The Unholy Trinity

(I’m in the staff room with two of my female colleagues, getting ready for my shift. [Colleague #1] is of Romanian descent. [Colleague #2] is black.] A heated argument is happening in the manager’s office. Our new, male manager and a female colleague emerge. The colleague is red-faced and in tears, and she storms off.)

Colleague #1: *to the manager* “Is [Other Colleague] all right?”

Manager: *laughing* “Yeah, she just wanted to go home because she’s on her period. Lazy b****!”

Colleague #1: “Why would you expect her to work when she’s ill?”

Manager: “But she isn’t. It’s just a period. Every woman has them.”

Colleague #2: “And every woman deals with it differently.”

Colleague #1: “Even I’ve had to take time off when it’s been more difficult than usual.”

Manager: “But I would expect that from a [Romani slur] like you. I’m actually surprised to see one of you actually working.”

Colleague #1: *speechless*

Colleague #2: *trying to move the attention* “Umm, what do you think, [My Name]?”

Manager: “Why would he know? He’s a [homophobic slur]! The closest he’s ever been to a vagina is when his mum pushed him out.”

Me: “I was a C-section, actually, but wow! You’ve called [Colleague #1] a [Romani slur], me a [homophobic slur]… Do you want to complete the trilogy and call [Colleague #3] the N-word?

Manager: “…”

Colleague #1: “I think you need to leave.”

([Colleague #2] and I nodded in agreement. He wasn’t there much longer.)