youbet
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Well done Badger! Not only did you show those darn school administrators, you gave the students a good shafting too! Two for one! Can't beat that!
Best walk off the job story
- Thread starter Stormy Kromer
- Start date
Well done Badger! Not only did you show those darn school administrators, you gave the students a good shafting too! Two for one! Can't beat that!
jazz4cash
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
This thread makes me think of the Horrible Bosses movie. Keep em coming.
jazz4cash
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
While working my way through college I had a few jobs pumping gas. One was a tiny full serve station in a tough part of town in DC but it was a block away from Embassy Row so a very diverse mix of customers. My co worker and I had to pump gas, check oil, tires, clean windshields, etc. I also had to keep inventory, manage the register and lock up. My co-worker liked to hang out with the peeps at nearby stores and chase the ladies. We were making the same $/hr which was about $.25 above minimum wage…$2.05 I think. I got my nerve up and approached the owner to make my case that I deserved to make more than Chuck since I was managing so many responsibilities. He seemed impressed and said he’d think it over.
The next day, Chuck ran up to me fuming…Mr Simms cut my pay!!! Obviously I impressed the boss but I made the wrong case and he took advantage. I guess that’s how some bosses think. I left without storming out but I came back after they converted to self service and I was locked in the little booth.
The next day, Chuck ran up to me fuming…Mr Simms cut my pay!!! Obviously I impressed the boss but I made the wrong case and he took advantage. I guess that’s how some bosses think. I left without storming out but I came back after they converted to self service and I was locked in the little booth.
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 14,328
I got married when I was 20 to my 18 year old sweetheart. Our plan was to get jobs in the same place, save our money like crazy for 5 months, then take a 6 month tour of the USA in our van.
We ended up working in a nonunion automotive supplier of zinc die cast parts. The place had basically two kinds of machines, one shot molten zinc into dies and the other used a heavy hydraulic press to cut the excess zinc flash off the parts.
These machines were dangerous - the casting machines periodically leaked and sprayed 800° molten zinc over the workers. The hydraulic presses had two switches to be pushed at once to ensure no hands were in the way, as the press would amputate a hand like nothing.
We were in the last week of our planned work when the boss asked me to work a machine that only had a single operating button. The other button had failed so they just taped it always on. I pointed out that it was unsafe and the boss said to just run it, they needed the production.
I walked over to my wife and told her to punch out with me, we were done. When we came in to get our final paychecks they gave us a lot of grief about how much money we'd cost them. We did take that 6 month trip and it was a trip of a lifetime. I much later found out that the boss had groped my wife, but she had said nothing to me so as not to spoil our plan. There is a lot you need to know in life that they don't teach you in formal education.
We ended up working in a nonunion automotive supplier of zinc die cast parts. The place had basically two kinds of machines, one shot molten zinc into dies and the other used a heavy hydraulic press to cut the excess zinc flash off the parts.
These machines were dangerous - the casting machines periodically leaked and sprayed 800° molten zinc over the workers. The hydraulic presses had two switches to be pushed at once to ensure no hands were in the way, as the press would amputate a hand like nothing.
We were in the last week of our planned work when the boss asked me to work a machine that only had a single operating button. The other button had failed so they just taped it always on. I pointed out that it was unsafe and the boss said to just run it, they needed the production.
I walked over to my wife and told her to punch out with me, we were done. When we came in to get our final paychecks they gave us a lot of grief about how much money we'd cost them. We did take that 6 month trip and it was a trip of a lifetime. I much later found out that the boss had groped my wife, but she had said nothing to me so as not to spoil our plan. There is a lot you need to know in life that they don't teach you in formal education.
dixonge
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I've always just ghosted any job where I quit in frustration or anger. First morning break, usually. Just keep walking and go right out the door to my car. Mostly I've been either fired, laid off or did a normal notice period.
