# Thank You for Firing Me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834 "2006-04-08T04:54:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/1 "2006-04-08T04:54:37Z")
No, really, I mean it. I hated this job. It was too high-pressure, my training was woefully inadequate, and my supervisors constantly berated me while making no effort to help me improve. My would-be trainer was a rigid pinch-mouthed woman who had all the personal warmth of a frozen cod. I was criticized for moving my foot while I sat in my chair. I was scolded for decisions my superiors made. I was tersely told I was talking too loud when speaking to a patient who was hard of hearing. I was called immature when I went to the bathroom to calm down after getting yelled at for some trivial nonsense. I don’t think those people have ever seen someone so happy to be fired. Call me a soft weakling, but this job obviously was not for me. I practically skipped out of the office after I got canned. And with the two weeks’ severance I was given, I have enough money to get by while I find another job. I’m honestly surprised that they did that for me. On the other hand, it could just be “don’t come back and shoot up the place” money. Anyway. I wasn’t happy there, and they weren’t happy with me there, so it’s all for the best. And on Monday, instead of trudging back into that hell hole, I’m going to sleep late and watch the Price is Right. Then I’m going to find a better job. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/2 "2006-04-08T05:42:09Z")
Sounds like you’re definitely better-off, stress-wise, **KCSuze**. All the best for your new job hunt. Here’s to you getting a wonderful position, after all that! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/3 "2006-04-08T09:11:02Z")
Rock on. I’ve been fired from jobs that were a bad fit and boy does it feel good! It’s like the weight of the world has been lifted off you. Good luck finding a new gig. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/4 "2006-04-08T17:43:20Z")
A few days after Mr. S got downsized from his stressful job, we went to hang out at our favorite coffeeshop, and our friend the owner said to him (knowing he’d been canned), “Wow, you look so relaxed and happy!” Good luck finding a job you like! ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/5 "2006-04-09T04:18:56Z")
Thanks, all. I’m just happy knowing I won’t have to go back there any more. Though it would be weird to come back as a patient. > [@](#): > > **Scarlett67** wrote: A few days after Mr. S got downsized from his stressful job, we went to hang out at our favorite coffeeshop, and our friend the owner said to him (knowing he’d been canned), “Wow, you look so relaxed and happy!” Funny you should mention that. On my way home the day they gave me the boot, I noticed for the first time this spring that the trees are blooming and the grass has turned from brown to green. The air seemed fresher, too. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/6 "2006-04-09T04:55:35Z")
Good for you. There is nothing like a bad job to put a downer on all aspects of your life. I had an experience once as a lab tech student where I think everybody in the lab disliked me - I don’t know why (I’m a very likeable sort), and I have no confirmation on it, just a feeling, but it was such a relief to be done my rotations there. I guess things just don’t fit sometimes, for whatever reasons, and life goes on. With your great attitude, I think you’re going to do just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/7 "2006-04-09T05:22:41Z")
Thanks, **featherlou** , you’re a doll. My mother was just commenting on that today. She said, “No matter how nice you are to people and how hard you try, there are going to be people who just don’t like you.” Now, I already knew this. But dang it, I wanted those jerks to like me! I should’ve known things weren’t going to work out when the “positive thought for the day” e-mail said, “Life is such a gift, it’s best not to think much about it.” Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/8 "2006-04-09T05:27:09Z")
Isn’t that funny how we take things like that? 20 people like you just fine, no biggie. One person doesn’t care for you, and it’s all we can do to just leave it alone and not try to make them like us. Humans are a weird bunch. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/9 "2006-04-09T21:07:56Z")
> [@KCSuze](#): > > My mother was just commenting on that today. She said, “No matter how nice you are to people and how hard you try, there are going to be people who just don’t like you.” My mom always tells me that, too. But then she ruins it by adding, “Because you’re annoying.” ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/10 "2006-04-09T21:19:07Z")
I’m curious to know what the OP’s job was. The reference to patients indicates it’s somehow connected to medicine, but I want more detail. What made it so high-pressure?. I’ve been fired from one job, and not retained long-term at two others. In all three cases I wound up better off. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/11 "2006-04-10T04:19:17Z")
I was a receptionist at a doctors’ office. (family physicians) I know it doesn’t sound all that high-pressure, and when I took the job I didn’t think it would be. But every day imposed a constant pressure to get every detail right, down to the wording of a phone message. And like I mentioned earlier, my training was minimal. I learned as I went, mostly through scolding and recrimination. The added pressure to learn dozens of minute details so quickly with no help from my supervisors didn’t aid matters. Also like I mentioned earlier, even moving in your chair too much was forbidden, even back where the patients couldn’t see me. In the end, it was just too much. I guess I just couldn’t handle the scrict regimental nature of the work. I hope they find someone more suited to the demands of the job. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/12 "2006-04-10T14:29:19Z")
