Well that’s been and is still, time spent following the Chinese curse of, “May you live in interesting times”.
The Travel Event?
Went without any major hitches, everyone, with one exception, seemed to have a great time. Brought in money and hit costs, so as you can expect, to be fired the week after, came as a bit of a surprise.
Seems that the Boss, who had decided not to do any of the work he’d scheduled himself for, preferring instead to appear on a daytime TV programme, where he was shown suitably impressive houses by the BBC, that he could then turn down, thereby elevating his, “look at how far I’ve come” status, felt left out of his major event of the year (he told this to the guy I’d bought in to run Touratech Tours in the UK and who now has the General Manager’s job there, and he told me), well you should have been around and done some of the work then shouldn’t you…you can’t have it both ways, either you are a part because you play a part, or you just act like a spare part, because that’s what you are, a lazy, useless, lying… you get the picture?…
So I’m fired because of the fragile ego of one of the most inept managers and indeed, unpleasant people, I’ve ever encountered.
The ride ‘to overcome ignorance which creates fear’ that I’d done…well this guy brought a new level to the word ignorance. To fart at an employee regularly, as a sign of being of an elevated managerial status, well I’d just not expect that. There’s more, lots more, but as I’m now taking legal advice, perhaps it would be prudent not to say more at this time.
On the legal advice thing, Karen has been in touch, with a very generous offer. She’ll pay for the divorce, so long as I don’t make any claims. Well doesn’t that just seem like the bargain of a lifetime. I lose my love, my job, my home, my friends, my hopes and aspirations, my trust and belief in people…in exchange for displacement, loneliness, bitterness, dark endless nights where the dreams are so depressing that I’d rather not sleep…and I’m offered a freebie divorce.
I’m still no clearer about what happened from the moment on Oct 6th 2008 when I set off with plans and a loving wife’s support, until the 13th Nov 2008 when all I’m worth is a text message telling me, “I’m not missing you as much as I think I should be”.
Since that message, it’s as if I’ve just become some sort of inconvenient stain that needs to be eradicated. The attitude that’s been taken is one of someone cancelling a subscription, very business like, cold and totally devoid of emotion. Almost as if they are scared that being emotional would reveal to themselves what a calculating, cold and utterly unpleasant action they have taken. Perhaps they wouldn’t like themselves then and that would be very contrary to the lifestyle they have opted for and how they’d want to be perceived by those around them. It’d be interesting to see in the future, if such an instant switch one way were to be reversed in a similar manner, only at that point there’d be no one waiting, only stark realisation and the bare evidence of what you’d become. Time will tell.
Even by the time I’d managed to get back from Colombia to Seattle, the house and home I shared, appeared to have been sanitised of my ever having existed.
So, thanks for the offer, but I don’t really think that anyone should be treated with such disdain, not by an ignorant, egomaniacal manager, and especially not by a devoted Wife.
Can’t work out which is the worst, but I’ll certainly be seeking remuneration from both.
Oh, and I have got a job again. It pays less than I’d get by not working at all, but I have an interview soon, so perhaps these folks who have decided to turn me off completely and as quickly as a light switch, might just have found out that it’s only a dimmer and you can only turn it down for a while.
Shine on and I hope that anything I can do to illuminate your actions will result in a brighter, fairer world.