In the end....

NSFW for language.

In the end, its really not worth it.


Police finally cracked the case of the murder of Linda Stein. And guess what? It was her assistant Natavia Lowery.

Gothamist and Curbed have some background on the story.

Despite being a successful broker to celebrities, Ms. Stein was not the most pleasant person to deal with. But what do you expect from a scrappy Jewish girl from the Bronx who managed the Ramones? Carol Brady? Apparently her abrasive ways was a key factor in her death.

"Lowery told detectives that Stein was 'verbally abusive' to her the day of the murder, using profanity and derogatory language." Plus: "She also said Stein blew marijuana smoke in her face before she snapped and hit Stein six or seven times with a yoga stick, Kelly said."

However Ms. Lowery was no saint herself.

Citing friends of Ms. Stein, The Daily News reported that the real estate broker might have met Ms. Lowery when the younger woman worked as a secretary at the Rogers & Cowan public relations agency in Manhattan.

The News, citing unidentified sources, reported that Ms. Lowery had been arrested in December on misdemeanor charges of identity theft and petty larceny — and that Ms. Stein did not know about the arrest

Everyone is probably wondering why didn't they do a background check on Ms. Lowery in the first place? Because unlike other industries, real estate brokerage does not engage in background checks. All they care about is your closing rate. In fact a background check is not even required to get a license.

However, I think after this incident, some brokerages will push for background checks on new personnel.

Nasty brokers are nothing new. I know since I have met a lot of them. In fact all workplaces filled with douchebags is a concept as old as time. It sucks when you have to work with one, it sucks even more when you work for one.

Nearly a lifetime ago, the Grunt worked in a certain segment of the media industry and thought he had a dream job. That was until he met his co-workers who were probably the biggest bunch of douchebags he had ever met in his life. In a nutshell, they made his life a living hell. Now the Grunt wasn't perfect. He made his mistakes, but these people were the most manipulative back stabbing bastards he had ever met in his life and they got away with doing a ton of bulls**t in the workplace.

The Grunt also did not take very well to this particular area of the media industry as he thought he would and decided to take his chances doing something else.

One of the great truths the Grunt has learned from that experience is that douchebags are everywhere. There is just seems to be a completely unending supply of a**holes who's prime directive is to cause grief for others whether it is justified or not. No matter where you go, they pop up.

I am not saying Ms. Lowery was justified in her actions. Now, I am sure everyone wants to take a 2 by 4 to the skull of every f**ktard who messed with them, but if we did that, we would be extinct. But what she did was absolutely deplorable.

As much as we like to, we can't control people, but we can control ourselves and our actions. Remember, she only had to deal with one crazy person, I had 5 people who treated me like a punching bag. Did I do anything insane and start inflict blunt force trauma on these people? No. Because it is just a f**king job. And I also realized I did not want to become like these people. It is not easy taking the high road mind you and was one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life. It sure as hell did not make it easier when these pieces of trash mocked me as I left. But to stay and fight in an industry that I had no desire to be in anymore wasn't worth it. And it was especially not worth taking any type of action resulting in being incarcerated.

All she had to do was say it was her last day and leave. Now Ms. Lowery has to face a life without freedom and when it is her time to leave this plane of existence, she will need to answer for her actions to a higher power.

I am a big believer in karma because I have witnessed karma in action to others and experienced it myself. Karma is vicious as f**k, especially if it develops over a long period of time. It can be a Kerikesque kick in the balls or it can be very subtle. In my opinion it is when the comeuppance occurs under the radar that it is the most heart breaking and painful to the afflicted party because they have no idea what is going on until it is too late.

Pick a cliche and I will prove it to you. There's the star high school football player who could make the girls swoon with a smile was able to smack freshman around while the principal looked the other way or the hottest girl in your class who used to make the thinnest girl feel fat and was more than happy to point out the flaws in the weak and helpless whether they were real or otherwise.

The high school football star is now the star of the sports bar. Resting the one of many beers on his enormous belly that was once a six pack of hard abdominal muscles. Trying to relive past glories while watching football games on television and trying to impress the ladies with his fossilized tales of victory.

The popular girl is also at the same bar. She is very popular with the bartender because she keeps ordering drinks so that he will talk to her. Her once beautiful looks have given way to wrinkles and sagging skin.

All those years of partying, drinking, smoking and doing drugs have taken their toll on these two fallen idols. They all wonder the same thing.

"What happened to my life?"

It is a moment of sweetness when you see a person get karma smacked. Especially one that was in the years of the making. There is simply no way to describe it other than pure utter bliss. But it gives way to a very sour taste because the realization sinks in that this can happen to you. There are no differences between the both of you. What befalls them can befall you. The most important thing you realize is that you can become a better person as long as you make an effort not to walk their paths.

Ms. Lowry would have had the opportunity to experience this epiphany, if she had realized that Ms. Stein was a woman who was desperately attempting to hold onto her lifestyle the only way she knew which was to fight tooth and nail. If she felt that she could not deal with Ms. Stein then all she had to do was walk away.

As for those people that made my life a living hell, from what I hear they haven't really amounted to anything. Do you know why? Because they are nothing to me. For all I know they are hanging out in the same sports bar.