Have You Ever Been Fired From a Job?

[HopsGuy]

Those mentions of sweeping pink-slips reminded me of when our brokerage merged with a market analytics software firm. The made the new office about halfway between the two firms. I moved closer & so did quite a few other people from the other side. About 3 weeks later, they let about 2 dozen people go, all from the other side (mostly software engineers). It couldn’t have been a redundancy elimination thing because these were mostly software engineers. One guy was a Product Manager that worked on the options analytics piece. He had created it himself and sold his company to us. He was kind of a jerk but he knew his stuff. Flash forward 2 years and I’m in charge of the option orders execution and sitting in a seminar a competitor is giving at the CBOE (pretended to be a retail client). We completely copied their user interface. We even got a cease & desist letter. Sorry guys, you can’t patent an idea. Welcome to reverse engineering.

 

I always wonder if it could have been done faster if he had been given that task rather than me. Probably not. Lots of moving parts.

[teef]

14 hours ago, Augie said:

 

This is one of the most important lessons in life! Don’t get too high, or too low. The next thing will happen, and more often than you would think, despite all the fretting, the next thing is even better. The fear of the unknown is hard to turn into the excitement for what’s next, but that is often how it turns out! 

my parents are big fans of the, "things happen for a reason" concept, and it would drive me up a wall.  so far...they've been right.  you just have to keep you head up and work hard.

[PromoTheRobot]

52 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

I worked in radio as well. 3 yrs, the turnover is crazy. all about numbers. it still was one of the best experiences/jobs I ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

It can be fun especially when your station has their airplay monitored. Lots of perks from record companies.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

25 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

It can be fun especially when your station has their airplay monitored. Lots of perks from record companies.

I worked for a classic rock station back in the late '90s. did a 2 hr show sat nites, southern fried saturday night, nothing but southern rock for 2 hrs by request it was a blast. also the remotes were cool and I did some production work, spots and promos. it was a short lived career but a lot of fun none the less.

[BuffaloBud]

Left 2 companies on my own decision.  Laid off from 3 companies.  The last one hurt deep.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, teef said:

my parents are big fans of the, "things happen for a reason" concept, and it would drive me up a wall.  so far...they've been right.  you just have to keep you head up and work hard.

 

What other choice do you have, son? 

[row_33]

13 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

What other choice do you have, son? 

 

seems to be a huge lifestyle choice in endless grievance and bitterness and mouthing off against everything

 

social media makes it 10 times worse

 

 

[Sweats]

I was fired from a job once.

 

Me and one of my coworkers many years ago didn’t get along.....we just hated each other. We fought and argued all the time.

Well, one day at lunchtime I had finally had enough, so I went over to his table, grabbed his sandwich outta his hand and rubbed it on my nut sack. I then threw the sandwich back down onto the table.

 

Bonus - 

The best part was listening to the HR lady ask me, “did you rub the guys sandwich on your nut sack cause I highly suspect that this is inappropriate”......and I was promptly let go.

 

i did not care

[Talonz]

This happened just a few years ago --

 

I've been doing IT for most of my life.   I was employed at a local company and I happened across a listing for a local school district hiring near me.   I've worked in a few schools in my life, and I enjoyed it more than working at a private company....

 

 I applied for the job and was subjected to several interviews including various members of the IT team calling my references and grilling them about me.    It was pretty crazy.    In the end I was hired - HOLY *****!!!!     Decent pay, state benefits, and some clout all rolled into one.   I was on cloud 9.   I could work the next 20 years and get a nice retirement, etc.   Add on top of that I just got married for the second time.   Life was looking up like never before.

 

I started the job.  Worked there a couple of days and was invited to an employee only lunch at a local joint.   I went and was witness to my fellow co-workers already starting to complain that they heard they are going to cut the size of the IT department down, and all types of other crazy crap.   I was like WTF is going on.   This place is C R A Z Y!    What I thought would be a stable environment turned out to be chaotic just a few days after starting....

 

When you start a job like this you are in a probation period.   You pay union dues BUT ARE NOT REPRESENTED by the union!! LOL !!!   Anyhow, I just had a feeling the whole time I worked there starting with the employee meeting that something just wasn't right.   My manager NOT ONCE in the 5 months I worked there ever took me aside to talk to me, find out about me, direct me to do anything.   It was bizarre.   Some of the guys never warmed up to me and of course there were a couple of clicks in the department.    This person didn't like this person, watch out for this one, watch out for that one, oh don't talk to him, blah blah blah.    

