At one point my girl could even see what was happening. She hated it, but she loved her job, was damn good at it, and was a model employee – yet she wasn’t immune to their bullshit either (but that’s not my story to tell) In her previous job she had to deal with children, so she was well equipped to deal with their shit. Part of me envied her for that.
And this… This is what drove me to publish my story and beg people to stop lining the pockets of people who do not deserve anything except things I cannot mention publicly.
The following scenario is why people get hurt and property gets damaged. What transpired was uncalled for, way out of line. I begged and pleaded with my girl to go to HR.
I finally had enough and began looking for a job. I even stuck my neck out to land a job with a person the company I worked for disliked a considerable amount. I didn’t care about burning bridges. I had no intention of ever returning to an organization that allowed such douchebaggery.
My salvation would come in the form of what would be an actual bucket list job I never knew existed. I did the leg work. Made the phone calls. Traveled for the interview. Got the job.
About a week before I accepted the offer, I went to my GM and made like I was happy there, wanted to stay, and had no intentions of leaving. It wasn’t much of a middle finger, but I had to consider that my girl still worked for them.
Shortly after that, I put in my notice. My boss acted as though he was offended because I had just said I didn’t want to leave, but I knew both him and his overlord were pleased. They wanted minions and slaves, not people who weren’t willing to get bent over and stay silent about it.
They immediately approached my girl and asked if she was leaving, to which she replied she didn’t want to go, but could not afford to stay based on her salary alone. They fucked around and fucked around and pretended to play numbers with her all while figuring her for a fool. They’d offer her the same money she turned down, but just offer it in a different way like they did with their customers. They tried offering her money based on performance numbers that she had no control over. Smoke. Mirrors. Bullshit.
She was easily one of the best people the entire organization ever had in that position and made good money for the business, yet they were not willing to pay her what she was worth. They preferred to roll the dice in a game the company lost playing year after year… They chose to lose more money by letting her go over paying a fraction of that loss to get her to stay.
They were not interested in long term investments. They believed in making all the money right now, no matter what. To hell with the long game.
But that’s not chapped my ass… After we moved away, my girl told me of the shit that was spoken to her and about me by our former employer.
Boss: We really would like you to stay.
Her: I can’t stay here on my salary alone. I can’t pay rent and living expenses.
Boss: Come and stay at my house. We have an extra room and we have a pool. You’ll get to see me in my speedo.
Then later:
Boss: You know he’s leaving you, right? (meaning me) That’s why he’s going there without you. Don’t be an idiot. Stay here where you have a job.
There was more, but you get the picture. That’s the type of shit that incites violence in the workplace. That’s the type of people we worked for. I suppose he either didn’t think or didn’t care that she would tell me. That’s the guy who was chosen to run an entire business and was responsible for dozens of lives.
Like everyone else who left the company, there was mad shit spoken about me behind my back and I was portrayed as the inept POS bad guy. It’s what they did and I’m sure still do.
That’s the type of behavior that gets to stay in their position and is rewarded with a six figure salary.
The performance numbers I managed to accomplish was during the pandemic. No goals were lowered due to the world shut down. It was their way of gambling on not having to pay performance bonuses. But with that in place and with managing my same position for another store, I still to finished the year 101% over goal… and got nothing for it except lies, deception and not a single ounce of gratitude for the numbers I had produced.
They would talk about how sales were down so raises and such were on hold… But behind doors would brag about how much more money they made per sale and how profits were up on the year overall. And of course, the owner taking vacation after vacation, buying a house, buying a 100k vehicle while the business was supposedly walking a tight line. So either he was lying about the finances or he was making unwise purchases during an unstable time of business.
Never in my life have I been exposed to such a blatant disregard for everyone around them. Even their wives were not immune. One tried to pretend his wife didn’t exist. The other routinely talked about how he’d sell his wife if the price was right.
Narcissists. Misogynists. Megalomaniacs – Yet they turn a profit so eyes look away from the damage caused in the creation of that wealth. These people pretend to care just enough not to get sued. They always manage to keep a small aspect of truth so they cannot be labeled as liars.
This needs to stop. Terrible people should not be immune to the consequences of their actions because they can line pockets with cash.
I would rather live under a bridge in a cardboard box and eat rats roasted over burning tires than to work for people like that again.
Terrible human beings do not deserve to be placed into positions where they can destroy lives and make people feel less valued than what they already do for taking a job that barely pays them enough to keep the lights on – while pretending it should be an honor just to work for them…
Fuck that and fuck them.
What is your soul worth to you? Are you happy when you have to consume alcohol to dull the pain? Does finding yourself on the opposite end of a divorce because you spend every hour working for a company that doesn’t give a shit about you sound like a positive life goal?
This empowerment rant is designed to wake someone up. Anyone. Leave. Find somewhere else. Everyone has bills to pay. Stop using that excuse. Shitty managers will never change because they don’t need to as long as they make money and don’t get caught abusing people. I have worked countless jobs and no matter the field I was in – If a manager/VP/CEO keeps the company in the black, they are damn near immune unless caught red handed, and even then, can be difficult to terminate.
Oh, and for those who do not already know – Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act), employees have the right to communicate with other employees at their workplace about their wages.
So yeah, it’s sort of ILLEGAL to tell employees they cannot discuss their wages with their peers and threaten to fire them if they do. But don’t take my word for it, read it here for yourself.
What I’ve learned is that a company who bullies you into believing you cannot talk about it, is a company that does so because they are fucking each and every employee they have in one way or another and do not want you getting together and discovering their treachery.
What good is a car you’d rather drive into a telephone pole than your job every day?
What good is the money you make if you resent what you have to go through to get it?
When is it enough? When there’s nothing left of who you used to be? When even the money ceases to make you happy?
It’s like we’ve become so afraid of failing or losing what little we’re allowed to have that we tolerate being abused. We are worth more than that. Life is not meant to be spent lining the pockets of people who would not give us oxygen to breath if it meant they had to go without a fraction of what they had in surplus amounts.
When I was young, all I wanted to do was make money and have power and influence… Then I saw what people become a majority of the time and it changed my mind. I don’t want to see people as tools or instruments for me to use to get what I desire. I don’t wish to sit back in my 500k house admiring my 100k cars, drinking 1k glasses of wine while the people who work for me hold two jobs just to keep the lights on, have loans well beyond their ability to pay back in a short amount of time, and have families that never see them.
I also have no desire to be the guy who sells my soul to those types of people just to take my place among them. There is no honor there. No integrity. The only God they worship is printed on paper in multiple denominations.
Look at the source of your depression. Take a hard look and be honest with yourself. Unless you’re just narcissistic to begin with, what’s the point of making all this money if you refuse to help raise others with you? They don’t have to be just as rich as you, but wouldn’t it feel nice to be surrounded by people who not just appreciate what you’ve done for them, but don’t have to pretend that you’re a decent person for fear of having you take it away from them.
There is nothing and no one on this Earth that is worth destroying yourself or your family for. Stop believing the lies.
Off The Rails 