People Disclose How They Took Down Their Biggest Tormentor

I just wonder what made this woman turn into such an ugly soul, especially after having years of being on good terms with the people she later ended up bullying.

“I ( F, 33 at the time) once had a run-in with a blatant bully. My family owns a business. We come from a lower-middle-class neighborhood and kept close contact after we moved.

Jane (F, 93, was in her 70s at the time) was our old neighborhood friend.

She was an office worker all her life. She was one of the ‘forever’ dwellers in our neighborhood. I had a specially close bond with her. Not anymore.

Jane worked 40 years at a factory, then got a job at another manufacturing company (after retirement). She got laid off, so she found a job at a dentist’s office. Dr. Jake owned three dental offices, so he depended on his employees to keep things running while he wasn’t around.

Jane worked for him for about 5 years.

Jane and the other workers (all females) formed some sort of a clique. They loved her because she was their elderly pal. I would visit Jane on some Saturday afternoons, bring pizza or lasagna, and enjoy how the day ended in my old stomping grounds just like in the good old days. I left my old neighborhood when I was 16, but I still cherish it.

She always talked about her work friends, and sometimes they picked her up for an outing, or they would carpool to the supermarket.

There was this friend in particular, Nancy (F60s). She was the one who seemed most friendly with Jane. I’d like to add that I NEVER, EVER had a conversation with this woman, much less any type of a fight.

As their relationship progressed, Jane learned a lot of info about Nancy’s life.

She was more or less a lonely female who loved to gossip and was involved in a relationship with a married man (Ed, M, now maybe 43) whose wife worked as a receptionist about 3 minutes away from the dental practice. Jane said Nancy was ‘crazy’ because she liked to stalk her lover’s woman and gave him money often (help with a loan monthly payment, help pay for his car, buy him food so that he would come visit, give him one hundred here, 80 bucks there, etc.).

Their friend group was tight, so much that Jane would call them to clock her in.

They would do this for each other all the time. My friend who also knew Jane kept telling me the office always seemed empty, except for the days when the doctor showed up.

Jane suddenly lost her job. My mom took her in when our secretary got sick. My mom kept Jane in even after our secretary came back, and for years, it was all good. Jane maintained the friendship with Nancy and ‘the girls.’ Because we worked closely, I heard Jane tells lots of gossip about Nancy’s private life.

This seemed odd. Also, she had fits whenever Nancy called her. She would say: ‘Omg, again?,’ ‘So needy.’ This usually took place (Nancy’s insistent calling on lunch breaks) whenever she heard something about Ed’s married life. She was devastated to learn his woman was pregnant again or that he bought his partner a new car, etc. For those wondering, I grew up with Jane having a place in my life, just like an aunt.

Jane would usually wait on the sidewalk because Nancy would come to pick her up after work so that they could eat dinner together after work. So, basically, I was very loyal and very die-hard. Nancy would sometimes wave goodbye at us but nothing more.

There were rumors that the dental office may close down. No kidding. Patients must have been switching doctors because office hours were erratic.

The remaining days when the doctor was not, it was supposed to be used for scheduling, which wasn’t happening. Jane said, ‘She never indulged in this, just saw them do it.’

Jane’s job was simple. Never had anything to do with money. She was with us most of the time on the computer. Simple as that.

Beatrice, our secretary, came to me one day and said she had something to share.

She was very worried because of Jane’s closeness to our family. Beatrice said she had caught Jane persistently going to our cash box and counting the money. When Jane saw her, she said she had permission to guard the petty cash. Until then, we never had any reason to distrust Jane. Beatrice said she was coming forward because she was scared something might happen and wanted to make sure her name was clear.

We were shocked and baffled.

It seemed ridiculous, but we still changed the box location. Again, it happened. We set up cameras and caught her ‘counting the money’ about twice a day. She was caught taking bills, crushing them in her fist, and stashing them in her chest on three occasions during the same week. We never paid attention because our business is based mostly on electronic transactions, so the cash is left for buying stuff and other small purchases.

So, in a week, she took about $350.00. This is the price you pay for not having control over each dime. We just left our petty cash lie in a box. We will never know how much she took.

We confronted her with the video. She got mad at us and left the job. Obviously, she told everyone else her own version. My mother and I were so astonished that it took us months to assimilate.