I hope so, too, but it sounds like they are having extreme expectations of their new hires. If you don’t mind reception work, you should be able to find something pretty quickly. I think most companies around here are so grateful to find someone who is willing to show up on time and answer the phones that they don’t have many more expectations than that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/13 "2006-04-10T22:10:09Z")
> [@KCSuze](#): > > I was a receptionist at a doctors’ office. (family physicians) I know it doesn’t sound all that high-pressure, and when I took the job I didn’t think it would be. But every day imposed a constant pressure to get every detail right, down to the wording of a phone message. And like I mentioned earlier, my training was minimal. I learned as I went, mostly through scolding and recrimination. The added pressure to learn dozens of minute details so quickly with no help from my supervisors didn’t aid matters. > > Also like I mentioned earlier, even moving in your chair too much was forbidden, even back where the patients couldn’t see me. In the end, it was just too much. I guess I just couldn’t handle the scrict regimental nature of the work. I hope they find someone more suited to the demands of the job. Let me guess, your boss was some sort of “office manager.” The hell jobs I’ve had I’ve always worked with/for some sort of high school graduate admin assistant with no concept of the big picture on a power trip. Someone who actually thinks that what side of your desk you keep your stapler on is important, and doesn’t get that this sort of personal varience actually makes people MORE efficient. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/14 "2006-04-11T00:46:51Z")
I had a supervisor once who corrected me on how to staple the documents. In all fairness, now, though, people are stapling my documents in the middle instead of the left upper corner, and I’m getting a little peeved at it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/15 "2006-04-11T01:39:47Z")
I once worked at a place that had many of the same flaws. The training I recieved was lackluster at best. I was told to do one task, and then yelled at for not completing another one. My days were an endless round of frustration. Yeah, I was pretty happy when they let me go. My friend got a job there a few months later. I tried to warn her. They gave her three full-time jobs to do. (I kid you not-- three people left and they gave her the tasks of all three.) My friend has a fine work ethic (better than mine, actually) and so spent her days there in frantic activity, trying to get the mountain of work done, but of course, the laws of physics wouldn’t permit her to be in three places at once. They fired her. A couple of months ago, I was seated in a resturant one table away from my old boss at the place. She didn’t recognize me. She was complaining to her companion how massive their turn-over was and the problems they were having with getting “good people.” I wanted to tell her, “Well, if you don’t train your people, then understaff and overwork the ones you do have for shit wages, well, yeah, you’re going to have trouble.” ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/16 "2006-04-11T04:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **featherlou** wrote: > I think most companies around here are so grateful to find someone who is willing to show up on time and answer the phones that they don’t have many more expectations than that. Now that I can do. One of my friends said it sounded like they were hoping to hire someone with years of experience in the medical field and got me instead. > [@](#): > > **Dangerosa** wrote: > Let me guess, your boss was some sort of “office manager.” Bingo. One lady in charge of the receptionists and her hench wench. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/17 "2006-04-11T04:43:17Z")
It’s funny how women in charge of other women can sometimes get on a real power trip. I think women are much more territorial than men are. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/18 "2006-04-11T05:06:34Z")
I think part of it was that I didn’t fit into their little clique. When I was hired, I was told the office was like a family. I guess I was the red-headed stepchild. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/19 "2006-04-11T05:13:24Z")
What’s worse is that they seem to be so prevalent in healthcare. People who don’t work in healthcare are always dumbfounded at the depths to which some of my coworkers will sink. I haven’t seen such backstabbing and pettiness since jr. high school. Two women in the lab aren’t talking. They both have what seems to be an active popularity contest going on, and there is no staying neutral. If you smile and nod at one, you’re on the shit list of the other. Instead of just discussing it and resolving the problem (heavens no! that would be far too mature!), they’ve opted for the passive aggressive approach, complete with loud whispers. :rolleyes: **KCSuze** , congrats on getting away from that environment. I know how much it sucks. It may take a while to find another job, but at least you’ll be able to appreciate the sanity. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834/20 "2006-04-11T21:01:21Z")
The one job I’ve had were I thought everyone disliked me was a lab, too. It never occurred to me that this kind of immature behaviour was somewhat common in healthcare jobs. Weird. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-for-firing-me/351834.md?page=2)