My last job I gave about three weeks notice, maybe a bit more. I joked with my boss that my wife was getting her pension and was headed for Mexico and she was going whether I came along or not. Boss lady started crying! I quickly explained that this was a joke, that we were both going and had planned this for a long time. She was so relieved I wasn't getting divorced that it made me quitting more palatable LOL
Helped hire and train my replacement, no easy task as it turns out. Left on good terms. Fortunately that sector is very familiar with people racking up small pensions in 8-10 year stints then moving on.
My last job I gave about three weeks notice, maybe a bit more. I joked with my boss that my wife was getting her pension and was headed for Mexico and she was going whether I came along or not. Boss lady started crying! I quickly explained that this was a joke, that we were both going and had planned this for a long time. She was so relieved I wasn't getting divorced that it made me quitting more palatable LOL
Helped hire and train my replacement, no easy task as it turns out. Left on good terms. Fortunately that sector is very familiar with people racking up small pensions in 8-10 year stints then moving on.
My first job out of college I was working in a medium sized office with about 50 people. I was working directly under a VP who had about 5 direct office staff. The VP had a reputation as a controlling harda$$ micro manager. Most everyone was intimidated by this guy.
The people in the office would normally pass around an envelope for flower donations when someone had a death in the family. Most everyone would throw in a couple of bucks, no big deal. For some reason my VP didn't like this practice, but most of the people didn't report directly to him so there wasn't much he could do to stop it.
One day a envelope appeared on my desk for one of these collections so I threw in a couple of bucks and passed it on. My VP's secretary saw me do it and squealed on me. (I later found out that this spying on the others in our department was part of her job, or else).
Shortly thereafter I got called into the VP's office. I could tell he was upset and started chewing me out, for what I had no idea. Finally he said, "I don't like these office busybodies passing around for donations, and beside that I don't pay you enough money that you can afford to be giving your money away".
I was dumbfounded to say the least. After a few seconds, I blurted out something like, "it is none of your business what I spend my money on" and there might have been an expletive somewhere in my reply. Then I stood up and walked out of his office. As I was walking out I heard him bellowing to get back in his office and sit back down. I just walked out to my car and drove home in the middle of the day.
As soon as I walked out I regretted my rash behavior and figured I would be looking for a new job. I had no more than got into the house and the VP was phoning with an apolopy. Phew!
So I didn't lose my job, and in fact the next paycheck had small raise included. From that day forward and for the next 10 years this VP never once had a harsh word for me. In fact, he made it a habit each day to come into my office and sit down to just shoot the breeze for 15 or 20 minutes.
The people in the office would normally pass around an envelope for flower donations when someone had a death in the family. Most everyone would throw in a couple of bucks, no big deal. For some reason my VP didn't like this practice, but most of the people didn't report directly to him so there wasn't much he could do to stop it.
One day a envelope appeared on my desk for one of these collections so I threw in a couple of bucks and passed it on. My VP's secretary saw me do it and squealed on me. (I later found out that this spying on the others in our department was part of her job, or else).
Shortly thereafter I got called into the VP's office. I could tell he was upset and started chewing me out, for what I had no idea. Finally he said, "I don't like these office busybodies passing around for donations, and beside that I don't pay you enough money that you can afford to be giving your money away".
I was dumbfounded to say the least. After a few seconds, I blurted out something like, "it is none of your business what I spend my money on" and there might have been an expletive somewhere in my reply. Then I stood up and walked out of his office. As I was walking out I heard him bellowing to get back in his office and sit back down. I just walked out to my car and drove home in the middle of the day.
As soon as I walked out I regretted my rash behavior and figured I would be looking for a new job. I had no more than got into the house and the VP was phoning with an apolopy. Phew!
So I didn't lose my job, and in fact the next paycheck had small raise included. From that day forward and for the next 10 years this VP never once had a harsh word for me. In fact, he made it a habit each day to come into my office and sit down to just shoot the breeze for 15 or 20 minutes.
Morgan22
Recycles dryer sheets
Like Tom52 I've walked out of a job before, and received a call from HR to come back. I refused. I had a bad boss and HR let me know they were working on letting go of the person. (They were going to put me in a different dept. until they let go of the person).