 

I could go on and on about stuff that happened there, but I will spare you.   It was stressful, depressing, and a horrible job.   One of the worst I ever had in my life.    The job itself wasn't great, but the drama and bull#### made it unbearable....

 

At about the 5 month point I was called on lunch to come see the a couple of the people in charge.   I asked if everything was OK?   Do I have anything to worry about?  "Nah, you're fine, just got to go over paperwork" -- LOL...  I finish my lunch, nervously call my wife, then go see them.    I was fired on the spot but given the opportunity to finish my 6 months if I wanted to come into work instead of unemployment right away.   How generous...

 

I ended up burning my accumulated time off, then working about another 2 weeks.   I had to sit and stare at a wall.   No computer access, no phone use....    It SUCKED.

 

Oh and it turned out I was hired to replace a guy who got caught with child porn and was on his way to jail.    Also it turned out my position was never permanent.   They had to show a cut in the department before the next budget so they hired me only to fire me and protect the guy just above me in seniority who had been there a few years..  Unions !!    Oh and they never refunded me the almost $700.00 in union dues I paid.   You pay the dues but aren't a member for 6 months ... SCAM..

  

  

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

as for being fired. once in my lifetime and it was some years ago, late '80's. I was going through a divorce and had my head up my ass, could not function. messed me up at the time. boss called me in to his office and handed me my walking papers.

 

never again did I allow a relationship mess me up like that. once, was enough.

Edited October 10, 2019 by DaBillsFanSince1973

[WhoTom]

21 minutes ago, Sweats said:

I was fired from a job once.

 

Me and one of my coworkers many years ago didn’t get along.....we just hated each other. We fought and argued all the time.

Well, one day at lunchtime I had finally had enough, so I went over to his table, grabbed his sandwich outta his hand and rubbed it on my nut sack. I then threw the sandwich back down onto the table.

 

Bonus - 

The best part was listening to the HR lady ask me, “did you rub the guys sandwich on your nut sack cause I highly suspect that this is inappropriate”......and I was promptly let go.

 

i did not care

 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

Tops .... Not sure if I was technically fired, since I just stopped showing up

[Foxx]

life - 5% what happens to you and 95% how you react to those things.

[Chef Jim]

Never.  Keep in mind I've worked for one company for 19 years since I left the kitchen and they love me. 

 

Hard to get fired in the kitchen.  It usually goes like this;

 

Me:  I'm so ***** drunk right now.

Boss:  Me too!

 

Me:  Sorry I'm late, had an issue scoring an 8-ball

Boss:  Awesome.  Let me get the mirror

 

Me: I just ***** your number one investor's wife in the bathroom

Boss:  You lucky SOB.  Got pictures?

 

Me: I just knifed a guy in the back alley

Boss:  You didn't use one of our knives did you?

 

Me:  You're the worst boss ever.  You suck

Boss:  You're right I do and I hired you.  Now get back to work

 

Me:  I'm gonna be late.  I'm in jail

Boss:  That was you in there??  I thought you looked familiar

 

Me:  I have a full set of your china at my house

Boss:  No worries.  I'm never planning on coming over anyway.

Edited October 10, 2019 by Chef Jim

[Johnny Hammersticks]

38 minutes ago, Chef Jim said:

Never.  Keep in mind I've worked for one company for 19 years since I left the kitchen and they love me. 

 

Hard to get fired in the kitchen.  It usually goes like this;

 

Me:  I'm so ***** drunk right now.

Boss:  Me too!

 

Me:  Sorry I'm late, had an issue scoring an 8-ball

Boss:  Awesome.  Let me get the mirror

 

Me: I just ***** your number one investor's wife in the bathroom

Boss:  You lucky SOB.  Got pictures?

 

Me: I just knifed a guy in the back alley

Boss:  You didn't use one of our knives did you?

 

Me:  You're the worst boss ever.  You suck

Boss:  You're right I do and I hired you.  Now get back to work

 

Me:  I'm gonna be late.  I'm in jail

Boss:  That was you in there??  I thought you looked familiar

 

Me:  I have a full set of your china at my house

Boss:  No worries.  I'm never planning on coming over anyway.

 

I was working on the line at a restaurant in Martha’s Vineyard.  Just lunch shift.  Nothing too crazy.  Anyway, we had a dishwasher who was there for the summer from Serbia on a work visa.

 

He was always talking....never shut up even when we were busy.  The general manager of the place had enough of him, and finally snapped.

 

GM: “Miroslav, shut your ***** mouth and get your ass over there and scrub pots and pans.”

