There were fifteen minutes left before the job interview. I knew that if I called a taxi right now, I would still be late. I only had enough time if he showed up immediately with the van. I hadn’t called a cab earlier because I had reminded him that I had an interview and asked him to come right home after his lecture. He said he would.
So, here I was, ready, dressed and starting to panic. I was almost finished my masters of science and I was actively looking for a job. One of my supervisors was working for a government agency that was a perfect fit for my degree. She was an accomplished woman that I had gotten to know a little during my studies and I thought that I would enjoy working for. She was highly respected and I had come across her name a disproportionate number of times while researching scientific papers for my research, so I knew that she would be good to work for.
Casually, or so I thought, she asked me to come by her office and discuss, next steps, as in, after my master’s. I took it to be a job interview, and she had insinuated that was what it was, but it also could’ve been a discussion about another advanced degree. In either case, it was a great opportunity. If you are pursued to do your PhD it is much more prestigious than if you have to go and try to find someone to supervise you.

I had agreed immediately. I knew that I could make it to the appointment. I was so excited that I came home and told him about it. It turned out that he had one lecture that afternoon, but there was plenty of time to come home and then I could take our only vehicle to the interview. We also had one preschooler at the time, so I needed to have someone to take her for the 45 minutes, or so, that I would be out of the house.
So, the clock was ticking. He had not come home. This was a time before cell phones, so I could not call him and remind him. I had no way of knowing where he was. I called his office and he had not been there. He had done it again. He found a way to undermine me.
I called to tell her that I would not be able to make the interview and I tried to set up another time. She realized that I would always be this unreliable. She knew him as well and probably already had some preconceived notions about me based on her knowledge of him, and she declined. I asked her what she wanted to discuss and she begged off of the call and said that she had to go. She said that it was not important.
When he arrived he said that he had forgotten and that he had gone to the beer store. This of course, did not account for the amount of time that he was missing. I was angry and he attacked. He pointed out that I could’ve made other arrangements. He said that it was my own fault for not getting to the interview on time. He let me know that I was being unreasonable and that I was “losing it”.
Ironically, this turned out to work in my favour. There was no longer any question that he was sabotaging me every time that he got a chance. When I defended my thesis, he did not even know it was happening and I didn’t tell him about the next job interview until after I had the job.

Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — The Drive
Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — The Fax
Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — The Call
Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — The Cavity
Narcissism–Scenes From the Front Line — The Funeral
Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — The Pants
Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — The Trailer
Narcissism-Scenes From the Front Line — Biking
Awesome. You wised up. I am barely starting to catch myself in the little moments, where I trustingly hand over my emotional well-being to my saboteur. I need to learn to watch out in the big moments, too, when more than my emotions are at stake.
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Keep a diary. The only way that I finally figured it out was that I could look back and see how many “mistakes” he had made during times when it was really crucial to me. It is easy to forgive and forget the little things that could actually be just human error or oversight. It only makes sense when you see them as a group…
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Great idea! I wonder if one could create a shorthand for such a diary, to log events without necessarily giving away what one is logging? I am pretty flighty about leaving things around.
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Most word documents can be password protected. It is under security. As long as you close them you don’t have to worry. Put the password on when you first name and save the document. That way it can be saved and closed instantly.
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Okay. Thanks for the info!
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Great image, by the way!
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Thanks. I take hundreds of photos and it is fun that the poor shots can be so useful!
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Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciated your words of advice on this subject.
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You’re welcome.
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