Blame it on the alcohol!
Mar 1st
I will try to make this story as brief as I can. It’s so ridiculous. Since Novemeber 2009, I have been going out drinking with my boss..We are both female. We have always gotten along well. I have worked for her 3-plus years. Now my boss meets this male bartender through her female bartender friend. She develops a crush on him. So pretty much, she talks about him often. Asks for advice, etc. I am often with her 2 or 3 nights a week when we go to this bar. However, I would often leave after 2 or 3 drinks so they can spend time alone. She is basically a nice women. Good natured and educated. Anyway, this bartender is quite flirtatious at times. Now I know that’s part of the job. I myself am an on/off again bartender for the past 6 years. She takes everything he says seriously. Now I know pretty much that he is just gassing her up. But I do believe he valued her friendship and business. She begins trying to invite him back to her place. He declines the few times she asks..I give her my honest opinion (gently) but she insists on chasing this guy nearly every night. So now the month of November passes by and now it’s December. He puts his hands on me often enough. However, I do not take it too seriously because it might be part of his “bartender routine”. For the past couple of weeks in early December, she has been feeling rejected by him and also has been getting angry with him and starting arguments. Mind you, he has never made a date with her or called her or anything. She had told me he would be affectionate with her at times and I did witness that a couple of times. But I do simply think it was affection, not attraction. He was kind of leading her on a bit. But keep in mind, lots of bartenders act that way towards their regular patrons who spend money and bring customers in. So now she begins getting very angry with him and she refuses to go there for at least a week. She decides to send me in there for information. To sum it up: He gets me trashed (I know it’s very much my fault for allowing myself to get that way)and we make out in the bathroom. I didnt remember it afterwards. I must have blacked out. He told his friend a few weeks later about it. His friend told me. I didnt remember so I thought he was lying. But when I think back to this night , a portion of it was a blank. I then tell my boss what his friend said because I really didn;t think it actually happened. The bartender tells her it did and had the owner of the bar confirm that I was in the bathroom with him for 10 minutes. I convince her that I really didnt remember and things were ok with us. So I thought. A few weeks later in early FEbruary she starts suspecting we are having an affair behind her back. Keep in mind, she is basically a nice woman, but since November has been drinking nearly every night to sit with this bartender and keep him company. What I am trying to say, is that she has become paranoid…She tells my other coworker about her suspicions . I believe that she thought this because at the time, he was off on Saturday nights. I dont go out on Saturdays much because I have a child. I think she thought I was with him on Saturday nights.I really wasn’t.. she fired me via text message 3 weeks ago. She wished me and this bartender good luck together. I know I am an idiot for allowing this to happen. But keep in mind I did grow to like this guy as a friend and I trusted him so it never crossed my mind he would try to get me drunk and take advantage of me., I am very hurt by this. I was her manager and I wasn’t fired for a business reason. Also, I can understand her being upset. But not to this extent. Her judgement sucks from drinking so much lately. They are not dating. They are just friends ( well actually bartender/patron mostly) and they have never even been intimate at all>Well thats the summary of my story..,I tried to be as brief as possible. i really didn;t even leave out many details at all. Thats basically it in a nutshell…
This post was submitted by Dina.
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Chapter 2: Nice and Easy (part 2)
Dec 2nd
As I sat there wasting away minutes at useless calculations, I wondered why everything was bundled into one giant PTO pool. Imagine if baseball didn’t break down hits into singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. You’d be as confused reading the back of the baseball card as the manager trying to set the lineup. Being the statistical guru that I am, I separated everything into categories: PTO that is automatic (like holidays), PTO that is granted (like vacation), and PTO that is urgent (like sick time). This made perfect sense – PTO as a single category should not exist if you plan to track it. But no one really tracked it before. People just entered their PTO hours in the weekly time reporter and that was it. No one checked it, no one cared. But I decided that I would.
The owners were on board right away, and I was writing policy change notices before I knew it. Advance request requirements, half day options, the snowball had been pushed off and was barreling down at the speed of light. And in the midst of it all, there I was, like a wizard waving a magic wand, creating rules and policies, setting requirements… Little did I realize, this made life harder on everyone. Not that I cared. I felt power, I felt importance.