They knew this person was a problem but continued to let them treat employees poorly!? I was not interested in working for a company like that.
They knew this person was a problem but continued to let them treat employees poorly!? I was not interested in working for a company like that.
freedomatlast
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2013
- Messages
- 1,189
VP was a typical bully. Almost no one stands up to them but if you do, then they want to become your buddy.
Alvin Tostig
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 61
I have three related stories.
1) I was working as a Business Development Senior Manager for a large firm for about 12 years. I had accepted an offer with a competitor but told my company I would continue to work for them for 3-4 weeks so they can transition someone into my position. When the President of my company found out, he relayed to my manager, that I had to leave immediately (they would still pay me for 3 weeks), because I was supposedly privy to "confidential" strategies to win future work that I could then give to my new company. Funny thing, 1 year later when that President left the company he was sued for taking confidential information with him.
2) I was with a large company that was heading out of business due to poor management and being disbarred from government work. One day the President called me in and said I have some very confidential information in this folder...give it to that summer intern, tell him to not ask questions and have him develop 3 powerpoint slides.
Of course, my curiosity got the better of me..I looked at it. There were 3 handwritten organization charts..one with a 10% personnel reduction, one with a 20% reduction, and a third with a 30% reduction. My entire department including me were part of the 30% cut!!
Now unbeknownst to the President, I had already interviewed with a competitor and had that job in my back pocket. When I resigned a week later, I explained that I did look at the information he gave me and I wasn't going to be be part of this big cut...he kept telling me that it was just an "iteration" and very unlikely to happen. I left anyway, and within a year they closed their doors for business.
3) So I'm getting near FIRE, but a company I knew very well asked me to give them one or two years to help win work. I knew the President and my regional office personnel very well. The only person who I did not know was a person who held a title above mine and I was supposed to report to him. Before I joined he took me out to dinner and he just talked about himself for 2 hours. On top of that, he was ordering $100 bottles of wine (which of course the company paid for) which did not impress me.
Anyway, although hesitant, I decided to take the job. Towards the end of the first day, I'm out in the field with a client, and this person calls me and tells me to stop at the office on my way home and pick up a FAX he is leaving for me to review and he is going to fly in from 2000 miles away to meet me in the morning and review the FAX.
Well, the FAX is like a 40 page case study...I glance at it for just a few minutes on the way into work the next day. I get to the office, and there he is..we are now locked in a conference room (glass windows facing the hallway so everyone can see) and I'm getting grilled for hours about a case study I didn't really read. It's important to mention that I was fairly well known in my industry after 30 years and didn't appreciate getting a lecture in Marketing 101.
To make a long story short, before I went home he told me to bone up for Day 2. Well I walked right into him the next morning as he was perched in the same conference room and told him I quit. He was at a loss for words...apparently he would look terrible if word got out that I quit after 2 days (the President of the company was someone I had a good relationship with).
So now major damage control had to take place. There was no Day 2 of the Case Study and I said I'd stay if I didn't report to him. I won that battle, stayed for a year plus, then FIRED, but still do some consulting work for that company from time to time.
1) I was working as a Business Development Senior Manager for a large firm for about 12 years. I had accepted an offer with a competitor but told my company I would continue to work for them for 3-4 weeks so they can transition someone into my position. When the President of my company found out, he relayed to my manager, that I had to leave immediately (they would still pay me for 3 weeks), because I was supposedly privy to "confidential" strategies to win future work that I could then give to my new company. Funny thing, 1 year later when that President left the company he was sued for taking confidential information with him.
2) I was with a large company that was heading out of business due to poor management and being disbarred from government work. One day the President called me in and said I have some very confidential information in this folder...give it to that summer intern, tell him to not ask questions and have him develop 3 powerpoint slides.
Of course, my curiosity got the better of me..I looked at it. There were 3 handwritten organization charts..one with a 10% personnel reduction, one with a 20% reduction, and a third with a 30% reduction. My entire department including me were part of the 30% cut!!
