Boss from Hell

Claire has reunited with her crush from college who introduced her to the cut-throat successful publisher, Vivian Grant. After being a family-like corporate culture publishing house, Claire braced herself for the worst with the rampant rumours of Vivian as the boss from hell.

On the first day of job, she witnessed a Vivian’s tirade against some of the more senior editors. Claire was loaded with impossible deadlines. She burnt mid-night oil, was on-call 24 by 7 and had no time for family or friends. The working environment was not helping as her colleagues were either equally tired or scheming to get in the good books of Vivian.

Vivian was not just a workaholic who expected the same from all her subordinates. She was condescending and believed that no subordinate was good enough or could not understand what she wanted. She spared no mercy with them and loaded all expletives. She was manipulative and preyed on the Achilles’ heel of Claire – comparison to Claire’s arch rival, Lulu, to get Claire to agree to taking on more assignments.

Sounds familiar? Yes, for those lovers of the movie The Devil Wears Prada, the plot of Bridie Clark’s Because She Can has a similar theme. Claire resembled the eager, impressionable and enthusiastic Anne Hathaway while Vivian Grant was evidently the character played by Meryl Streep. Although all these may edge on the verge of exaggeration and clearly fictitious, don’t we recognize a sliver of truth and resemblance of these characteristics in every day life?

Bootlicking colleagues, impossible deadlines, manipulative bosses or colleagues and endless over-times have become synonymous with successful careers, much to the chagrin of the likes of the Stepford wives. Whoa, when has the definition of a good career becomes so warped? Is working life really that cut-throat?

Why was I able to relate to Claire?

Despite hearing the rumours, Claire was determined to give herself and Vivian a chance as the stint at Grant Books will certainly enhance her resume. She gave herself a timeline of 1 year. Regardless of how bad the situation was, she would hang on for a year. When I first started on my current job, I was filled with apprehension as it was my first job change. I was worried how I would be able to survive in a private and dynamic organization. I had also given myself a timeline of about 2 years to ‘strike it out’. No matter what happened, I would certainly stay on for at least 2 years. Fortunately, I had enjoyed my job in a cordial environment that the past 2 years flew by like a breeze.

I am a sucker for happy endings. This is no exception. Claire managed to call it a stop after a while and despite just weeks before meeting her one-year cut-off. The day she walked out of Grant Books was the day that she could finally see the beautiful Manhattan skies again.