A Gift with a Hidden Punchline
For my birthday, a coworker I barely knew gave me a glittery gold necklace. I wore it everywhere, feeling elegant—until months later, I noticed a tiny engraving on the back: “Office Joke.” My chest went cold. Turns out, a few teammates had bought it as a prank gift for someone they thought was “trying too hard.” Apparently, that was me. I laughed along when they told me, then cried alone in a bathroom stall.

Shrinking to Fit the Joke
After that, I started fading from the room—skipping lunches, avoiding meetings, hiding behind fake “focus blocks.” Their opinion of me became a virus I couldn’t shake. Then one day, when the office clown mocked another coworker, I finally snapped. “Do you ever get tired of being the punchline guy—or is that your whole personality now?” The silence that followed broke something open. People like him only thrive when everyone else stays quiet.

Rewriting the Meaning
Weeks later, the same necklace appeared on my desk—this time re-engraved: “Keep Shining.” No note, but I had a feeling the remorseful intern had fixed it. I wore it again—not as a reminder of cruelty, but as proof of change. Slowly, others began to speak up. The office didn’t transform overnight, but the tone shifted. The quiet ones weren’t as quiet anymore.

What the Mirror Kept
Eventually, my boss asked me to mentor new staff. She said she admired how I’d handled the situation. The necklace became my symbol—not of humiliation, but of resilience. A year later, even the ringleader apologized. I didn’t need revenge, just acknowledgment. The real lesson? You don’t need everyone to like you. You just need to like who you are when you look in the mirror—and never shrink to fit someone else’s joke.