not everyone's a napoleon-- just some

It’s always disturbing to see someone harassed at work; to hear the snide gossip, the nasty comments, etc, and always it is awful to see a woman, or for that matter a man, sexually harassed by a co-worker or worse a superior. But today I speak of these things, but more, I write again of bullying, as I have in the past (see Meet the New American Bully).

A friend tells me of leaving a job for a place where once, I too worked but had left for reasons that shall remain vague but suffice to say were deeply political and had nothing to do with the quality of my work; they had to do with a person or persons who were deeply and profoundly insecure and had long ago set a precedent of driving out (ridiculously and surely to the detriment f the company as a whole) those women, especially women, who were talented or in any way a threat to the woman who was and for now, who remains as one would say “in charge” (though this is a tenuous power at best, for it is built not on hard work or accomplishment but on insecurity and bullying, which causes others who do not wish to fight this nasty political fight to leave the company or be fired. I saw this again and again, and watched as one talented and often, beautiful or attractive woman was driven out of her job.

The previous woman in charge was herself a real beauty and a real brain to match, but unlike her unfortunate predecessor, was not threatened by other talent in the world. To the contrary; she welcomed it and saw it only as an asset to her group and so set about building a team of writers and editors who were not only talented and highly educated, but most of them attractive in their own way, bright, and often charismatic. When this woman left, we all missed her but looked forward to the new boss who we were sure would be equally fair and kind and good – why else would the company put her in charge, we thought. Surely she had earned it.

What surprise to meet a woman who I can only describe as a sort of false Napoleon. I say false for Napoleon, though we may not like what he did, was a real and true leader. He was not threatened by talent, but welcomed it for it strengthened his army and his troops. More, Napoleon knew how to get his troops to rally and he largely did this by using his epilepsy as a bit of a ploy. Indeed, it was often difficult to manage leading an entire army while dealing with seizures and all of the other symptoms that accompany epilepsy and that I know so well. But it’s no surprise: many great men and women had epilepsy and as I’ve often noted, there is a very strong connection between epilepsy and genius. Consider Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Socrates, Pythagoras, Marcus Aurelius, Alfred Nobel, and Isaac Newton and I could go on and on, for the list is long and these are the cases that have been verified. It’s an impressive lot and I’m proud to be associated, if only by illness, to this group. No, I’m not about to lead an army, but I do try to lead and I do try to make my mark in the world; I do this through writing, through hard work, through not giving up, through great effort and will and through an absolute insistence that one not sit back and feel self-pity for longer than a few moments at a time for self-pity and insecurity, like that other yucky emotion, guilt, are useless emotions.

Article Author: Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti

Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti is a published writer in both the United States and Europe. She is widely known for her music commentary, particularly her writings about Bob Dylan about whom she runs a highly-trafficked site. …

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