Saturday, July 18, 2009

secret 18 - fired

my parents met at a newspaper. my mom was a typesetter and my dad a sports reporter. they always referred to the building as the scene of the crime when we drove past as a kid. my dad always told the story that he was fired from that job because he refused to wear a bow tie, which was part of the standard, required uniform. and i loved and admired that story and although one never hopes to be fired, it taught me that it's not really all bad if you are...

boring brown microsofty door

it's really true that when one door closes, another one opens. in may of 2004, i was fired. from no less than microsoft. no warnings. no reason. and i had a lawyer that eventually proved it. the only reason was an insecure boss (probably another failed state pageant wanna be--tho' from north dakota--which is also why i dislike fargo--another story for another day--and even more pathetic than being a miss south dakota wanna-be (we do all need our albanian and north dakotans are quite frankly south dakotans albanians--don't really know who the north dakotans have to look down on--perhaps people from idaho?)).

the real reason i was fired was that my boss wanted to kill my project. another area of microsoft with funding for it contacted me and wanted me to finish it. it was easter and a lot of people were on holiday. and i agreed, without securing permission. and a purchase order was opened. thereby foiling my utterly incompetent and insecure middle manager (whose name i will gladly tell you directly if you email me) in her attempt to stop my project. but which made me appear insubordinate. which perhaps it was. but it was actually in the best interest of the company (which her reason--hating me--was not). anyway, she had the power and she fired me--illegally, as it turned out--and they had to pay for that--six months of salary--which nicely gave me the summer off.

just an aside--i only accidentally worked for microsoft because they bought the danish software company i was working for--meaning that i did not choose to work for The Man. however, i actually did enjoy it. big companies have huge possibilities. and they teach you that if you make good arguments, you can do whatever you want. and that's a good lesson.

much prettier door

anyway..it's true that in being fired another door opens...because what it meant was that i saw other possibilities all around me. and answered an ad in a newspaper and got a great job that i loved and that afforded me the opportunity to create an incredible network and see a whole lot of the world. and although that job burned me out, leaving it (of my own accord, incidentally) in turn opened yet another door...

even prettier door

so you never know what series of events that being fired can set off...and what doors it may open for you, even far beyond what you think the statute of limitations might be. perhaps a door to a whole new life....which might be the life you should actually be living. 

i wonder what's behind this pretty, bright door...

(VEG, this one is for you.)

12 comments:

Extranjera said...

ooh, such a pretty door.

That's it. Doors are pretty, and things behind them are even prettier.

Thank you for this extremely appropriate and timely post. lots of folks are going to enjoy your wisdom.

rxBambi said...

Great thoughts on something that could potentially be bad. I was fired from my first job. But it wasn't illegal. I was fired because I was supposed to be there at 8 and I consistently got there at 10 or 10:30. And it was a law office. And I wore jeans whenever I couldn't find anything else to wear. And basically I was a little shit. But I ended up getting a job I really loved and it all turned out ok.

ps- are any of those doors yours?? Mine is boring off-white. I think it needs a paint job.

Cyndy said...

I just finished writing a note to a friend of ours about the doors of life, and here you are posting about it. Kismet?

I wrote about doors one day (I'll send you the link off-blog for I wouldn't DARE suggest you read my blog or anything! : ) Wish I had illustrated it with some of your doors...

Looking forward to more secrets (do you have to stop at 30?)

Suzanne said...

Your secrets make me happy. And this one is very poignant because I'm feeling a lot of locked doors around me now, but maybe I'm just banging on the wrong doors...

thanks.

Sarah said...

Umm, this will sound extremely corny, but given my current circumstance, it feels like you are talking directly to me with this secret. And though I am sure you are not, I wanted to say thanks, because I feel so much better and excited about the new doors in my future.

The Redhead Riter said...

That was a BEAUTIFUL post. One of your best for sure! I'm so glad I found your blog months ago!!!!!!

Stopping by to let you know you're on my blog ♥ list!

Have a great Saturday!

spudballoo said...

Hear hear...quite right. Plus, at the risk of sounding all motherhood and applepie, I strongly believe that things always work themselves out for the best in the end, even if it's a bit painful along the way.

I was 'nearly' fired from a job for having a relationship with a colleague (I married him later, briefly, but that's a whole other story). In with the lawyers, I kept my job but I was 'tainted' as a troublemaker. Hmmm. I left sharply, and found a job in a different sector entirely and adored it.

More recently I was 'made redundant' from a job I'd been in for 10 years. I was returning from maternity leave, wanted to work part time...they agree, then took back the approval and made me redundant. In with the lawyers, no hassle this time as they knew they were in trouble (it was a law firm I worked for!) and one year's salary was handed over. I got another job the next day, part time, working from home...very flexible, I only work when I want to.

Both times of 'rejection' it's felt very personally upsetting, and the rejection is difficult. But it's always led to much better things for me.

Long post. Just wanted to say, I agree...getting fired is ok. Some might say COOL! xx

Sarah Lulu said...

Lovely post.

Doors are so important and I have in my past hung onto a closed door too long. No more ....next pretty door..please.

Char said...

i'm patiently waiting for the door to open...i'm ready.

but you're right, i do believe this.

Deb said...

So glad I clicked over. Loved the thought and really really loved those doors. Who has doors like that? I want to come see those doors. Think I'll start looking for doors to shoot! Thanks!

Laura Doyle said...

Oh, I really, really like this one. For obvious reasons. You are the the goddess of hope and the ray of sunshine that slashes through the bleak, gray cloud of doom. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this reminder. Have an awesome Danish weekend. Speaking of danishes, that sounds really yummy right now.

Sammi said...

I like this I think I might save it somewhere and read it when I feel sad because it makes you think a lot.