(tl;dr Note: This was going to be the first entry in the “story from the past” portion of The Daily Android but I got out of hand and this shit is LONG! So, I decided to post it to Androids Don’t Dance instead. I didn’t bother reading through it and proofreading because it’s so long and I stopped caring about it halfway through. I only finished it because I started it.)
A Little Back Story:
I graduated high school in 2005. I couldn’t go to college right away because I couldn’t afford it. My mom had a year of graduate school left and the government said she made too much money for me to get any grants. So, I decided to start working full-time. I got a job working for Raymour and Flanigan September of 2005. We moved into our new building in Malvern, Pa and I began working the night shift. I quickly gained lots of responsibility and pull over my shift because, out of all the dumb shit assholes I worked with, I was the only one who gave a shit about his job. Most people in the warehouse hated/feared me on all the shifts. And they should have. I was hardworking, determined, and best of all bossy. Yes, I am a self-confessed megalomaniac; I like being in control. Now I was in no way an asshole, I was just took my job VERY seriously. People would often tell me to draw it back a bit and that I didn’t need to give more than I was asked. And that is why they stayed at the bottom while I continued to move on up.
I graduated high school in 2005. I couldn’t go to college right away because I couldn’t afford it. My mom had a year of graduate school left and the government said she made too much money for me to get any grants. So, I decided to start working full-time. I got a job working for Raymour and Flanigan September of 2005. We moved into our new building in Malvern, Pa and I began working the night shift. I quickly gained lots of responsibility and pull over my shift because, out of all the dumb shit assholes I worked with, I was the only one who gave a shit about his job. Most people in the warehouse hated/feared me on all the shifts. And they should have. I was hardworking, determined, and best of all bossy. Yes, I am a self-confessed megalomaniac; I like being in control. Now I was in no way an asshole, I was just took my job VERY seriously. People would often tell me to draw it back a bit and that I didn’t need to give more than I was asked. And that is why they stayed at the bottom while I continued to move on up.
Anyway, this gives you an idea of how I worked and how people viewed me. Fast-forward to April 2007. I’m bumped up to CDI (Customer Delivery Inspector) for a few months but then in June 2007, I decided to go back to being lead Facility Technician (which is technically a step back but having the title as lead FT meant I had the power and higher pay then everyone else. ) Being a CDI was tough and I was working 12 hour days. I worked on salary so there was no over-time pay. Anyway, I went back to 3rd shift but my supervisor Rob, someone whom I worked side-by-side with, moved to 1st shift and we had a new much younger supervisor. His name was Bobby. He didn’t know ANYTHING and he was a complete IDIOT. So, I would step in to do anything he couldn’t. He would ask me to. Over time, he just kept fucking everything up and I kept fixing his mistakes. It was getting to him. He was tired of looking like the idiot and told me to back off. He made our shift look like shit. So I went ahead and still did the supervisor duties. He HATED me.
The Months Leading :
During the summer of 2007, one of the first shit Operations Supervisors was graduating car school (many of the employees went to a nearby “automotive academy” and were all stupid and complete assholes) so a new Operations Sup was needed on 1st shift. They wanted to hire in house and only 2 people applied, me and a pretty boy named Daniel. I liked Daniel. He was nice but very strange. He had a VERY thick accent that no one could figure out (we later found out he was Italian.) Daniel looked like a model and he was very flamboyant. Everyone thought he was gay until he brought in his equally model like girlfriend. So, I submitted my resume to the Operations manager Don (whom I had so-so history with) and interviewed with him at the end of one of my shifts. The interview went well and Don knows I knew the inventory in and out. NO ONE in that warehouse, aside from the supervisors, managers and customer delivery girls, was as advanced with the inventory system as I was. And no one out said of said mentioned groups even had access to it except me. I got a call during my shift from Don telling me he gave it to someone else, Daniel. This INFURIATED me. So I went in Don’s office and read Daniel’s resume. Dick move but I was pissed. The Italian pretty boy with the thick accent submitted a resume surrounded by his business back in Italy which involved wine. And, on top of that, he’d only worked for the company a total of 3 months! At that point I'd been there for a year and a half. I couldn’t help but think it had something to do with me. Again, I wasn’t much liked. I should also include that a month later, a supervisor told me to inquire about doing Inventory Control because the spot was open and no one knew inventory like I did. Me and the Inventory Manager have had words and have gotten into HEATED arguments because he would ALWAYS blame my shift for fucked up inventory; more specifically, me. But I always won the fights because I knew what I was doing and the mistake was always his error or that of another shifts. So I swallowed my pride and asked him to consider me for the position. He LITERALLY stared at me for about 30 seconds like he was reading me and then said “the position has been filled.” BASTARD! I ended up training the newly hired Inventory Specialist. Ain’t that something!?
