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I can strongly advise not working for narcissists suffering from dementia. I'm being relatively vague about specifics out of (probably unnecessary) self-preservation. Sorry,  inbound.I worked for a year at a local museum which was well regarded in the early 2000's, but in the intervening period had increasingly morphed into the founder's playground. At this point the founder was pushing 80, and while still in decent physical condition was in undergoing a noticeable (in the time I had known him) mental decline. The museum had a fairly high turnover, as it was mostly staffed by temporary summer workers, usually university-aged girls, I was the first male employee in over a decade, and apparently for the first few months of my employment I was viewed by the founder as more of a janitor than museum guide. Things started off fairly well between the founder and I, as the museum's subject was of both personal and professional interest to me, and he liked the prestige of having an American working for him. He had an extreme fixation on cleanliness, and I didn't think much of it at the time, a museum should look nice after all. This went so far as to having requirements for chair spacing and proper arrangements for coat hangers. These expectations were generally not explained beforehand, and would involve a 10 minute explanation afterwards of why he is fixing your mistake. He had a view of himself as being essential to the museum's operation, and had very clearly arranged things to make himself essential. The museum had at one point kept catalogs and records of its artifacts, but that had ceased several years ago; the founder insisted to guests that the only person who knew about the museums contents was himself, and that he wished he could take it all with him when he died. The first summer I was mostly just happy to have a job, and found that I really enjoyed guiding groups at the museum, things ran fairly smoothly, and the founder would be in three or four times a week to perform maintenance or guide groups which had specifically requested him. He had his oddities, but they could be mostly dealt with when he was present, and then ignored afterwards. After the first summer, I continued helping out at the museum without any fixed contract, while simultaneously running my own small business in the tourism/guiding industry. I enjoyed the museum, its subject, and its ostensible mission. I felt that the founder and I had a good relationship, he came over to my apartment for dinner on occasion, and I even helped him out with setting up his TV at home. I would occasionally receive small amounts of money (which came to around 5 dollars per hour) under the table when I would come in, but I had no expectation of pay. I was becoming useful to the museum, but there were some pretty significant signs that things were not all well. I sometimes got called in when groups he had forgotten were coming were already there, sometimes with 15 minutes notice. He was also increasingly giving out wrong information while he was giving the tours, blending names, dates, and events. He was also spending an increasing amount of time at the museum, he had broken up with his common-law wife the summer before. During the spring I arranged a day for local families to come to the museum for a child-friendly day of guiding and subject-related activities. The day was set-up as a cooperation between my company and the museum, the museum essentially providing the facilities, and my company providing the manpower and organization. The day was a big success, and we had arranged a profit sharing agreement with the museum, during the course of which he tried to convince me that the museum in no way paid tax, which was not the case. When we split the proceeds he insisted on receiving his part in cash and laughed at me when I explained that I was going to deposit the cash into my company account. When we began preparing for the summer I was hired on again in a more senior role, and things began to get weird. I was interviewed by a local newspaper for a human interest story, regarding both my own company and my work at the museum. After that happened the switch flipped in the founders head that changed me from "useful" to "threat." That summer he was at the museum every single day, and the guiding principle of everyone's work there was "keep the founder happy." He would putter around finding things that were wrong, and then loudly complain about it. He would give instructions that contradicted each other, and every day felt like a bizarre guessing game. He would wait until he saw kids touch the glass of museum cases and then yell at them, or follow groups being guided and slam doors behind them if they were left open. He actually never learned the names of the other two guides hired that summer, he instead referred to them by mine. It was clear the man was not well. At least once a week I was getting yelled at in front of guests over things he may or may not have instructed me to do, while he would sit in the museum's cafe and offer people who he considered important free coffee, muffins, and books. We calculated the amount, and he was giving away about 200 dollars worth per week. Things came to a head over an interactive exhibit for kids which I had been tasked with making. The museum contracted the project out to my company, with the stipulation that I keep track of the hours I work on it, and bill them accordingly by my normal museum pay rate. The majority of the work took place at my own home, as I knew that the founder would most likely find a way to both involve himself in and sabotage it. I kept the founder and other museum staff up to date with pictures as the project progressed. After I moved the exhibit to the museum site and put the finishing touches on it, things got ugly. The founder couldn't stand that guests were coming up and asking me questions about the project as I was working, a project he had been uninvolved in. Worse, when it was put into use, it was a hit. One afternoon he came up to me and started yelling at me to take home the exhibit, that it had not been asked for, that it was garbage, it had no place in the museum, and that it would never be paid for. This was upsetting, I'd put a lot of time and money into building it, and I replied that it had been asked for, it met the requirements requested, and that I would be paid for my work. He ended up ranting that he had built the museum and only he decided what happened to it. This ended up being the last straw, I contacted the museum's summer leader and explained the situation, we arranged a time to meet, all three of us that Sunday to discuss the situation. He showed up an hour late hungover, and refused to listen to either the summer leader or I. He mostly yelled at us both, calling the summer leader "little girl" (she was a 50+ woman) and referring to me the entire time in the third person. He kept threatening that he was a powerful man and ensure I would never work in the region again. After that I said it was clear that I was not welcome here, and that I felt pretty clearly bullied. The meeting ending and I let the other guides know I was quitting, they all quit in solidarity. After that members of the museum's board met with us and tried to convince them to return to work, but they would only do so at the insistence that the founder be reigned in. Said members later met with the founder and concluded that there were no problems at the museum, nor would there be any investigation into the way things had gone. I would later be told privately that many of the board members are there solely at the founders whim, and are afraid to make any waves, but everyone involved was very troubled. Since then I've focused on my own business and been much happier for it, and am gaining recognition in the region, even bought a house last week. In discussions with board members, they want me back, but are essentially waiting for the founder to die. I did finally get paid for the exhibit, and at the founder's insistence "took the garbage with me." It is now a nice conversation piece in my office. TL;DR Old man with delusions of grandeur, deteriorating mind, makes museum unpleasant place for everyone. I am caught in middle, things are not fun. I quit and take the museum's staff with me. Free Market Mambo has a new favorite as of 15:48 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 15:44
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 13:33 |
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