Other posts in this series:
Reasons to FIRE: Job Experience 1
Reasons to FIRE: Job Experience 2
What follows is an extension of Job Experience 2. It is the finale in that tragic saga. So, if you haven't read that post, I encourage you to do so now so you'll have a clearer understanding of what kind of demented soul we're dealing with here. Now, without further ado, I give you...the end of an era...
Currently, I've been unemployed for 8 months since this tragedy unfolded. This experience has helped reinforce my negativity toward companies and their managers. When finished reading, perhaps you'll understand why.
Let me introduce you to my former boss, Mr. Dumpty.
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| Wanted for crimes against common decency |
In the second job experience post, I explained how Mr. Dumpty chastised me for needing to take emergency leave to handle a family crisis. I made it through that ordeal, but gained gruesome insight into this slug's tiny reptilian thinking.
Flashback
When my family emergency came up, I didn't think I had any PTO left. This was my fault. I was under the impression I only had 2 weeks per year. When I actually had 4 weeks. So, I'd told my boss I had used all my vacation. I made up the 2 days I missed by working on a weekend. I'm salaried, so this is actually some trivial BS. I mean, my team and I worked more than 40 hours a week most of the time, which no one said anything about. Giving more hours to the company is expected, right? However, when one needs 2 days to resolve a family crisis (something that isn't planned for) and the boss flips his shit and lectures you about your bad planning, where's the justice?
So, I made up my time and learned later that I actually still had 2 weeks of PTO remaining. Imagine how excited I was to learn I still had vacation days. We were in December at this point. Now, I should mention that it's company policy to take all of your accrued PTO or you lose them after year's end. Most of my team had already planned what days they were taking off and put them on a shared calendar we could all access. Fearing I would lose my PTO if I didn't take them, I opened the calendar and filled in the remaining days I had left. I would still lose about 2-3 days because I learned about my extra time late.
I went to my boss's office to let him know about my PTO. He asked me to remove the days from the calendar and, instead, put them into an email and send it to him so he could approve or disapprove it. He claimed he wanted to make sure we had coverage on those days. I said I would, and so I did.
As I looked over the calendar and composed this email, I noticed that there was another developer who didn't have any PTO and would be available (for whatever reasons) during my time off. I doubted this need for coverage because 1) all of our clients were on vacation until after the New Year, and 2) hardly anyone would be in the office, and those that were, would not really be doing anything other than surfing the web. Nonetheless, I did as I was instructed and fired off the email.
Days went by. Christmas grew closer and fewer people were in the office. I mentioned the email to a developer who sat behind me that wasn't on my team. He also reported to this slug of a boss. He told me that was something they had to do too (send emails requesting PTO). When I told him I hadn't heard anything from him yet, this colleague admitted that that was his "game". He never responded to those requests. He even added, "you're damned if you do [take the time off]; you're damned if you don't", meaning you'd lose your time off.
My thought was: Fuck that!!!
So, I added my days back to the calendar and went on vacation.
Beginning of the End
My first day off was Christmas Eve. I enjoyed it and the remaining days with my family and sleeping late. The down time was spectacular and refreshing. On the 29th, I received a voicemail from Mr. Dumpty. He asked who had approved my time off and asked that I call him back to help him understand what was going on. Nope! Not happening on my time off. I decided to wait until I returned on the 2nd to deal with him. Of course, this voice message brought down my spirits for the remainder of my vacation, not to mention raised my blood pressure. I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I wondered why, if he was so adamant that I not take the time off, he waited to call me on the 29th? I mean, he would've noticed I wasn't at work either on Christmas Eve or, barring that, the day after Christmas. So why had he waited so long? Also, I reminded myself that sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission. And this situation certainly fit the bill.
So, I returned to work on the 2nd with a knot in the pit of my stomach. It was inevitable that I be called into his office. I can't remember exactly when he summoned for me. It might've been that Thursday because that was when our one-on-one sessions were scheduled. (Also, I should note that these one-on-one meetings were not something the whole team had to do. Apparently, only the bad-boy team members had to endure them.)
When I went to his office, I was prepared for the worst: to be fired. Inside, I was a bundle of nerves and my palms were sweaty. He asked how I enjoyed my vacation and I told him it was refreshing or some such shit as that (although it was). He looked at me questioningly and wondered who approved my PTO. I told him that I decided to take it when I hadn't heard from him. I didn't want to lose something I had earned.
That wasn't good enough for Mr. Dumpty. He said that if he were in that situation, he would've followed up with his boss about the request. I was not him (thankfully). I have no idea what relationship he has with his boss, but I knew better than to take that course of action with this tub-o-shit across the desk. He would've shot the request down without another thought, I was (and still am) sure.
I was surprised when he said he liked my candor. I was even more surprised that he didn't fire me on the spot. Instead, he seemed genuinely pleased with my candid responses. It felt like we were clearing the air, getting things off our chests. He said he wanted to continue our meeting, but he had another meeting to go to. He rescheduled for more time to talk later.
I think we had about 3 or 4 of these sessions. Little did I know that he was just toying with me. It was Friday 13, when I had my last meeting with shitbag. I know. That date was like the cherry on top of the steaming pile of shit. I went to his office and stepped inside, about to close the door, when he stood up and said I didn't have to do that. He grabbed a folder from his desk and asked me to follow him.
I knew this was a bad omen and said as much. We walked down the hall toward HR passing other employees who stared after us. I remember Dumpty didn't say much of anything. Not until we got into the HR woman's office. He sat next to me and said this was hard for him to do. Just another lie to add to the heap he had spewed since I met him.
The HR woman was talking as I riffled through the separation papers before me. I wasn't really listening. Someone was summoned to escort me to gather my things and show me the door. Luckily, I'd learned early on not to keep a lot of personal things at work. I said I didn't need to gather anything. My cubicle consisted only of a chair, monitor, docking station, and laptop. All of which belonged to the company. I rode the elevator downstairs after handing in my badge and walked to my car.
I no longer have to play Dumpty's little mind games.
Update 1/7/2018:
I recently became aware of a term called "gaslighting", which isn't a new term, I don't think. I forgot how I stumbled across it, but once I learned of it, I Googled the term and read some accounts of others out there who were victimized like I was by some asshole using this manipulation technique. Fuck anyone who gaslights someone else!
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