What the f**k did I know about setting policies? I wasn’t a business owner now, I had never been one before. I’ve been an employee my whole life, yet I was sitting there with a suit and tie and a smart ass look on my face setting up hoops for everyone to jump through. Everyone but those deemed exempt, those lucky few living outside the black and white of the policy world. And who would decide who is granted membership to this exclusive club? Why, I, of course.
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 4) Loading ...Happy Thanksgiving
Nov 26th
Congrats, everybody; Turkey day’s upon us!
We wait for this holiday like a kid for Christmas. Thanksgiving for us, adults, represents not the simple “give thanks” 
holiday that it’s meant to be. Thanksgiving is not just the start of the holiday season, a season of warmth though it’s in the winter, a season of family and sharing. It’s not just Black Friday, which is an event I’m sure a lot of us wait for the entire year. No, Thanksgiving for some of us means something else…the 4-day weekend…
Most of us get the 4-day weekend. Some aren’t so fortunate. But those who are, and those who are smart enough to add a vacation day on either end of it, get a nice little break away from work and a chance to just relax. Well…may be it’s not that easy. But the fact remains – it’s one of the few holidays that’s guaranteed to fall at the middle of the week, thus providing those lucky souls with a guaranteed long weekend. And that puts a warm smile on everyone’s face.
Ah, the little things in life…
Happy Thanksgiving!
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 4) Loading ...Would you rather quit or be fired?
Nov 13th
If I told you that you were being replaced at your current job, what would you say? And I’m not talking about the immediate shock and anger about the pending loss of your job. Once you’ve had a moment to think rationally, you’ll probably be wondering, “should I ride this out, or should I make a move?” What’s the right decision here?
I think the answer should be based on your long term and short term goals. There are many negatives that come attached to being fired – you may lose your reference, you may be affected psychologically. Every application you’ll ever fill out in the future, the answer to “have you ever been fired?” will now be yes. Quitting before this happens, 
however, has its benefits and negatives as well. For one, you can forget about any severance package you may otherwise have received. In most cases you won’t get unemployment benefits (which in some states are so small, it hardly matters). But you’ll save face, you’ll leave with your chin up, and most likely retain more connections and references from this employment.
The choice between waiting to be fired and quitting is not easy, but once you’ve realized that either one is inevitable, you cannot afford not to take action. Build a plan, apply for other jobs, research business ideas – anything that will put you back on the right path. If you’re ready to give up on the career path that you’ve been following with your current job, then letting the firing happen may not be the worst idea. You’ll switch industries, jump into new job assignments, responsibilities. If you’re planning on moving on to a field that has no connection to your previous employment, it’s more than likely that your new employers won’t even bother contacting the company that fired you. But if you’re planning to continue your career in a similar setting (even if it’s a different industry – think about how different your job responsibilities will be), then you may be better off jumping the gun. Start interviewing as soon as possible. Get out there and push yourself, instead of sulking. Believe it or not, speaking with your boss about your plan will play to your benefit in this situation. The company will be much more inclined to keep you on just a while longer, until you’re ready to move on. Your quitting instead of being fired is a huge benefit to the company – they don’t have to pay your unemployment (their state unemployment insurance is likely to rise as a result of your termination), and more importantly no negative effect on employee morale.
When the time comes, the decision is hard. If you’re prepare yourself, you can think rationally and make a decision that’s right for you.
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Chapter 2: Nice and Easy (part 1)
Nov 12th
Sometime deep into a closed door meeting it was decided that employees must be kept happy in their workplace. There was much debate about what mechanism would be used in this endeavor, but one fact was undebatable. Any benefits that were to be put in place, they were to come at a minimum cost to the company while providing the maximum effect for recruitment and retainment. This is nothing new. Every company looks to keep costs down while keeping its workforce intact, growing, prospering. And every company looks to provide a wide enough array of benefits that it believes will satisfy those looking for something special, something that few others receive at their jobs.
The brainstorming made their heads spin and their tongues hurt, and it was then that the first ace was pulled out of a 
sleeve and set the bar for the illusion of comfort and stability. Following in the footsteps of companies that love and appreciate their employees, this firm decided to set a “no limit” PTO (Paid Time Off) policy. Sounds great, doesn’t it? It sounded awesome when I first came across this concept. Just to think that there is no limit on how many days off I can take in a calendar year. No counting, no planning your days off months ahead. It started off that way for sure. No one in the company even gave this a second thought. If someone needed a day off, they just requested it, were granted it, and took it. If they needed a week off, same process. The trick for the supervisors was to look to the work ahead, rather than the amount of days off taken in the past. Nice and Easy.
