NO YELLING IN THE WAR ROOM

I was a civilian working on a military base. My manager was military and had been sent on a course to qualify to get a promotion. She came back and was not herself. She was quiet and seemed sad.

At lunch, she told my coworkers and me why she was sad. It had turned out that she was not allowed to yell at the civilians. Even if we made errors and even — and for her this was obviously the worst part — if she had slept badly or just needed to express that she was in a bad mood.

This was how she had dealt with stress for many years: go to work and find someone of lower rank to shout at. She could easily shout at someone for half an hour. She said, “Well, then, in my next position I must ensure that none of the staff is civilian, because this is going to be tough!” as if we were supposed to feel sorry for her because she was no longer allowed to be verbally abusive towards us. Actually, it hadn’t been allowed in years, but she wasn’t the type to read the memos. 

I know she is still in the military and wonder if she has found out that you are no longer allowed to shout at the enlisted personnel, either.