typical. There are options other than being a glutton for punishment as one extreme, or being reactionary and unforgiving as another extreme. This story does such a good job illustrating conflicts I’ve seen in my life.
>She is victimized, self-less and forgiving. Then she’s finally pushed too far into reacting and she is the one singled out for scrutiny.
Ah, yes, my elementary and secondary school’s special when bullies were concerned. /sigh
Yup, been there. And it always seems to be what happens to the bullied. These days, with the “zero tolerance” policies at most schools, it even seems like those who finally reach their limit and fight back get it even worse than the bullies, because somehow “zero tolerance” does apply to small acts of daily bullying and mental/emotional torture, only to the big acts of fighting whether in self defense or not.
I can also say that people who cheer you on when you finally fight back are few and far between. From experience, even if they may think you are justified, they will never tell you, and will ostracize you because you stood up to the bully and drew attention to yourself. It’s a rough place to be…. but I will never discourage people from fighting back either. Because I can tell you for a fact that even if I was ostracized and got in trouble from my teacher/camp counselor/higher-up, it also stopped the worst of the bullying. They knew I had a line and they found out what happened when they crossed it. So good for Abeille here. Whatever happens next, at least people will know better than to talk in front of her if nothing else.
Please, Acier… prove you’ve been a good guy all this time… That this is just you de-escalating a situation because you were there…
I know you look super ominous, I know nothing suggests this, but please let it be a reveal that you’re gonna try to fix it… somehow…
I still have faith that Acier is a good person and a good people manager — that he will or has found a way of handling the situations for the good of the employees, and as a side-effect, for the good of the company.
It’s alarming to me that he’s pulled Abeille away like this and, as far as we can see, isn’t engaging with the person who insulted her.
It’s not unfamiliar either, unfortunately.
This is legitimately the first time I’ve felt any degree of affection for Mean Head Lunch Lady, but I kind of love her in the first panel here.
I get the vibe they know this man and know he deserved it even if they didn’t overhear that low-IQ insult.
Welp, she’s toast. :`^( It’s not fair, but considering Abeille physically attacked someone just because he made fun of her, it’s within the company’s rights to terminate her employment. (Unless someone else – like the guy’s friend – says he was verbally bullying Abeille, he could just deny it & say she assaulted him w/out provocation.) Especially since her boss’s boss already views her as an unstable trouble-maker. And knowing Acier, he’ll probably say something along the lines of “If you really cared about Miel, you’d leave the planet because you’re ruining his career, blah, blah.” So unless someone higher ranking than Acier sticks up for Abeille… (Yeah, Miel could just say screw it, let’s both go to another planet & make a new life for ourselves…)
Maybe we’ve got an incoming scene of Botan & Clove rushing in to plead for her after realising she’s a fellow toucher, and needs to be protected.
They wouldn’t even need to rush in because she’s a fellow toucher; they’re both her friends, and friends should protect each other. 🙂
Heck, at this point even the other lunch ladies might come to back her up if Clove starts to be like “I n-need to g-go” and they realize where he’s going.
I’m concerned Acier is going to use this incident as an excuse to encourage Abielle to break up with Miel like he did with Miel last time.
Also this may lead to Abielle working with kids, which she is really good at, if people don’t get worried she would hurt or corrupt them.
I second her working with the kids. I don’t think Acier would put in the effort to have Abielle be the one to initiate a break up as he sees her as more of an obstacle (& now a nuisance), but he’s got the authority and skill to smooth it over where (almost) everyone is happy…my ONLY concern is that this may have been spurred on further by everyone’s favorite Space Karen making a monstrous stink and maybe threatening to go to the press on top of filing the complaint. Don’t underestimate narcissistic parents, especially mothers, when they get backed into a corner. Those claws and fangs get bared.
He would be quite justified in giving her “mandatory time off”… I hope it won’t be permanent.
Crying in a rage is being completely honest. She’s showing no fear. That’s a ferocious woman.
I doubt that people thinking they are better than her, weighs heavily on her mind. She’s replying to the specific attack. The spectacle directs people’s attention to the sexy cake tent incident.
Those of us who love Abeille might feel the tragedy. There is a lot in this story arc that I could relate to my life.
This bodes well. Now there’s an excuse to send her to the second city along with Miel. Thumbs up Acier if this is the way you play it. 😀
Oh, I seriously hope so!
Oh no. 🙁