Now unbeknownst to the President, I had already interviewed with a competitor and had that job in my back pocket. When I resigned a week later, I explained that I did look at the information he gave me and I wasn't going to be be part of this big cut...he kept telling me that it was just an "iteration" and very unlikely to happen. I left anyway, and within a year they closed their doors for business.
3) So I'm getting near FIRE, but a company I knew very well asked me to give them one or two years to help win work. I knew the President and my regional office personnel very well. The only person who I did not know was a person who held a title above mine and I was supposed to report to him. Before I joined he took me out to dinner and he just talked about himself for 2 hours. On top of that, he was ordering $100 bottles of wine (which of course the company paid for) which did not impress me.
Anyway, although hesitant, I decided to take the job. Towards the end of the first day, I'm out in the field with a client, and this person calls me and tells me to stop at the office on my way home and pick up a FAX he is leaving for me to review and he is going to fly in from 2000 miles away to meet me in the morning and review the FAX.
Well, the FAX is like a 40 page case study...I glance at it for just a few minutes on the way into work the next day. I get to the office, and there he is..we are now locked in a conference room (glass windows facing the hallway so everyone can see) and I'm getting grilled for hours about a case study I didn't really read. It's important to mention that I was fairly well known in my industry after 30 years and didn't appreciate getting a lecture in Marketing 101.
To make a long story short, before I went home he told me to bone up for Day 2. Well I walked right into him the next morning as he was perched in the same conference room and told him I quit. He was at a loss for words...apparently he would look terrible if word got out that I quit after 2 days (the President of the company was someone I had a good relationship with).
So now major damage control had to take place. There was no Day 2 of the Case Study and I said I'd stay if I didn't report to him. I won that battle, stayed for a year plus, then FIRED, but still do some consulting work for that company from time to time.
WestUniversity
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2017
- Messages
- 717
Franklin
Recycles dryer sheets
So fun to remember these. My friend and I were 16 year old "buss boys" at the local Holiday Inn. We had a job that paid $1.65 per hour and worked 12 hour shifts to pad our account. We had worked all summer and the banquet
manager (Wayne) had ridden our tails all summer (he was a real doozy who only cared about Wayne). So, we decided to quit in style on the last day of summer break. Wayne instructed us to prepare the banquet hall for a 150 person event (this meant setting up tables, chairs, vacuuming the carpet etc.....allot for 2 people). Then we were to take out all trash that was loaded in 4 massive trash cans on rollers. After that we were to place table cloths, glasses, silver ware ,etc at each table. Well u probably know where this is headed. The banquet was to begin at 7:00pm and we hid the vacuum, locked the supply room door, and filled the trash cans up full of water. We waited for Wayne to appear just in time to inspect out banquet preparations. He took a quick look and exploded! We were in our Chevy within minutes and never came back for our check!! Thanks for listening, I'll need to holler at my partner in crime to remind him of this.....today he owns several Hotels in the Denver area (not Holiday Inns).
manager (Wayne) had ridden our tails all summer (he was a real doozy who only cared about Wayne). So, we decided to quit in style on the last day of summer break. Wayne instructed us to prepare the banquet hall for a 150 person event (this meant setting up tables, chairs, vacuuming the carpet etc.....allot for 2 people). Then we were to take out all trash that was loaded in 4 massive trash cans on rollers. After that we were to place table cloths, glasses, silver ware ,etc at each table. Well u probably know where this is headed. The banquet was to begin at 7:00pm and we hid the vacuum, locked the supply room door, and filled the trash cans up full of water. We waited for Wayne to appear just in time to inspect out banquet preparations. He took a quick look and exploded! We were in our Chevy within minutes and never came back for our check!! Thanks for listening, I'll need to holler at my partner in crime to remind him of this.....today he owns several Hotels in the Denver area (not Holiday Inns).
