Paradox of Abrasive Doormats

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Definition:

An Abrasive Doormat is a particular type of person which has learned to play the Superior-subordinate system to their advantage. In front of their superiors, they will act humble and diligent. They will even take abuse, they will let themselves be treated like a doormat by those who are able to hurt them. In this, they are wise. They retain their employment by taking abuse from those above them.

However, when it comes to those who cannot harm them, this type of person is abusive. These people who act like doormats to the faces of their employers will treat those equal to or below them as if they were doormats. This type of person allows themselves to be mistreated by those capable of terminating them, but they also mistreat those who cannot harm them. They respect their own kind, namely those who have learned this form of hypocrisy. But anyone who doesn't know how to play their little game they insult. And anyone who is brave enough to speak out against mistreatment they ridicule with all their might and seek to sabotage them for the sake of their own game.

They know how to play the system of "the powers that be". They know how to keep silent when need to, and they know how to gossip and slander without getting caught or punished eve if they are caught. The whole premise is to outwardly feed their higher ups what they want, especially those like them who want to feel powerful by means of manipulation and watching the emotional reactions which they purposefully attempt to evoke. Their little nasty system works fairly well even, for them to remain employed in the condition that they are. They throw epithets and megatons of stinging words at any who would speak out against the system that they have learned to play. And that is exactly it, these nasty hypocritical manipulators have taken so long to learn to play this system that they don't wish for this horrid system to be challenged, much less altered.





Example:

Superordinate: "Underling! Do this, that, & the other in less than a 2 picoseconds or else I will fire you!! !"

*Superordinate glances at his platinum wristwatch.*

Superordinate: "Time's up! You're fired, you worthless waste of air!"

Underling: "What! 2 picoseconds isn't even humanly possible! I've worked as hard as I can for y...."

Superordinate: "What!! ! How dare you address me like that you disgusting waste of space?! !! And how dare you even consider yourself to be a human being!! You are nothing but a filthy subordinate, Underling! I was only going to fire you for being unable to perform your tasks in a timely fashion. But now I'll have you fired for insubordination!! ! Finish the work I told you to do in the first place, you time wasting lazy slug, and then pack up and don't let me ever see your ugly face again!! !"

*Later, while Underling is packing up to leave.*

Underling: "How can anyone put up with this kind of boss?... It's just not right.. this is so wrong, why is it allowe...."

Abrasive Doormat: "Hey Underling! Heard you got yourself fired. What did you do to get Superordinate to fire you?"

Underling: "I didn't really do anything, I just couldn't do all the myriads of virtually impossible tasks in the infinitesimal time allotted, so he told me that I was fired. I tried to explain why I couldn't and then..."

Abrasive Doormat: "What!! ! You spoke to our beloved Superordinate and tried to explain something to him? How naive of you impertinent, immature, uneducated foolish knave of a newbie! Ha ha ha ha haw!! ! You deserve what you get! You'll never survive in the real world you idiot!!"

Underling: "WHAT?! How is it even possible for you to say such things if you have a brain in your skull?! !"

Abrasive Doormat: "Oh and now you dare to insult me too! I'll see about that!"

*Abrasive Doormat goes tattling off to Superordinate and reports as many reprehensible things about Underling as is possible for her mind to invent.*



Notes

The use of pronouns is not intended to convey meaning, but is rather arbitrary so that the reading has better flow.

This example is not meant to be completely realistic, but is rather a form of satirical hyperbole so as to give an extreme example.

A person who is an Abrasive Doormat may or may not praise the Superordinate (the manager). Perhaps many more of them will actually insult the manager while you are there, along with you, so as to lull you into a false sense of security. However, anything you said to this type of person might as well be broadcast over the public address system.

Hmm, interesting. Sounds a bit like how my mum described someone she worked with a few years ago. Had the whole workplace wrapped around her little finger, and she was only the receptionist or something.

In my past place of emplyment we had one of these. Lets just say said person pissed me off enough outside of work that he got the s**t beaten out of him. Well the next day at work, he being all bruised up, people wonder what happened. Well. He goes off on a spaztastic tangent about it, insulting me to hell in front of everyone. Manager comes out, b*****s at him, finds out I did that to him and just simply says that it seems you finally found someone who didnt want to put up with your s**t.

At least the doormat in question didnt have the balls to report me to the police. Which makes victory all the sweeter.