“Tell me it’s not about a stupid chair!”I blurted out, biting back a bubble of near hysteria laughter.

“Unfortunately, everything is about that bloody chair.” W said, frustration peeling the words from his lips and put upon feelings edging into his eyes.

“But you were hosting a meeting, and you were supposed to sit in the host chair. What else should be? He was even not there, so what’s the big deal?” I couldn’t help defending him, even it was no use.

“Apparently in Mr. Y’s mind, host chair stands for the authority, the power, something he had simply craved for too long. After so many years, he finally got the chance to get nearer, and I, basically nobody, still at bottom of the food chain, dared to encroach upon it. He just couldn’t stand the idea so he flapped out.”

“It’s ridiculous!” Ok, I admit that I’ve worked too long in a foreign company where hierarchy bullshit stays at a rather bearable level. I might forget the rules of such game, and probably I would never get a clue about it. In my company, we maintain a first-name basis with our boss, and no boss needs to sit behind the desk to show he is Mr.Big in charge. Attending a meeting, we take whatever seat we like with no dread of being improper.

Still, in whatever companies, to demote a competent employee simply because he took the host seat while hosting a meeting (not in Mr. Big’s presence, of course) is like a big joke. However, take Mr.Y into consideration, it’s probably reasonable. Mr. Y, used to be the driver of the president, seized every possible chance and now has become the GM of region west, where W has worked for over four years. Lucky for Y, but unfortunate for everyone else in the company.

People whose lives are not balanced by a healthy respect for themselves suffer from an appalling obsession with personal ego. Self-respect, I seriously doubt, is just something painfully lack in Mr. Y’s bones. There are many wild stories about him after he got promoted. Once, he went to a nightclub and he demanded all the Karaoke’s princesses lining up to give him a glory welcome with clapping their hands and shouting: “Welcome! GM Y!” All in all, he is itching to let everyone know that he is Mr. Big now.

Certainly a nightmare to work for someone like that. It’s a wonder that W could hold to it for so long. Another company already gave him an offer, a fatter one, but he still prayed for a miracle. After all, he has worked there for four years, and with four years’ hard work, he breathed prosperity into this place and watched it from a desert area blossom into a business hub. It’s a successful project, and it is not easy for him just to walk away.

This chair crisis has become the last straw. A man can only take that much. Change is not easy, and certainly there will be a lot of adjustments. However, sometimes, we simply don’t have many options.