Yikes Leonides!
I am so glad I left the big game willingly and young enough!
You should have seen my co-w*rker who had a huge family law practice on the side. I asked him why he hung around and he said, "so I can stay here and f*^k with these idiots."
Yes, I got my fun in early, and paid for it in the end, but for twenty years I got away with stuff that nobody else would have even dared. I never did anything legally, morally, or ethically wrong, but everything else in the policy manual was fair game. And anybody in power who said stupid things was just a big target.
There is a lot of pleasure in seeing a big boss wince when you stand up to speak the truth. I was a very productive employee, but I was also a nightmare to supervise for anybody used to having their butt kissed.
There was an occasion when the agency totally stomped on a whole division and the troops were freaking out. I was a very junior supervisor who still believed that the organization was interested in treating people well, so when I saw everyone above me just ignoring the situation I stepped in and did something that I thought was right. It wasn't anything big, we all still got screwed, but I think I relieved some of their stress and supported them when they needed it.
The big boss had a fit and called a meeting of all the supervisors and managers. Everybody was eating crap from the guy because they were hoping he would intercede on their behalf, and even I was a being a good boy until he took a swipe at me by saying my actions were disloyal. I whipped out my KMA hat and said, "Disloyal my ass. You're the only guy whose life is not being turned upside down here. I was being loyal to our subordinates who are getting shafted and deserve some loyalty from us. I did what you
should have done if you actually gave a sh*t about your troops."
That was one of those moments when I was ready to pack my stuff up in a box and walk out the door. It would be a great personal loss to have to stop working there, but it wasn't going to be a financial disaster.
The man tried to twist the knife on the bad deal I was getting already, but it didn't take. A much bigger boss heard the whole story and interceded on my behalf. I got one of the best jobs I ever had that also set me up for even better things later.