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 14,328
I had a similar baffling experience. We got a new manager who was a real PITA micromanager and I'd had enough. I confronted him and told him basically that I'd been doing this job for a long time and to get off my a$$. I expected to be kicked to another department (back then no one got fired from Mega unless caught red handed stealing). To my amazement, he became my biggest fan and constantly berated other supervisors to be more like me. When he retired, he mentioned me in his going away speech, even though he'd been elevated several notches higher in rank since the incident.
JoeWras
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2012
- Messages
- 11,713
I didn't have enough jobs to encounter enough problems (over a lifetime, 5 different W-2 sources). I even worked at the same place part time from age 14 to 20. I'm a very loyal person and my jobs were loyal to me, until my last Megacorp which became a bleep-show. Still, I didn't ghost, but I kind of wish I did. I didn't have any retirement to worry about.
superdave
Recycles dryer sheets
Working a job post retirement is tough when your bull**** bucket is very small.
Had been doing a software gig for about 2 months. On a Friday afternoon Boss mentions a manager who was unhappy with my work. I had never met the manager, but figured I was being made a scapegoat for his missed deadline. Boss huffs and puffs and threatens that we will have to have a big meeting about this next week. I suggested we save all that time, and resigned. Crisis avoided
Had been doing a software gig for about 2 months. On a Friday afternoon Boss mentions a manager who was unhappy with my work. I had never met the manager, but figured I was being made a scapegoat for his missed deadline. Boss huffs and puffs and threatens that we will have to have a big meeting about this next week. I suggested we save all that time, and resigned. Crisis avoided
Morgan22
Recycles dryer sheets
Working a job post retirement is tough when your bull**** bucket is very small.
Had been doing a software gig for about 2 months. On a Friday afternoon Boss mentions a manager who was unhappy with my work. I had never met the manager, but figured I was being made a scapegoat for his missed deadline. Boss huffs and puffs and threatens that we will have to have a big meeting about this next week. I suggested we save all that time, and resigned. Crisis avoided
Awesome!
livingalmostlarge
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2014
- Messages
- 334
Not exactly FIRE but we just knew we were done. So May 2014 new VP for DH's department onboards. They fire the old VP by calling him back from vacation to "part ways"/FIRE. He is mean and threatens everyone in department. Tells people you are lucky to have jobs. About 30 people.
March 15, 2015 DH comes home and says all my friends got laid off today. We were hoping to move and get the 1 year severance but he got kept (damn it!). But he was one of 4 people kept from department. DAMN. He says "well we might as well move and leave. I have my one month sabbatical in July 2015 so let's do it." I say can't wait.
We decide that night to sell our house and move cross country without ever visiting our city, without a job, not a firm plan. Just decide we live super cheap and we have a big savings. So I prep the house in 30 days to sell, sell in 1 weekend and we have a closing date 7/5/15.
Coworkers ask and he says we're looking for a rental. They say why not buy. He says we aren't ready. We go on an epic cross country road trip with the kids, our stuff in a upack, and we live out of our subaru outback and camp and hotel as we drive as we feel daily. We don't have a plan for driving either, we drove out of town 7/4/15 independence day. That's what it felt like.
Anyway 3 weeks later we arrive and search for a rental for a week. We get something that is available 8/15 so i take the kids home to see the parents for a month and DH flies back to our old city. He stays with friends and on monday 8/3 he walks into the office and says "thanks for the sabbatical here's my two weeks notice! I moved out of state. Peace out. " He also said a few more things about the management and how the layoffs affect the feel of the company. Since he had nothing to do he spent the next two weeks eating lunch with multiple departments and friends (he worked there about 10 years), and caught up with everyone. Wrote a few reviews and patents and signed off with HR.
The VP was pissed and changed the sabbatical policy after he did this. They were considering firing him but didn't want to pay him severance and they wanted him to leave nicely after the bloodbath that was his department in March. So DH came to work, ate and chilled for 2 weeks seeing our friends in and out of work. It was very epic. Everyone hated the VP and high fived him for giving the department a big finger.
