Look at what I received on my last day of work …. My work business card.
Such irony, because I also had to give back the business cards too!
My favorite angry moment of the day was when I was doing my exit interview and paperwork. What got me mad was all the stuff they asked me to return that was part of my employment. Why would I be angry in returning something? ….
The reason I was getting angry was because the termination worksheet was making me feel even more used. So the automation director first asked me for things to return. The first few things were N/A which was okay (such as company car.
Then the next thing he asked was for me to return company safety gear. So I told him what safety gear? He said the safety gear we gave you … Then I went “i didn’t get any safety gear, I have just been using my own, because no one gave me anything”. Then the director looked at me with a uh oh. We didn’t give him that.
Then after that he asked me to return the company equipment I was given. So I looked at him again and said “I didn’t get any tools”.
He asked me next for my keys to the office. All I give him is a fob. And he looks at me and asks me for another key too. I look at him perturbed because I was not sure what key he was talking about. This got me even angrier because I said “this was the only thing I got from the hr lady after I walked around looking for a key.” So the director looked at me and accepted that.
Then we went to company uniform, he asked me to return the clothing that I received. So I looked at him and said “uniform?”, he looked at me and said ” the clothing we issue you when we hired you, it is the ones the field guys wear”. So I looked at him again and said “i didn’t get any clothes, so I’m not returning anything”
So I was pretty sure I got shafted so I was angry.
Then here was the second funny angry moment … He asks if I want to do an exit interview. I look at him and said “okay”. So I’m looking at the paper and writing down my supervisor’s name. The director looks at the name I write down and says “that is not your supervisor”. I look at him and say “yes it is. This is what it said on my work agreement”. He then says “no it’s not”.
He goes and pulls out this org chart and shows it to me. I look at it and go, that was never conveyed to me. It was not conveyed to Zach either. Because he was actually my boss. Too bad no one sent me an email, or even made it clear to me.
The director looks at me and says “do you want to change your mind?” Then I reply “No”. Mostly because I saw how they operate, and I don’t want to work in that environment with no clear management structure and motivation.
I wanted to also make sure that I let my co-workers know that I am a good guy and genuinely feel bad I am leaving. So what do I do … I bought pizza for all the people in the engineering side, with cookies, and drinks. I got a Mexican, tandoori chicken, garlic chicken, and a meat lover pizza.
I wanted to make sure that I left on good terms because I will see these people again. I also wanted to genuinely show them that I am very sharing. Which would make it harder for upper management to bad mouth me. Especially if I did something as simple as buy everyone lunch. Which I never got myself for when I got on board.
These are the fun stories that I tell Sherri and my friends at home about what I do at work.