I’m talking about a woman who was invited to 500% of family events and was handsomely paid at work.

We moved on as usual. Some old neighbors would occasionally tell us that Jane complained she was fired for no reason. Beatrice was yelled at the mall by one of Jane’s friends because ‘she was the thief but had Jane scapegoated.’

About 3 years later, my mom went to eat at a seafood restaurant.

She’s very hardworking and never takes ‘me time.’ She went to eat but told me she ran into Nancy who was sitting nearby with some other women. Jane wasn’t there. So Nancy bullied my mom, who was sitting by herself. She cracked jokes, wouldn’t stop walking by her table and saying things under her breath. Nancy clicked ‘mean girl’ mode and cracked jokes. Then, they stood up kind of surrounding her.

My mom was intimidated, so she just paid and left. Mom said Nacy yelled something like, ‘Hey, can’t take the heat?’ Mom tried to conceal her feelings, but I know she was hurt. Nobody should have to go through this. I was livid, but my mom begged me to leave it at that. Okay.

I was paying for my stuff at a local mom-and-pop’s pharmacy I visit quite often.

The pharmacy is on the same street as Nancy’s job. Our business is pretty close to everything. For this reason, it’s like the first choice to buy anything. So I was there on a Sunday morning, which I really like because the street is empty. I was talking to a friend on my earphones. I’m first in line, already paying, but I heard strange sounds from the line.

Because this isn’t a Walgreen or big-box retailer, the pay line is kind of less organized. I keep hearing laughter and a loud voice from the line, and the cashier begins to look uncomfortable. Because I’m on my headphones, I’m not 100% aware of what whoever is talking is saying. The cashier keeps looking at someone in the line, and the lady two spaces away from me says, ‘We don’t need that.’ I saw Nancy pointing at me.

Honestly, I was confused at first. So I tell my friend on the phone to hold on.

Nancy is laughing at me, pointing at me. She’s telling everyone, ‘Look, she’s crazy, talking to herself.’ She knows darn right about the existence of earphones. She tries to rally the people on the line by cracking jokes and calling me a ‘dumb witch.’ I took off my earphones. I was so angry my arm was tingling.

I told Nancy I wasn’t gonna do anything inside the pharmacy because I respect that place, but I know who she is, and I’ll wait for her outside.

Her face changed. I gave her the option to repeat and tell me to my face the whole thing she said/did to my mom since she feels so unstoppable that she’s messing with me. Nancy got quiet immediately. I got my stuff and told her I would be outside. I waited outside, and the witch never came out. So I hop in my car. Five minutes later, she comes out.

I think she thought I left. So I drove my car really slow next to her and told her to tell me what the flip she said. She kept walking. I yelled at her from my car that she better open her mouth and talk. She didn’t.

Nancy went into a bakery nearby. She took a street (on foot) that had no entrance for me. No problem.

I took the next entrance and parked at the bakery. I stood next to her and told her off. Then I ordered some food for takeout. I warned her that if she ever saw my mom or anyone in my family, she better cross the street. Oh, and to please call your friend in my old neighborhood who put you up to this to see if she can come to help you now.

Nancy just kept her head tilted to the side.

I left. I called Nancy’s man’s partner and told her. I gave her all of Nancy’s details and how to get to her house based on Jane’s constant gossip. Basically, Nancy lived about three blocks away from her job in front of an Adventist church. I told her Nancy’s car information. I didn’t call as a snitch, I called saying I was Nancy who suffered from rightful indignation.

The woman hung up on me but took my next call again.

I called the dentist at his other office. I said I was an inspector to get him to come personally on the phone. Once he did, I told him everything I knew but never gave my name. I called him lazy and incompetent to keep an office and hung up.

I do know for a fact that the dentist fired everyone because he closed the office down.

My friend who worked nearby said Nancy would stop by every now and then, but he avoided her because she was needy, and he didn’t want her to latch on to him. She told him her man dumped her for ‘calling his partner’ and said she was obsessive and irrational. I don’t know much else. I never disclosed my involvement.

I saw Nancy at the same pharmacy somewhere around 2015 (more or less 10 years later). She’s extremely thin and bent over. She didn’t even see me, and I just kept walking. I do see Jane maybe every now and then at the farmer’s market, but I don’t talk to her. We just act like we don’t know each other.”