 

Dishwasher: “But Mike, I came to the US to learn to speak English.”

 

GM:  “Oh yeah?  Well, you came to the West Chop Club to wash ***** dishes, so get your ass over there!”

 

We all were dying laughing...

 

 

[Chef Jim]

15 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

 

I was working on the line at a restaurant in Martha’s Vineyard.  Just lunch shift.  Nothing too crazy.  Anyway, we had a dishwasher who was there for the summer from Serbia on a work visa.

 

He was always talking....never shut up even when we were busy.  The general manager of the place had enough of him, and finally snapped.

 

GM: “Miroslav, shut your ***** mouth and get your ass over there and scrub pots and pans.”

 

Dishwasher: “But Mike, I came to the US to learn to speak English.”

 

GM:  “Oh yeah?  Well, you came to the West Chop Club to wash ***** dishes, so get your ass over there!”

 

We all were dying laughing...

 

 

 

Kind of like one of my favorite stories:

 

Me:  John, you're an actor right (every waiter in LA is an "actor")

John:  Yes I am!!

Me: Then act like a ***** waiter and get this food out of my kitchen. 

[HopsGuy]

1 hour ago, Chef Jim said:

Never.  Keep in mind I've worked for one company for 19 years since I left the kitchen and they love me. 

 

Hard to get fired in the kitchen.  It usually goes like this;

 

Me:  I'm so ***** drunk right now.

Boss:  Me too!

 

Me:  Sorry I'm late, had an issue scoring an 8-ball

Boss:  Awesome.  Let me get the mirror

 

Me: I just ***** your number one investor's wife in the bathroom

Boss:  You lucky SOB.  Got pictures?

 

Me: I just knifed a guy in the back alley

Boss:  You didn't use one of our knives did you?

 

Me:  You're the worst boss ever.  You suck

Boss:  You're right I do and I hired you.  Now get back to work

 

Me:  I'm gonna be late.  I'm in jail

Boss:  That was you in there??  I thought you looked familiar

 

Me:  I have a full set of your china at my house

Boss:  No worries.  I'm never planning on coming over anyway.

I worked at a country club restaurant a few years ago just to make a few dollars while caring for my mom. Can’t really do it now as her memory is failing. I started as a server. I had never done it before. I was adequate if I only had 6-8 guests at a time but got in the weeds fast if any more. The young girls would watch out for me and tell the not-too-bright hostess to give them anything if I had any more than that and the food hadn’t been run yet. Later I tended bar some nights and expedited others. Expediting was cool because the cooks always set me up with a double order of the special to go at the end of shift.

 

The manager had a lot of stories like yours. I think everyone should work as a server for like 6 weeks. It really makes you appreciate people who are really good at it.

 

I eventually started working in the pro shop. That was easy but 11 hour Sundays were long, especially after the regulars were done around 10 AM. Just watched members hone their awful swings on buckets of balls.

 

The club is being sold to new ownership. Might poke around.

[frostbitmic]

I don't think so

 

I've been self employed for 31 years and have trouble remembering last week.

[davefan66]

Tops - caught eating Combo’s.  Young and stupid and was honest.  Showed the door.

 

Kmart - Asked the HR person why my buddy and I were not on the schedule.  Told us we were no longer going to be on the schedule.... wrote “I quit” on a piece of paper and gave it to her.  Technically fired, didn’t matter as I was working a full time job at the time.

 

Local telecom/computer company - was brought in 2 months before the day I was let go.  Told, no matter what happens to the division I was working in, I’d always have a job there.  Fast forward 2 months, told they were deep sixing the division and I was being laid off...  Oddly, it was a few weeks before I was vested (later told that by the HR rep, my seniority at 4 1/2 years would have vested my prior to 5 years). 

 

That worked out great.  Literally 48 hours later I was working for them again as a sub-contractor, started my own company.  Did fairly well with it, lasted 2 years.  Realized then it wasn’t I hated having a boss, I hated the telecom industry.

 

Folded the business, went to school and now work health care.  

 

Wasn’t fired, but found this funny.  Worked at Perkins for a month night shift busting suds after getting fired from Tops.  Got the job at Kmart, and rolled over to Perkins and told the manager I was quitting immediately.  She told me “you’ll never be allowed to work for Perkins again without a 2-weeks notice”.....  uhm, that was the point!

 

 

[LewPort71]

22 hours ago, KD in CA said:

 

I'll be pretty disappointed if we don't get an 'R Rich home opener' style countdown from you.

 

You wont be disappointed.

tick tock  tick  tock