Chapter 52

• To my surprise, the following two weeks at the bank passed in relative quiet. I continued compiling my reports, fully aware that the ax was still falling on more employees. Yet, oddly enough, the air of hostility I’d once felt seemed to have dissipated. Instead, an unsettling silence took its place. People no longer glared or whispered behind my back; they avoided me entirely. It was as though I carried some contagious curse, one they didn’t want to risk catching. Perhaps they believed my evaluations were influenced by personal bias. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
• First, I hardly knew anyone in the office beyond their names in my files. Second, I didn’t care to. It may sound cold, but my job was to deal in facts—numbers, data, and properly formatted reports not emotions or friendships. If discrepancies caused financial losses, there were consequences. Simple as that.
• Of course, my work wasn’t just about rooting out failures. I also highlighted those who performed exceptionally, recommending raises or promotions where deserved. Ironically, I doubted any of them ever attributed their successes to my reports. Good news seldom bore a face, whereas bad news always needed a scapegoat.