During the summer of 2007, one of the first shit Operations Supervisors was graduating car school (many of the employees went to a nearby “automotive academy” and were all stupid and complete assholes) so a new Operations Sup was needed on 1st shift. They wanted to hire in house and only 2 people applied, me and a pretty boy named Daniel. I liked Daniel. He was nice but very strange. He had a VERY thick accent that no one could figure out (we later found out he was Italian.) Daniel looked like a model and he was very flamboyant. Everyone thought he was gay until he brought in his equally model like girlfriend. So, I submitted my resume to the Operations manager Don (whom I had so-so history with) and interviewed with him at the end of one of my shifts. The interview went well and Don knows I knew the inventory in and out. NO ONE in that warehouse, aside from the supervisors, managers and customer delivery girls, was as advanced with the inventory system as I was. And no one out said of said mentioned groups even had access to it except me. I got a call during my shift from Don telling me he gave it to someone else, Daniel. This INFURIATED me. So I went in Don’s office and read Daniel’s resume. Dick move but I was pissed. The Italian pretty boy with the thick accent submitted a resume surrounded by his business back in Italy which involved wine. And, on top of that, he’d only worked for the company a total of 3 months! At that point I'd been there for a year and a half. I couldn’t help but think it had something to do with me. Again, I wasn’t much liked. I should also include that a month later, a supervisor told me to inquire about doing Inventory Control because the spot was open and no one knew inventory like I did. Me and the Inventory Manager have had words and have gotten into HEATED arguments because he would ALWAYS blame my shift for fucked up inventory; more specifically, me. But I always won the fights because I knew what I was doing and the mistake was always his error or that of another shifts. So I swallowed my pride and asked him to consider me for the position. He LITERALLY stared at me for about 30 seconds like he was reading me and then said “the position has been filled.” BASTARD! I ended up training the newly hired Inventory Specialist. Ain’t that something!?
The "Promotion":
It’s now September 2007, I’m back one 1st shift because I needed to go to school in the evening and I had a handful of Facility Techs under me. The problem with that is, as lead facility tech, I was told to keep the other FTs in line and to basically be their supervisor. They didn’t like that so we were always behind and we were jokes. They were some lazy fucks. There were 2 operations supervisors each shit. Daniel was on the 2nd shift. Daniel had to go back to Italy and handle his business because the IRS was after him for some reason. They needed a new supervisor to fill his position. Don called me into his office and asked me if I’d like to fill in for Daniel. I was more than happy to do so. But there was a catch and a huge one. I wouldn’t have the official title of Operations Supervisor and I’d still have to complete my facility tech duties. They were completely using me. It’s very obvious. But I did it anyway. I wanted that position. I wanted to move up the ladder and I figured that maybe they change their minds later.
It’s now September 2007, I’m back one 1st shift because I needed to go to school in the evening and I had a handful of Facility Techs under me. The problem with that is, as lead facility tech, I was told to keep the other FTs in line and to basically be their supervisor. They didn’t like that so we were always behind and we were jokes. They were some lazy fucks. There were 2 operations supervisors each shit. Daniel was on the 2nd shift. Daniel had to go back to Italy and handle his business because the IRS was after him for some reason. They needed a new supervisor to fill his position. Don called me into his office and asked me if I’d like to fill in for Daniel. I was more than happy to do so. But there was a catch and a huge one. I wouldn’t have the official title of Operations Supervisor and I’d still have to complete my facility tech duties. They were completely using me. It’s very obvious. But I did it anyway. I wanted that position. I wanted to move up the ladder and I figured that maybe they change their minds later.
So here I am in this position. I’m working super long days because I’m facilitating the Facility Techs AND the Customer Delivery Inspectors AND the guys in the shop (that repair the furniture). Suddenly I'm in charge of A LOT of people. It was so much work but I was determined to do it. While all this is going on, I’m having these email wars back and forth with Bobby because his shift was fucking up my shift. I went an extra step and CCed the emails to the regional director and the manager which made even more people hate me. It sounds like a dick move but he needed the fire lit under his ass. A month before I was fired, I got written up for being late 8 times during the month of October in 2007. The write up stated that if I was late again I’d be terminated. But here is the thing. When Nikki (the op. sup I worked with) showed me my times (because she handles clock ins) I was less than 5 minutes late every time. I lived 45 minutes from work and constantly had to deal with traffic. So my compute often took an hour. So I compensated by leaving early. But I made it in literally 1 or 2 minutes too late. Oh I forgot to mention that there is a 5 minute grace period when clocking in. This was an excuse to try and get rid of me because Don, the manager, thought I’d be late again and then he could fire me. He. Did. Not. Like. Me! None of the supervisors (except Nikki because everyone talked about her behind her back) liked me. But that’s not how I got fired.
