5 ms·

Work for you? Again? After you lied about the job and stole my stuff? No thanks

62 points by LorenDB 3y ago

justinclift 3y ago
he set about replacing ... with new IBM hardware. That was his first mistake. :)
- TrueGeek 3y ago
  I was told no one was ever fired for buying IBM
  - cduzz 3y ago
    60s / 70s / 80s -> nobody was fired for buying IBM 90s / 00s / 10s -> nobody was fired for buying MS / cisco 20s -> nobody's fired for migrating to AWS (edited to add cisco)
  - justinclift 3y ago
    Not really true in the last 20 years. ;)
- zitterbewegung 3y ago
  Might have been told to use it .
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Kon-Peki 3y ago
  If they moved everything to AWS it still wouldn't have produced the report that the company needed. We're going through this right now. Migrating stuff to the cloud, then right before we turn off the old hardware we find out that there is still something super-important that didn't get included in the list of things to migrate. This is a people problem and nothing else.
forinti 3y ago
I would have asked for a consulting fee. Politely, of course.
- thrtythreeforty 3y ago
  Seriously. "I do not have plans to return as an employee, however I am available for consulting at a rate of $750 an hour, which includes $250/hr for being the sole remaining expert on your system, and $500/hr for putting up with your BS."
  - justinclift 3y ago
    Paid up front in cash. Without that, I'm pretty sure their cheque to you would bounce. ;)
datadrivenangel 3y ago
And this is why if you want to be an evil business around modernization, either use consultants who expect to leave, or wait until at least the next year so that any end of year reports that were forgotten about can be rebuilt.
- Xeyz0r 3y ago
  maybe it was cheaper
Xeyz0r 3y ago
"It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude." - Similar thing was said by my grandmother. She said that no matter how hard it os to face a rude person. You have to smile back coz' you don’t know what consequences of your own rudeness you will have.
- surgical_fire 3y ago
  "Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them as much" I find it easier to think in these terms.
  - Xeyz0r 3y ago
    Or ignore them. People who actually are giving us a hard time will always make us strong people.
- imiric 3y ago
  Eh, I would expand that quote to include "to people who are polite to you" in both cases. Being polite to rude people is a good way for them to try to take advantage of you. At the very least, if you don't enjoy being rude, it's best to ignore them. In the case of the article, HR messed up by being rude to someone who was polite, and so, got the well deserved cold shoulder.
  - lf-non 3y ago
    This may be culture specific but I wouldn't consider the cold shoulder response to be impolite.
    - imiric 3y ago
      Me neither. Travis took the ignore approach. But I would certainly find it acceptable to respond rudely to rudeness. Tit for tat.
      - AnimalMuppet 3y ago
Havoc 3y ago
What was the point of this story? Aside from “you may now proceed to be angry”
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  Everyone loves a little shot of schaudenfreude in the morning. It's why r/amitheasshole is a very popular short-fiction subreddit.
ToucanLoucan 3y ago
This seems to just be the logical end-point of any person who's in a position where no one can hold them accountable for too long. Anybody who can't be told "no" by anyone around them for a period of time starts to develop a set of neuroses best described, IMO, as "petulant child" syndrome.
voakbasda 3y ago
I am in a job now where I am bringing up the next generation of their flagship hardware line. The company will sink or swim depending on the timing and success of its launch. It’s a startup, and the bank account is drying up fast. They talk about another round of funding, but I can easily imagine management deciding to fire all of the senior engineers shortly after the product launches in order to save costs. While that would likely end up being a total disaster and doom the company, such myopia is all too common with upper management. The story from the article is hardly unique or exceptional. I will be posting my details on the next “who wants to be hired” thread, because this seems like an increasingly likely scenario. It does not help my management’s case that they talked up a promotion that then was suddenly delayed until after the project is finished, after two years of raises that failed to match inflation.
- justinclift 3y ago
  > ... my management ... talked up a promotion that then was suddenly delayed until after the project is finished That's a really bad sign. :(
MattPalmer1086 3y ago
I once worked for a lovely company that was acquired by a horrid one. Their MO was to treat all the staff they acquired like shit, and give all the good jobs to their mates. They demanded I be in their new office (which was 100 miles away) by 9am each morning, at which point they would usually send me to a client site a few miles from where I lived. I was so sick of it I decided to resign. Somehow they got wind of this and decided to fire me for being late, but they legally had to follow a minimum process for this, so they needed a disciplinary meeting or two first. At the meeting they asked me about the time I didn't get in until 1pm. I thought about it for a second, and said "oh, you mean the day the IRA bombed the M25 motorway?". Their faces fell, but they had another one up their sleeve. To which I responded "you mean the second time the IRA bombed it?". They really didn't have a leg to stand on, and I handed in my resignation notice at that meeting. They then employed me as a contractor for the next 2 years on about twice my previous rate. All the other senior engineers privately contacted me about contracting and they all also left over the next year. The company eventually went bust; they also treated their customers badly, and lost several constructive dismissal lawsuits (which are quite hard to win normally). I still take satisfaction that they got what they deserved.
- buggeryorkshire 3y ago
  That experience jars with me, would love to know who it was. Years ago I worked with a company that did the screens and compute for large bookmaker companies. Was in one of the client shops in London when a bomb went off. They immediately changed the screens with the news on and I got a call from my boss stating under no circumstances should I mention a bomb went off half a mile from the shop I was in. Can't stop the revenue...
Suppafly 3y ago
I had a similar experience with a huge lotus notes database I supported. Like a year after they let me go, they wanted to hire me back for the end of year/beginning of the year setup that the db required. They were super rude about how they approached me through the contract agency. I just ghosted them and figured they'd get someone to handle it for them. It was mostly documented anyway, but I assume they had also laid off anyone that knew enough about notes to follow the documentation.

