You are not alone...
While scrolling through my Twitter feed during my weekly check-in, I came across a story of a Holiday Inn Express employee who had a mental breakdown while dealing with an irate customer who, conveniently, had his phone out and recorded the incident. And it infuriated me. I have yet to watch the actual video, and I probably won't, as the articles had told me enough. It struck me close to the heart, because I also suffer from mental illness: Bipolar Disorder Type 2.
I was diagnosed at the age of 16 after experiencing a bad break up with my high school boyfriend. With the help of therapy and medication, I have been blessed in the fact that my BPD has been kept in check ever since. Other family members have suffered from depression and anxiety issues, and one ended up committing suicide. Of course I still have my bad days, manic and depression episodes. But everyone has bad days. And unfortunately, the employee later identified as Caleb, had his bad day blasted all over the internet.
It's upsetting to see someone having a breakdown like him, but to have it go viral and twisted into a racial issue (WHEN IT CLEARLY WASN'T) is absolutely disgusting. Working in the customer service is hard. While most of society act courteously towards those in the business, there's always that asshole who has to make others' lives as miserable as theirs. Working in healthcare, I've had my share of them too. It's hard taking the crap they hurl at us, and with the world a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the stress has only multiplied. Now, more than ever, we need to step back and look at the people we encounter and reflect. Just because that guy delivering the mail or the woman working behind the register look perfectly fine on the outside, all might not be well on the inside. Mental illness is an invisible illness, hidden inside a person who may look perfectly fine on the outside, and it's something healthy people have a hard time understanding.
My wish is that people educate themselves on mental illnesses. It's time to break down the stigma behind it. Mental illness is a disease. In my case, it's a chemical imbalance in the brain. Nothing I could have done to prevent it, but it's manageable with medication and therapy. It is what it is, but I don't let it define me. There's a simple rule I follow and I hope gains momentum in this topsy-turvy world today:
Treat others as you want to be treated.
GoFundMe page setup for Caleb: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-harassed-holiday-in-employee?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer
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