Then he drove off 10 days later the next saturday back cross country with our second subaru and laughed the entire way. We timed it for an extra month of health insurance and cashed in all our vacation days and had a stock vest and espp to boot in July.
To this day his friends back where we work talk about the guy who walked in and caused the company to change their sabbatical policy (you now have to work a year after taking it or pay it back).
March 15, 2015 DH comes home and says all my friends got laid off today. We were hoping to move and get the 1 year severance but he got kept (damn it!). But he was one of 4 people kept from department. DAMN. He says "well we might as well move and leave. I have my one month sabbatical in July 2015 so let's do it." I say can't wait.
We decide that night to sell our house and move cross country without ever visiting our city, without a job, not a firm plan. Just decide we live super cheap and we have a big savings. So I prep the house in 30 days to sell, sell in 1 weekend and we have a closing date 7/5/15.
Coworkers ask and he says we're looking for a rental. They say why not buy. He says we aren't ready. We go on an epic cross country road trip with the kids, our stuff in a upack, and we live out of our subaru outback and camp and hotel as we drive as we feel daily. We don't have a plan for driving either, we drove out of town 7/4/15 independence day. That's what it felt like.
Anyway 3 weeks later we arrive and search for a rental for a week. We get something that is available 8/15 so i take the kids home to see the parents for a month and DH flies back to our old city. He stays with friends and on monday 8/3 he walks into the office and says "thanks for the sabbatical here's my two weeks notice! I moved out of state. Peace out. " He also said a few more things about the management and how the layoffs affect the feel of the company. Since he had nothing to do he spent the next two weeks eating lunch with multiple departments and friends (he worked there about 10 years), and caught up with everyone. Wrote a few reviews and patents and signed off with HR.
The VP was pissed and changed the sabbatical policy after he did this. They were considering firing him but didn't want to pay him severance and they wanted him to leave nicely after the bloodbath that was his department in March. So DH came to work, ate and chilled for 2 weeks seeing our friends in and out of work. It was very epic. Everyone hated the VP and high fived him for giving the department a big finger.
Then he drove off 10 days later the next saturday back cross country with our second subaru and laughed the entire way. We timed it for an extra month of health insurance and cashed in all our vacation days and had a stock vest and espp to boot in July.
To this day his friends back where we work talk about the guy who walked in and caused the company to change their sabbatical policy (you now have to work a year after taking it or pay it back).
Last edited:
This has only happened to me a handful of times in my career, but either myself or my company has always made sure the company paid for flowers, etc. I'm always amazed at how idiotic some folks are. Is it worth losing a good employee and $20-$30k in turnover/training cost vs spending $100 bucks on some nice flowers and make a good impression on the whole team?
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 14,328
Never underestimate the depravity and malice of a really bad boss.
Small Bucket Syndrome
Agree - I only work part time -12-20 hours /week to help out during COVID crisis but when someone challenges me (not often), I find I have no patience.
I am only working now when it is personally rewarding.
If that ends, its great to know I am FI.
I have SBS. Small Bucket Syndrome .
Agree - I only work part time -12-20 hours /week to help out during COVID crisis but when someone challenges me (not often), I find I have no patience.
I am only working now when it is personally rewarding.
If that ends, its great to know I am FI.
I have SBS. Small Bucket Syndrome .
Last edited by a moderator:
I wanted to do this too, but I am too conscientious. I gave them 3 months notice and then they asked me to stay longer. They showed how much they appreciated me by giving me a full time project to do, in addition to my "job". I did get it done, but that really helped me realize why I wanted to leave. They have called me 4 times to come in a consult for them since I left last summer and I have turned them down 4 times. I am not sure they will call again.
BubbaChris
Recycles dryer sheets
Now that I'm FIRE'd I still find it hard to believe I only held 2 jobs for more than 5 years in my career. Some moves were just to keep moving along in my career, and some were RIFs and related. One time, I can say I was proud to have been terminated.