62 points by LorenDB 3y ago

justinclift 3y ago

he set about replacing ... with new IBM hardware. That was his first mistake. :)

TrueGeek 3y ago
I was told no one was ever fired for buying IBM
- cduzz 3y ago
  60s / 70s / 80s -> nobody was fired for buying IBM 90s / 00s / 10s -> nobody was fired for buying MS / cisco 20s -> nobody's fired for migrating to AWS (edited to add cisco)
- justinclift 3y ago
  Not really true in the last 20 years. ;)
zitterbewegung 3y ago
Might have been told to use it .
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Kon-Peki 3y ago
If they moved everything to AWS it still wouldn't have produced the report that the company needed. We're going through this right now. Migrating stuff to the cloud, then right before we turn off the old hardware we find out that there is still something super-important that didn't get included in the list of things to migrate. This is a people problem and nothing else.

forinti 3y ago

I would have asked for a consulting fee. Politely, of course.

thrtythreeforty 3y ago
Seriously. "I do not have plans to return as an employee, however I am available for consulting at a rate of $750 an hour, which includes $250/hr for being the sole remaining expert on your system, and $500/hr for putting up with your BS."
- justinclift 3y ago
  Paid up front in cash. Without that, I'm pretty sure their cheque to you would bounce. ;)

datadrivenangel 3y ago

And this is why if you want to be an evil business around modernization, either use consultants who expect to leave, or wait until at least the next year so that any end of year reports that were forgotten about can be rebuilt.

Xeyz0r 3y ago
maybe it was cheaper

Xeyz0r 3y ago

"It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude." - Similar thing was said by my grandmother. She said that no matter how hard it os to face a rude person. You have to smile back coz' you don’t know what consequences of your own rudeness you will have.

surgical_fire 3y ago
"Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them as much" I find it easier to think in these terms.
- Xeyz0r 3y ago
  Or ignore them. People who actually are giving us a hard time will always make us strong people.
imiric 3y ago
Eh, I would expand that quote to include "to people who are polite to you" in both cases. Being polite to rude people is a good way for them to try to take advantage of you. At the very least, if you don't enjoy being rude, it's best to ignore them. In the case of the article, HR messed up by being rude to someone who was polite, and so, got the well deserved cold shoulder.
- lf-non 3y ago
  This may be culture specific but I wouldn't consider the cold shoulder response to be impolite.
  - imiric 3y ago
    Me neither. Travis took the ignore approach. But I would certainly find it acceptable to respond rudely to rudeness. Tit for tat.
    - AnimalMuppet 3y ago

Havoc 3y ago

What was the point of this story? Aside from “you may now proceed to be angry”

pavel_lishin 3y ago
Everyone loves a little shot of schaudenfreude in the morning. It's why r/amitheasshole is a very popular short-fiction subreddit.

ToucanLoucan 3y ago

This seems to just be the logical end-point of any person who's in a position where no one can hold them accountable for too long. Anybody who can't be told "no" by anyone around them for a period of time starts to develop a set of neuroses best described, IMO, as "petulant child" syndrome.

voakbasda 3y ago

I am in a job now where I am bringing up the next generation of their flagship hardware line. The company will sink or swim depending on the timing and success of its launch. It’s a startup, and the bank account is drying up fast. They talk about another round of funding, but I can easily imagine management deciding to fire all of the senior engineers shortly after the product launches in order to save costs. While that would likely end up being a total disaster and doom the company, such myopia is all too common with upper management. The story from the article is hardly unique or exceptional. I will be posting my details on the next “who wants to be hired” thread, because this seems like an increasingly likely scenario. It does not help my management’s case that they talked up a promotion that then was suddenly delayed until after the project is finished, after two years of raises that failed to match inflation.

justinclift 3y ago
> ... my management ... talked up a promotion that then was suddenly delayed until after the project is finished That's a really bad sign. :(

MattPalmer1086 3y ago

I once worked for a lovely company that was acquired by a horrid one. Their MO was to treat all the staff they acquired like shit, and give all the good jobs to their mates. They demanded I be in their new office (which was 100 miles away) by 9am each morning, at which point they would usually send me to a client site a few miles from where I lived. I was so sick of it I decided to resign. Somehow they got wind of this and decided to fire me for being late, but they legally had to follow a minimum process for this, so they needed a disciplinary meeting or two first. At the meeting they asked me about the time I didn't get in until 1pm. I thought about it for a second, and said "oh, you mean the day the IRA bombed the M25 motorway?". Their faces fell, but they had another one up their sleeve. To which I responded "you mean the second time the IRA bombed it?". They really didn't have a leg to stand on, and I handed in my resignation notice at that meeting. They then employed me as a contractor for the next 2 years on about twice my previous rate. All the other senior engineers privately contacted me about contracting and they all also left over the next year. The company eventually went bust; they also treated their customers badly, and lost several constructive dismissal lawsuits (which are quite hard to win normally). I still take satisfaction that they got what they deserved.

buggeryorkshire 3y ago
That experience jars with me, would love to know who it was. Years ago I worked with a company that did the screens and compute for large bookmaker companies. Was in one of the client shops in London when a bomb went off. They immediately changed the screens with the news on and I got a call from my boss stating under no circumstances should I mention a bomb went off half a mile from the shop I was in. Can't stop the revenue...

Suppafly 3y ago

I had a similar experience with a huge lotus notes database I supported. Like a year after they let me go, they wanted to hire me back for the end of year/beginning of the year setup that the db required. They were super rude about how they approached me through the contract agency. I just ghosted them and figured they'd get someone to handle it for them. It was mostly documented anyway, but I assume they had also laid off anyone that knew enough about notes to follow the documentation.