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For those of you who didn't know, here's what happened to me last week.
The angry lurker who didn't like our comments about his "patriotic" flag / eagle image decided that getting me fired would teach me a lesson. "That could never happen," you say, oh faithful Obnerite? Yes, it could. Here's how:
1. Lurker figures out where you work, and your first name. This is done by searching all your previous posts, and reading every one of them to get a feel for you, look for details, and narrow down the search for the job place. In my case, one of his websites was associated in some remote way with my former employer, and he knew what state I was in. That pretty much did it.
2. Lurker calls your place of work and says that you "publicly slandered his website, as an agent of your company, how dare he, I'm going to sue, I'm very upset, this is un-american, here's the website where he said it and his username... look it all up for yourselves." Employer panics.
3. Employer watches everything you do for 2 days very quietly, but you don't go anywhere but the places everyone else goes, with the exception of Obner. Employer then explores every part of obner, including the NSFW pics and links. Employer sees monkeys giving head, genitalia with herpes, etc., thankyou Ghita.
4. Employer decides that you've been to these places, since they're on the website, even though you haven't. You are now a monster, and have no place working for them. Employer also reads and prints out every single post you've ever made, which at the time total over 700.
5. Employer calls you to a meeting, wherupon you are presented with the stack of your posts, a goodly % of which were typed while at work (*gasp* and bare in mind they take seconds each, often occur during the lunchbreaks you work through, and that you produce greater quantity/quality of work than anyone ever expected you to, leading to 2 promotions in 4 months). You are asked such questions as...
- "Explain this ... 'OhBner.' What does that mean?" It's 'Ahbner,' and I didn't name the thread. But I believe it's a mis-spelling of the word Boner.
- "And this, this... 'Cap-n-skwir-gul,' what exactly is that?!?" That was an anonymous, fake name, which someone has de-anonymized for you so that you're able to read any post I've written, no matter what it was about or when I wrote it, and then sit here under the flourescent lights and judge me as though I'd said them aloud at work, which I didn't.
- "Did you really intend to have a, what did you call it, a 'Nooner' at work?" No, but I thought it would make a funny thread. And in my defense, I think it succeded. That thread got a lot of good responses.
- Etc. It went on for 30 minutes. I was calm, honest, and eloquent. I tried in vain to keep the discussion in proper perspective, to remind them that this was about someone not liking my distaste of patriotic imagery used to sell products, and that I had received nothing but rave reviews for my work performance from one of those 2 people sitting there. That his site was never mentioned, nor was my employer. But because he got angry, he turned the trick and pulled all the masks off, and cried wolf.
They made no attempt to save a good employee. They sent me home, called me, and fired me. Before I went into that meeting, I had some warning of what was up. I also had his name and phone number, thanks to an email he'd sent someone that I got forwarded. I went into an empty office, closed the door, mustered courage, and called him. His name's Wes. I still had faith that people are not completely evil or irrational, and that I'd done something I wasn't aware of that would explain his angry reaction... not liking his imagery is, frankly, not that big a deal. He was caustic, rude, and irrational. I was called a "fucking moron" a total of 11 times - I started counting on my fingers after 5. I told him to blow off as much steam as he needed to, and then we could discuss what happened. I was told that, as a crazy left wing liberal, I could not see the "big picture," and never would, and that I was to be taught a lesson the hard way. I argued that I wasn't even the most left-wing person in the corner of my building, nor my own house, and was in fact fairly moderate and reasonable in my political views. But hell hath no fury like a 3rd-rate webmaster scorned. The damage was done, and I was going to learn the hard way, apparantly. He hung up on me in mid-sentence. I did not raise my voice nor return fire. I told him what I would and would not apologize for... I regretted his feelings having been hurt, but stood by my right to not like something he'd slapped together on his website. This is america goddammit. Not everyone likes everything.
What did I learn? You're never safe. You can be positive, on-time, upbeat, and furiously productive, but if some fucking loser gets mad enough at you, you're going to get it, unless you work for yourself. I also learned that some people will let you down, just as others will surprise you happily. Obners have been overwhelmingly helpful in picking me up.
A few notes - No, the former employer cannot be sued for wrongful termination, even though the bitch (Hi! I know you're still reading these to check up on me!) who looked at me like a child molester in the "interview" is checking ebay and stock quotes on the clock as we speak, and couldn't out-perform me at work if her life depended on it. This is an "at will" state, meaning I can quit anytime for any reason and they can fire me the same way. Unless you've been discriminated against, you're outta luck.
I also want to keep the company's name out of it, and I mean that, if any of you know who it is. It doesn't matter anyway, and there are some great people still working there. I have no interest in sour grapes, nor in getting sued for slander/libel. But my opinions are mine, and I feel no shame in commiting them to writing. I was not treated properly. And this same thing could happen to most of you. Learn from my experience.
Now I have to go look for jobs. But it's good to be back.
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