Time heals all they say.  They might be right with that assumption.  But, I think in my case, it was more a matter of having options, which, made it very easy for me to forgive those who tried to undermine my endeavors as a young female journalist.

If I was without options…and the world had been a crueler place to me, I doubt I would have been so calm about everything.  I doubt that time would have made me amenable to those who seemed set on making it their business to, as Antiguans would say, knock bread out of my mouth. No, not even time would have made me the cheerful and ready to forgive (but not forget) working girl I have been each time some manager took to attempting to belittle my work and worth.

I remember an incident which occurred when the R. Allen Stanford owned newspaper- which I worked for until July 2010- showed signs of being on its way out.  This was back when many- managers and line staff alike- thought it prudent to begin showing their true colours. I’d just returned from collecting an award for a series of articles I did. I’d felt very humbled and wanted to re-commit myself to doing even more.

There was another reporter in his office at the time. I shared a funny thing that had taken place at the award ceremony with them both. He then turned to me and suggested I not take ceremonies like the one I’d just attended seriously- they had no real meaning. The reporter with him agreed readily and heartily (a bit too readily and a bit too heartily). I gave a small smile (and had a huge laugh in my head).

I also remember an incident which occurred in the very December of 2010 that I was planning to use as my goodbye month to the now drama-filled  working environs of the online news company I'd joined in August 2010. I had had a conversation with the editor/writer/CEO/etc of the company. In this conversation, he had bemoaned his inability to get hold of certain politicians.  I'd tried my best to understand his misfortune, since I didn’t have this particular problem.

After this conversation, I managed to obtain responses from a particular politician on what was, at the time, a burning and pertinent issue.  I treated it as an exclusive. The owner of the company agreed. The editor/writer/CEO/etc, however, didn't. I was called into a meeting and given a lesson in the definition of the word “exclusive”. An exclusive wasn’t you scoring responses that no one else had, particularly when these responses could have been had by any other reporter if they could just manage to get a hold of the person and ask the questions you did, if they had those questions.  I grudgingly accepted that there might be a point to his protest.

Not long after this meeting, I was being asked for help in locating the same politician and it was being grudgingly admitted that I appeared to have more luck in this area. Also, within a few days, the editor/writer/CEO eagerly published an "exclusive" story (or series) of his, which in no shape or form passed the "exclusive" test as had been laid out to me earlier....

 What’s a working girl, one with tons of options, to do but laugh and forgive? And move very quickly on….