Did you do something bad? Not really.
Acting like a dick isn’t necessarily bad, but it sure isn’t good.
Around four years ago, I was working as a graphic artist, in a sign shop specializing in political campaigns. I got to work for some very high profile people, including doing some original work for Bob Dole and Jeb Bush…
…Meanwhile, my boss would pay me no more than $7.50 an hour. I decided then that I wanted to break into the computer industry directly and found a job doing network installations, PC and server repairs plus a bunch of different things. I SERIOUSLY thought about telling my boss off when I went in to break the news that I was leaving the company, but decided to see how he took the news. During the course of the conversation, he casually asked me what company I was going to work for, and since it was a hundred miles away, and there was no harm in it, I didn’t mind telling him.
When he heard the name, he smiled the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen on the man, and picked up the phone. He dialed a number FROM MEMORY, and asked for “Brother Ted”. Engaging in conversation with said “Brother Ted”, he proceeded to tell “Brother Ted” (He actually addressed him this way EVERY time he spoke to him) that I was hiring on with his company, that I was a great worker, and asked him to take me under his wing so that my career could take off even faster. He continued in this vein for quite a long while, then finally ended the call.
I sat there thinking to myself “OH SHIT, I COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY SHOT MYSELF IN THE FOOT!!!”. That call could have been placed in private, and not such nice things would have been discussed. Who would have thought that a small business owner in north central Florida would have had a close personal friend within a company in Tampa, exactly where I was going?
Needless to say, the verbal berating I was PLANNING to unleash never occurred. But I had the last laugh! He had to hire three people in total to replace me, and according to a friend that still works there, they still don’t produce the volume or quality of work that I did. Made me feel pretty good. Since the time that my former boss wouldn’t pay me any more than $7.50 an hour, I have more than quadrupled that in my current position, so all in all things worked out for the best (at least for ME… :)).
O
Sutra Self!