My jobs in the tech industry were rarely mainstream ones, not directly important to the product or customer. One time I was working in the California division of a Long Island-based company. They had a big SAP migration in the works so I spent a long winter commuting weekly to HQ to cover the Calif portion of the required manpower.
My first week I arrived at was pitched as the Corporate Apartment to learn it was a condo owned by one of the executives, the last long-term resident had a cat (I'm allergic), and they probably never hired professionals to clean the place (if you're living there, you're responsible for cleaning). The next morning I call my VP back in California and inform him I'm going shopping for bedding, linens, and anything else I need to de-cat the place and he needs to clear the way for the expense report to get paid promptly. He was a good guy and had my back.
I stuck it out and completed my multi-month assignment. About 6-weeks later a team from HQ visits California and fires the VP, every single Director, and little ole me. I wasn't even a manager. My insistence on decent living conditions made that much of an impression with HQ! So if you're getting fired because of a regime change, you might as well go out the door with one of the best teams you ever worked with.
Best regards,
Chris
My jobs in the tech industry were rarely mainstream ones, not directly important to the product or customer. One time I was working in the California division of a Long Island-based company. They had a big SAP migration in the works so I spent a long winter commuting weekly to HQ to cover the Calif portion of the required manpower.
My first week I arrived at was pitched as the Corporate Apartment to learn it was a condo owned by one of the executives, the last long-term resident had a cat (I'm allergic), and they probably never hired professionals to clean the place (if you're living there, you're responsible for cleaning). The next morning I call my VP back in California and inform him I'm going shopping for bedding, linens, and anything else I need to de-cat the place and he needs to clear the way for the expense report to get paid promptly. He was a good guy and had my back.
I stuck it out and completed my multi-month assignment. About 6-weeks later a team from HQ visits California and fires the VP, every single Director, and little ole me. I wasn't even a manager. My insistence on decent living conditions made that much of an impression with HQ! So if you're getting fired because of a regime change, you might as well go out the door with one of the best teams you ever worked with.
Best regards,
Chris
sroby2020
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2021
- Messages
- 67
Some Great stories here.
Here's mine.
I was in a small satellite office for the company and getting a nice production bonus on work which I completed. Well, management changed both locally and at the main office and I got gipped out of about $25k of the bonus. I was furious. I complained to the VP of my division and even the President of the company, but it landed on deaf ears. To top that off, they had brought in a consultant for me to train to act as my helper. I think it was then that I could read the writing on the wall. I sent out some resumes, had a few interviews and nothing happened for about 3 months. Then I got a tremendous offer and took it. In my exit interview, I stated my reason for leaving was management changes and the $25k that they owed me.
A couple of years later that company had to file for reorganization and eventually was acquired very cheap. Then about 5 years after that they were acquired by the company I was then working for. Only a few of my previous co-workers were still there. I heard from them that it never got any better than the times before I left. So sad!
Anyway, leaving was the right choice for me at the time. I had secured a 15% increase in salary with the new, bigger company. I had a team of 12 to manage and great support staff. I spent a mostly awesome 12 years there before I was "retired" at the age of 56. At the time, I hadn't heard to the FIRE, but I was already there, just didn't know it.
Here's mine.
I was in a small satellite office for the company and getting a nice production bonus on work which I completed. Well, management changed both locally and at the main office and I got gipped out of about $25k of the bonus. I was furious. I complained to the VP of my division and even the President of the company, but it landed on deaf ears. To top that off, they had brought in a consultant for me to train to act as my helper. I think it was then that I could read the writing on the wall. I sent out some resumes, had a few interviews and nothing happened for about 3 months. Then I got a tremendous offer and took it. In my exit interview, I stated my reason for leaving was management changes and the $25k that they owed me.
A couple of years later that company had to file for reorganization and eventually was acquired very cheap. Then about 5 years after that they were acquired by the company I was then working for. Only a few of my previous co-workers were still there. I heard from them that it never got any better than the times before I left. So sad!
