Back in April, I got fired from my second full-time job. I was devastated, it was the kind of heartbreak I never imagined I’d have to go through. At the time, I felt like my mental illness was out of control and it ultimately led me to getting terminated within a week of employment.
On Monday evening, I had finished one of my tasks for them and asked if I could leave the meeting 15 minutes earlier than usual and my manager was fine with it. However, that night, I received a phone call from my manager’s boss and she had asked me how the task went and I said that it was a bit time consuming. She said she was taken back at my response, and I came across as complaining and self-focused so I apologized and said that was not my intention. She also questioned why I left early and was completely transparent that this role was not going to be a 9–5 job and I’d need to flexible and go with the flow. The next day, I was in a Teams Meeting with my manager and I had asked her why she let me leave early if it was a problem with her boss, and she said that it wasn’t about leaving early but that it was off-putting that I didn’t take the initiative and have the go-getter mentality that I exhibited in our first meeting together. In a later meeting with her, I got distracted when I got an email invite with a meeting with my manager’s boss and a Human Resources employee. I…