In the grand scheme of things, however, this policy actually benefited the company as much as it benefited the employees. There’s something about human nature that keeps us civil, keeps us from taking advantage. With a policy devised specifically to be unlimited, it was remarkable how many people chose not to take advantage of it. And that’s where the company ate up the benefits. Grasp your mind around this concept – while there’s no limit on how many paid days you receive in a year, there are also no guaranteed days off. So if Joe Schmo worked his ass off for the entire year and took only 4 days off, there’s no fat check for the remainder coming. There’s no remainder to speak of. If Joe Schmo worked for a company that guaranteed employees PTO, even a basic package of say, 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick, he would receive a check for the 11 days he didn’t take off. Or the PTO would carry over to the next year. Or if Joe was to quit or get fired, he’d receive a check for all the days that he earned and didn’t take. But not here. Here, if Joe took 2 days off or 12 days off, no one would really notice.
I’m not going to lie – there were plenty of Joes that took advantage. But there were also plenty of Joes that for whatever reason did not. They would wake up, come to work, do their time, and go home. The next day they’d do it all over again. And they only took off a day or a week during the holidays. May be an occasional sick day here and there. The system sparked my interest almost immediately. Are people afraid to ask for time off, I wondered? I had to research this further. It was an enormously useful recruiting and retention tool, yet was in effect a lesser cost than a standard PTO package. My interest was piqued. I had to quantify this phenomenon.
And then I fucked it all up…
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Fired! blog presents:You did WHAT???
Nov 19th
Posted by Mr. Fired in Daily Tidbit
1 comment
Welcome to our next installment of “You did WHAT???” where we discuss the latest news in the world of stupidity that leads to people being fired.
First today, a New Hanover County deputy has been fired after allegations of assault on his estranged wife. Authorities say that Nicholas Dillon went to his estranged wife’s house and struck her in the face and ribs. Dillon’s wife is a domestic violence detective for the Wilmington Police Department, and didn’t hesitate to press charges against Dillon, who was fired and arrested immediately after the incident.
It’s amazing how so many cops put themselves into stupid situations such as this. It seems like every week there’s another case of a cop thinking themselves above the law…but hey, if you’re stupid enough to assault a woman…let alone your wife…a detective…well…you just don’t belong in society…
Next, A New Hampshire radio station has fired a talk show host after he called the state’s Democratic Party chairman a “faggot”. Move over, Don Imus, there’s a different bigot in town, and his name is Doug Lambert. Lambert called New Hampshire’s Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley, who is gay, “a faggot,” and then further insulted the entire gay community when he mimicked the way gay men are purported to walk during a live web cam streaming to the Internet. The radio station said in a statement, “Although the comments by Mr. Lambert were not aired on our station, we find the comments by him to be completely out of line and unacceptable, and we will not allow Mr. Lambert the opportunity to continue to air his show on our radio station.” Lambert has also been fired from his weekly column in the Laconia Daily Sun.
Lambert apologized immediately, but spoken words cannot be taken back, and apologies don’t always help. Well, they usually don’t in a situation such as this. I have no remorse for this man, as derogatory comments of hatred are not acceptable and should not be uttered in any public forum. Regardless of how you may feel about the man or the gay community, there’s a line that need not be crossed in the public eye, a line that once crossed will not allow you to go back and do it over. Think before you act…
Drugs will make you do evil things. Ok, may be not necessarily evil, but definitely stupid. Carl Graeber was arrested in Florida after he robbed a gas station. What separates this story from your daily robbery is that this man was fired from the same gas station earlier, and still kept in touch with the owner and employees. Graeber needed the money to support his drug habit and pay back drug dealer whom he owed money, but he was easily recognized by the gas station employees during the robbery, who called the police.
There isn’t one person who doesn’t have a chip on their shoulder against the place that fired them…we’ve all dreamed about punching the boss or filing legal complaints or bad mouthing the company. Perhaps some of us have even had the thought of robbery…but if you’re going to rob someone, it would probably be a good idea to start with a place where no one knows you…oh, those junkies…