Anyway, leaving was the right choice for me at the time. I had secured a 15% increase in salary with the new, bigger company. I had a team of 12 to manage and great support staff. I spent a mostly awesome 12 years there before I was "retired" at the age of 56. At the time, I hadn't heard to the FIRE, but I was already there, just didn't know it.
I just didn't show up for work one day.
While I liked my co-workers quite a bit, the ownership was onerous.
I feel a bit bad about what I might have done to my co-workers, but I did have a light step in my feet that morning when I didn't show up!
While I liked my co-workers quite a bit, the ownership was onerous.
I feel a bit bad about what I might have done to my co-workers, but I did have a light step in my feet that morning when I didn't show up!
marko
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
- Messages
- 8,455
My story is more about how I didn’t quit but made them pay anyway.
When the new company acquired us, they also acquired my seven figure employment contract that said as long as I behaved and didn’t quit, they’d have to pay me if they fired me, cut my pay or responsibilities.
They didn’t want to fire me due to the contract but I was also very expensive salary-wise so they came up with a plan.
At 1AM one night a ‘drunken email’ showed up in my new company mailbox, addressed to me but withdrawn shortly after. (they had accidentally put my name in the “to” instead of “subject”). What they didn’t know was that I had my company emails forwarded to my personal Yahoo email, so despite rescinding the original, I had a copy.
What it said was “Joe, I like your idea. We’ll offer to move him to our Paris office. But if his wife is anything like mine, she’ll love it for about a week but will soon want to move back home and he’ll have no choice but to resign”.
So they offered me a ‘no show’ job in Paris, and a fully paid $70K apartment and cola, after a ‘one month trial’ period. (to see if my wife liked it)
What the idiots didn’t know:
We had lived in Paris for a number of years prior, were both fluent in the language, had friends there and my wife had been going there twice a year on her own since college.
We spent the next two years sitting at sidewalk cafes, drinking wine all day and just enjoying the scene; I had very little to do, visited the local office once or twice a week, maybe a few business day trips to Switzerland or London. It was the best time of our lives! HR would call every few weeks asking how my wife was getting along! Every time they'd call, I'd be ecstatic about how much we loved the place!
They even tried a few times trick me into insubordination but I wasn't going to bite on that worm! "Yes, boss! No problem"
Eventually they came to their senses and after two years decided they’d fire me anyway, paid my contract and here I am today.
When the new company acquired us, they also acquired my seven figure employment contract that said as long as I behaved and didn’t quit, they’d have to pay me if they fired me, cut my pay or responsibilities.
They didn’t want to fire me due to the contract but I was also very expensive salary-wise so they came up with a plan.
At 1AM one night a ‘drunken email’ showed up in my new company mailbox, addressed to me but withdrawn shortly after. (they had accidentally put my name in the “to” instead of “subject”). What they didn’t know was that I had my company emails forwarded to my personal Yahoo email, so despite rescinding the original, I had a copy.
What it said was “Joe, I like your idea. We’ll offer to move him to our Paris office. But if his wife is anything like mine, she’ll love it for about a week but will soon want to move back home and he’ll have no choice but to resign”.
So they offered me a ‘no show’ job in Paris, and a fully paid $70K apartment and cola, after a ‘one month trial’ period. (to see if my wife liked it)
What the idiots didn’t know:
We had lived in Paris for a number of years prior, were both fluent in the language, had friends there and my wife had been going there twice a year on her own since college.
We spent the next two years sitting at sidewalk cafes, drinking wine all day and just enjoying the scene; I had very little to do, visited the local office once or twice a week, maybe a few business day trips to Switzerland or London. It was the best time of our lives! HR would call every few weeks asking how my wife was getting along! Every time they'd call, I'd be ecstatic about how much we loved the place!
They even tried a few times trick me into insubordination but I wasn't going to bite on that worm! "Yes, boss! No problem"
Eventually they came to their senses and after two years decided they’d fire me anyway, paid my contract and here I am today.
Last edited:
