Ever Been Fired?

[Ash]

Have you ever been fired from a job?
I'm not talking about being laid off.  I'm talking about being straight-up fired.

I got fired from Target back in 1994 when I was 20 years old.

I had previously worked at Target for seasonal Christmas work during the late 1993 holiday season and loved it. 
All of the managers and fellow employees were cool and I had a really fun time working there.  It wasn't uncommon after a shift for all of us to get together after work at a co-worker's house and party it up while still in our Target uniforms.
So, after nearly a year had passed, I thought I'd try to get my old job back and work there during the 1994 Christmas season.

Bad idea.

All the managers were different because the cool ones had moved on to other jobs or different Target stores.  And they were all a**holes.
All of my fellow employees were whiny brats who I couldn't relate to at all.
It sucked big time.

After taking s**t from one of my fellow employees, I finally snapped and told her to f**k off!

She reported it and I got fired.



The worst thing about it was that she waited until the next day to report it.
Then, when I come into work, one of the managers pulled me aside before my shift and told me that I was terminated.

How about you?
Ever been fired from a job?
Why did you get fired?

[SkullBat308]

I got fired once from a supermarket called Superstore. I was living on my own and couldn't pay my rent or buy food so I was stealing from the till and food from the store. I got caught after like ten months and I got charged and had to do community service (which I actually enjoyed). I am a terrible person.

[akiratubo]

I was told to quit or get fired once, for sleeping on the job.  Literally.

[Torgo]

I got fired from Circuit City in 1995 for going to a party that unbeknownst to me contained stolen equipment from the store in addition to some illegal substances.     I also got fired from First Union in 2000 due to "getting in the way of corporate effectiveness".

[BTM]

I've got fired on a couple of jobs.  Once I was working with this computer/data entry company.  At the time was eyesight wasn't so great with small print and, despite all the things the company did to try and help me (magnification screen on the computer, raising the monitor to accomodate my height, etc.  I just could not keep up with the speed and accuracy they required.  This was before I had undergone cornea transplants on both my eyes (I had keratoconis, a condition in which your corneas bulge out like the side of footballs, making it more difficult to see.)  

Another job, was a temp position, I was supposed to be doing data entry for a cell phone company.  At least, I GUESS that's what the job would have been, I never got to do any work.  Spent most of the first day going through an orientation, and then the rest of the time me and another woman who was also a temp were being "trained" on how to work the computers.  Here's the problem though, I don't learn very well by sitting in a chair NEXT to someone on a computer and WATCHING THEM do work with them saying, "Okay, you do this, this, and click this."  

I mean, I just couldn't focus.  Had I been in the chair with her pointing out stuff step by step to me, I would have picked it up easily, guess I'm more an "interactive" learner, than a "sit and listen to lectures" learner.  

Anyway, next day, a Saturday, I show up expecting to work and I get called into the manager's office.   He's like, "Sorry, but we want someone who can stay focused on the job."  He said he'd called the temp office and left a message, but, being a Saturday, there was no one there.  In retrospect, I WISH I would have asked, "Well, how do you know I can't stay focused when you guys didn't give me any actual WORK to do?" And argued my point, but I was too upset at the time to do that.  

Ah, hell, that's only two examples, I could think of a couple more... I sometimes have trouble with the whole "being normal" thing.

[Trevor]

No, been in the same job since December 1989. Almost twenty years: that's almost half my life.   

[Dennis]

I've never been fired, been furloughed/downsized, or whatever the current term for laid off due to lack of work is, several times though.  The worst thing that has been done to me was having my hours cut from 40 plus per week, which is full time employee with benefits to between 29 - 30 hours per week, part time, no benefits. This is worse than being fired or laid off, you barely make enough to live on and you lose all health insurance, retirement fund etc. you cannot collect unemployment because you,re still employed, makes it really hard to support yourself, let alone a family.

[WilliamWeird1313]

I got fired from a telemarketing gig simply for calling in sick one day. Apparently, if you're new they can do that. Next time, I won't give a crap if the guy on the other end that I'm trying to sell long distance plans to hears me blowing chunks all over my headset. Eff it.

[Trevor]

Next time, I won't give a crap if the guy on the other end that I'm trying to sell long distance plans to hears me blowing chunks all over my headset. Eff it.

 

[trekgeezer]

The first computer company I worked for (for 15 years) wanted to make me a contract employee, which meant I would get 30% of the money I brought in, but I would have no benefits.  They would provide the parts I needed, but I would have to pay the freight and I would have no access to their 800 numbers for ordering the parts.

They told me I could have my own business on the side but it could have nothing to with computers.

When my manager explained all this to me I asked what would happen if I said no and he said I would be laid off (which meant I would get two months pay and be able to stay on the  company's health insurance for that long).

I was running a one man operation with a large territory and they thought I would jump right on the deal.  But I called a guy who had done this and he told me he was in the red almost $15,000.  So I told them no.

Since they assumed I would take the deal, they hadn't made plans to cover my territory and they just left me hanging while they tried to find someone to contract with.

 So, I  had to try and find a new job.  This also meant I wouldn't get my severance package. It's scary to be without a job when you have to small kids to think about.

This really sucked because I had always been a dedicated company man and had hoped to retire from there.  It really left me angry for a long time.


To answer the question, no I've never been fired, but like Dennis said there are worse things than getting fired.

[meQal]

I got fired from a few jobs when I was younger. Granted being toilet hugging drunk all the time tends to cause that. That stopped happening after I quit drinking.

[Psycho Circus]

Never been fired (fingers crossed), but I have quit two crappy jobs in the past.

[lester1/2jr]

when have i NOT been fired!

[Jack]

One place was going to lay me off.  Then they weren't.  Then they were.  I finally just quit.  Then they asked me to stay 

[SPazzo]

I've quit several jobs, but never been fired.  Usually I'm pretty responsible when it comes to working.