A Hairy Escalation

(I was lucky enough to be born with natural thick, red hair, which I grow long until it reaches my knees — I’m 5’4”. Then, I cut it and sell my plait to a wig company that buys human hair and donates wigs to children with hair loss. I then donate the money, usually to a local organization or charity. The last time I did it, though, I decided to donate the money to a mum with six kids who lost her husband in a car accident, and then soon after lost everything in a house fire. I’m just about ready to cut my hair again and I am discussing it with a coworker when another new coworker joins the conversation.)

Me: “I’m thinking maybe [Organization that works with abused women and kids].”

New Coworker: “Oh, you’re the girl that gives money to people after you cut your hair?”

Me: “Um… I donate the money to a worthy cause.”

New Coworker: “My daughter, who’s sixteen, just found out she’s pregnant. She really needs the money for the baby.”

Me: “Um… Sorry to hear that, but I haven’t made the decision on where I’m donating it yet.”

New Coworker: “Oh, okay.”

(She doesn’t say anything more, and barely talks to me over the next two months. Over the Christmas break that our office is shut, I cut my hair and donate the money to my chosen cause. The first day back, my new coworker approaches me again while talking to my other coworker before we start work.)

New Coworker: “Oh, I see you finally cut your hair.”

Me: “Yep. As it’s summer, it gets quite hot and heavy.”

New Coworker: “Oh, good. So, do you have the money for me?”

Me: “Excuse me?”

New Coworker: “You said you’d give the money to my daughter for her baby.”

Me: *looking to other coworker* “Um… I said I hadn’t decided where I was donating the money.”

New Coworker: “No, you said you’d give the money to my daughter. You better give me the money; my daughter is counting on it.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I never said I’d give it to your daughter. I’ve already donated it to [Organization].”

New Coworker: “What?! You said you’d give it to her, not some ungrateful b****es that don’t know how to take care of their men!”

Me: “I never said that, and it’s my choice who I donate the money to. Now, can you please stop causing a scene and let me start my work?”

New Coworker: “My daughter is counting on the money. You’ll be sorry; just wait and see!”

(She then went to the boss and told them that I’d promised her the money, and that when she asked me about it I called her daughter a w**** and said that she, her daughter, and the baby should die. After talking to me, as well as my other coworker and others that were there, my boss then fired her for lying and causing disharmony in the workplace. When she was fired, she proceeded to throw my boss’s computer off the desk and throw a chair through the glass door of the office. She was arrested for damages and making threats to kill me. She also tried to sue the company for unfair dismissal.)