The Firing:
It was the middle of November 2007. I had just broken up with my boyfriend at the time (THANK CHEEZUS!) and my 21st birthday was coming up. I already filled out the vacation time paperwork so I could just relax on my birthday. November 13th 2007 I came down with a really bad flu. I was dragging through work and feeling like shit. At the end of my shift I told Rob (who was both my supervisor and my equal since I wasn’t officially a supervisor) I may not come in tomorrow if I still have a fever. He looked at me and got mad. He knew that if I wasn’t there for a day, the shift would go downhill and he’d have to step in and do some extra work. He said OK though. The following day, the 14th, I woke up to go to work but my fever was at 102 degrees. I could barely stand. I called Rob and told him I was about to DIE. He said “I really need you to come in! Please please please come in.” I told him that if I come, I was going to come JUST to help him and get done my facility tech duties. He agreed and I went to work.
It was the middle of November 2007. I had just broken up with my boyfriend at the time (THANK CHEEZUS!) and my 21st birthday was coming up. I already filled out the vacation time paperwork so I could just relax on my birthday. November 13th 2007 I came down with a really bad flu. I was dragging through work and feeling like shit. At the end of my shift I told Rob (who was both my supervisor and my equal since I wasn’t officially a supervisor) I may not come in tomorrow if I still have a fever. He looked at me and got mad. He knew that if I wasn’t there for a day, the shift would go downhill and he’d have to step in and do some extra work. He said OK though. The following day, the 14th, I woke up to go to work but my fever was at 102 degrees. I could barely stand. I called Rob and told him I was about to DIE. He said “I really need you to come in! Please please please come in.” I told him that if I come, I was going to come JUST to help him and get done my facility tech duties. He agreed and I went to work.
As soon as I got to work, I made it VERY CLEAR that I was very sick and that I was leaving as soon as I finished what I had to do. He said ok. A few hours later I said AGAIN I’m leaving when I’m done checking in and stocking inventory. He then said “we’ll see.” Now despite taking over the 2nd shit supervisor duties, I wasn’t officially a supervisor so Rob still technically called the shots over my facility tech duties. I completely finished checking in, stocking, and updating new furniture and I said to Rob’s face. OK I’M DONE. I’M LEAVING NOW SO I CAN REST. He replied Ok. And that was that. I clocked out, went home and went back to sleep. I got a phone call from one of the CDIs telling me that Don was PISSED because Rob told him he had no idea where I went. I brushed it off because Rob obviously knew and went back to sleep.
Walking into work the next day I somehow knew I was fired but I still had my coffee and sat at my desk like everything was fine. Rob was at his desk and hesitated but then said “so where were you yesterday?” I told him that I left because I was sick and that he knew that. He said he has no idea. Don called me into his office and asked Chuck, one of the delivery supervisors, to sit in with him. He said I was terminated for leaving while on the clock. Don looked me in my face and Chuck just looked down the entire time. Chuck looked genuinely sad. He said he was sorry that I had to go. I just smiled and said that it was a pleasure working with both of them. I walked back to my desk and Rob didn’t say A WORD. I got my coffee and simply said “Bye Rob.” Rob replied “Bye Pookie.” And that was that with Rob. I walked toward the exit with a big smile on my face. Fred, the guy who called me the day before, asked me what happened. I stopped, still smiling, and said they fired me Fred. And I continued walking. He just stood there and watched me as I walked out. I walked over to my 2008 blue Kia Spectra, got in, stared at the giant gray warehouse and cried my eyes out.
What Happened After:
I was devastated. Even though the work was long and hard and I hated all my co-workers, I loved my job. It sucked. I was there for 2 years. I knew they were trying to find a reason to get rid of me and I basically handed it to them. So, I did what I do when I’m pissed. I drove to the fucking mountains. I immediately left, hopped on the turnpike, and was gonna drive to the Poconos. I turned my music on max and just drove trying to forget. Here’s where my good day turns great. While driving, a big piece of metal feel off of someone’s car and started bouncing on the road, bounced onto my hood putting a massive gash in it and then slammed into my window causing a huge spider web affect. I FREAKED the fuck out! But, I didn’t swerve or anything. I pulled over when I could and assed the damage. My windshield was done. It was very difficult to see out of. I just broke down into tears. As I’ve said in old blog posts, I’m an android so when my emotion chip is activated, my emotions are multiplied by 10. I called my mom in tears telling her about getting fired and how unfairly I was treated and how a piece of metal destroyed my windshield. There was nothing she could do. And to make matters worse, I was at the Mahoning Valley exit on the Northeast extension; about 2 hours away from home. I ended up driving the entire way home with my flashers on crying to myself. It was miserable.
I was devastated. Even though the work was long and hard and I hated all my co-workers, I loved my job. It sucked. I was there for 2 years. I knew they were trying to find a reason to get rid of me and I basically handed it to them. So, I did what I do when I’m pissed. I drove to the fucking mountains. I immediately left, hopped on the turnpike, and was gonna drive to the Poconos. I turned my music on max and just drove trying to forget. Here’s where my good day turns great. While driving, a big piece of metal feel off of someone’s car and started bouncing on the road, bounced onto my hood putting a massive gash in it and then slammed into my window causing a huge spider web affect. I FREAKED the fuck out! But, I didn’t swerve or anything. I pulled over when I could and assed the damage. My windshield was done. It was very difficult to see out of. I just broke down into tears. As I’ve said in old blog posts, I’m an android so when my emotion chip is activated, my emotions are multiplied by 10. I called my mom in tears telling her about getting fired and how unfairly I was treated and how a piece of metal destroyed my windshield. There was nothing she could do. And to make matters worse, I was at the Mahoning Valley exit on the Northeast extension; about 2 hours away from home. I ended up driving the entire way home with my flashers on crying to myself. It was miserable.
I got home and showed my dad the damage and told him about getting fired and not being able to pay rent for a while. He told me to get on unemployment or else I’d have to leave. I was making a shit load of money. I don’t know why I still lived at home. Well my rent was pennies so I guess that’s why not that I think about it. Anyway, my dad paid for my windshield to get fixed and I, of course, had to pay him back. I went on unemployment. Since unemployment basses your checks on your pay from your previous job, I got nice hefty unemployment checks. So I took this time to just chill and have fun since I really hadn't been able to do so since i started working full-time. But the honeymoon was over quickly. Raymour and Flanigan took me to court over unemployment payments since companies can refute claims based on termination. I was ready. I’d explain the situation and the judge would completely understand that there was a verbal agreement that I was leaving. But, it was nothing like that at all.
I get to the place and I’m forced to sit in this tiny tiny waiting room with Don and Rob. We say hello and that’s it. We go inside the mediation room and the judge starts ripping into me going on about filing a claim when I was fired. I was given NO chance to explain the story. Why? Because Rob and Don told the judge AND the unemployment office that I was fired because of my lateness write up even though I hadn’t been late since getting the write up. The judge asked if I acknowledged that I got the write up and I said yes and tried to explain that’s not why I got fired. The official report said that I got fired for being late. That was obviously a total and complete lie. I didn’t have the chance to defend myself. It was horrible. I left the room and I told Don and Rob that they were horrible people. I was furious.
I lost my unemployment in January 2008. I was already behind on car payments since I had to pay my dad rent from my unemployment checks. My car was repossessed. I loved my little Kia. After I lost my unemployment, my dad gave me 60 days to find a new job.
Getting Fired Was The Best Thing To Happen To Me:
Getting fired helped my life 100x. I was able to focus on school more and finish the semester out. I was able to hang out with my friends more. I never wanted to stay out too late because I wanted to get an adequate amount of sleep. Before then, I didn’t feel very close to my friends. But hanging out more often and longer I think brought me WAY closer to them. I was kicked out of my dad’s house because I couldn’t pay rent. I was the 2nd kid kicked out because he couldn’t pay my dad rent so I’m glad I got out of there. He went as far as to tell my little brother (who I shared a room with) that he should charge me a storage fee because I left something in his room :/ My car was repossessed but I didn’t care. Yes, I now have a big strike on my credit report but my car payments were $500 a month and my insurance was $600 a month (because I got into an accident with my mom’s care in early 2007 which is the reason I bought a car) I was barely making payments anyway. We started what would later become Pennsylvania People, I began working as a teacher’s assistant, I ran an after school program and I was making a nice amount of money. 2008 was a VERY good year for me.
Getting fired helped my life 100x. I was able to focus on school more and finish the semester out. I was able to hang out with my friends more. I never wanted to stay out too late because I wanted to get an adequate amount of sleep. Before then, I didn’t feel very close to my friends. But hanging out more often and longer I think brought me WAY closer to them. I was kicked out of my dad’s house because I couldn’t pay rent. I was the 2nd kid kicked out because he couldn’t pay my dad rent so I’m glad I got out of there. He went as far as to tell my little brother (who I shared a room with) that he should charge me a storage fee because I left something in his room :/ My car was repossessed but I didn’t care. Yes, I now have a big strike on my credit report but my car payments were $500 a month and my insurance was $600 a month (because I got into an accident with my mom’s care in early 2007 which is the reason I bought a car) I was barely making payments anyway. We started what would later become Pennsylvania People, I began working as a teacher’s assistant, I ran an after school program and I was making a nice amount of money. 2008 was a VERY good year for me.
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