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18 August 2006

My plan worked perfectly! [More:]
So I set up an exit interview with my boss (cool) and my boss' boss (uncool), so that I could hear exactly what she had to say about me beyond the insults that drove me to quitting yesterday.

First, my boss took our whole section out to a nice al fresco Italian lunch, culminating in espressos and Sambuca.

Then he and I went to his boss' office for an earful. I began, "I've heard you have negative things to say about my work, but I've never actually heard them from your mouth, and I don't want to leave here misinformed. What's wrong with my work?"

She got mad immediately. Blew her top.
"You think you can play dumb? I've seen how you work, distracting people, talking to people, you act like a crazy person, don't get any work done, yadda yadda!" She is a pro at what she does -- dressing people down, that is -- and I was truly impressed by her bitter candor.

So she went on and on, and I interjected with a couple questions, and then described my work experience here to her. How I had worked for almost a year before requesting a full-time position, which was not in the cards. How I had stopped receiving raises, and how I felt it was always kind of them to let me stay 'til five even though my work was always done by one, and how that was like a raise in itself. Oooh, that made her mad (I knew it would).

So she went on, and I think what made her maddest was that I didn't care what she had to say; I was barely listening by the end. And I was the one who called the meeting. And the only things I said to her, when she paused for breath, was, "I see," or "Aha, I understand," or "Oh, that's right," or "You must be right."

So she spent twenty minutes in a fury, and I spent the time lapping it up, looking out the window, and filing the experience away for laughs later on.

Next time I get chewed out like that, I'll have this time to look back to, and it will help me weather the storm. My plan worked perfectly.

When it was all over, I looked her in the eye and said, "It's been a privelige to work here. Thanks for your time today, and good luck."

Quitters always win.
posted by Hugh Janus 18 August | 14:02
As do people who take the high road in an argument -- very well done Hugh!!
posted by JanetLand 18 August | 14:10
I expect some closet MeChite who's also a screen writer to incorporate this into a future romantic comedy featuring Hugh Grant playing the part of Hugh Janus.
posted by Doohickie 18 August | 14:15
Wonderful. May this be the start of a great weekend for you.
posted by essexjan 18 August | 14:24
So you are out of a job. I am assuming that you either have a cushion financially or are in a field where you can find other work pretty immediately.

Anyway, have a great time off!
posted by danf 18 August | 14:29
Well done, Hugh. Sounds like all she accomplished was making a complete ass of herself. Feels good to be the grown-up in the argument, doesn't it?
posted by elizard 18 August | 14:31
Go get 'em Hugh!
posted by flopsy 18 August | 14:54
Do you think that Boss's Boss got the message: Here is an out of control manager who is running off good people. If not, then the place is really fucked.
posted by sarah connor 18 August | 15:00
Hugh Tang! Hugh Tang! Hugh Tang!
posted by Hellbient 18 August | 15:08
So who's the boss' boss' boss? That's the person I wish had seen this.
posted by Miko 18 August | 15:09
Not really, danf; I'm sure I'll be pinching pennies for a little while, but there comes a time when I can't be spoken to like a child anymore, and that time came yesterday. I've got a lotta options: temp work, commercial production, odd jobs for my landlady. But whatever I do, it won't serve to make a woman who despises me look good to her superiors, so it's preferable to what I'm leaving behind.

What a summer!

On preview, sarah connor, it's the boss who's okay, and the boss' boss who is out of control. So something would have to come to the notice of the boss' boss' boss to get her noticed. Which will probably happen next week, after everything falls apart in my absence and she (the boss' boss) is stuck across the river making excuses to the bigwigs.

She's been braiding rope around here for a long time. Now she can go hang.

On second preview, oh shit, hellbient, how was the show?

And on third preview, Miko, I can only hope she'll soon find out how nasty her boss is.
posted by Hugh Janus 18 August | 15:20
Sarah, I think you got it reversed - the boss boss was the problem, not the Hugh Boss.

Good work, Hugh.

The one tactic I learned from a labor negotiator is letting people talk themselves right out of their supply of assertions, all the while giving non-committal encouragers (nod, "un-huh," "go on," etc.) and then when they run out of things to say, summarizing your response with "I don't think anybody believes that." They go into full meltdown.
posted by warbaby 18 August | 15:25
Yeah, I think it was my smirk that did her in.

At one point, her attacks were really personal, so I looked out the window and thought of this girl I just fell in love with, and looked back at her, and she knew I hadn't heard a word, and I could see her neck bulge.
posted by Hugh Janus 18 August | 15:28
Yes! You are now invincible. Nothing can stop you now. Nuh. Thing. I bet you've grown a foot and a half as well, eh?

When you're old and reflecting back on things, this will no doubt be a highlight. It's so important to remember that none of this bullshit matters. We'll all be dead one day, one day too soon, so it's up to us to cut this kinda bullshit from our lives, in order to allow ourselves to get closer to ourselves.

So cheers to you, mate. If you keep your head like it is now, your next step will indubitably be a worthwhile one. And on top of all this - you're in love! Damn!! What do you do for an encore?

Not to steal your thunder at all, but Wu was pretty awesome. And ridiculous. Full-body-bass-massage.
posted by Hellbient 18 August | 15:56
I hope to never have to use you for an inspiration in this kind of situation, but if I ever need to, I will be inspired by you.
posted by matildaben 18 August | 16:04
I need to steal this for my webcomic. Can I, please?
posted by TrishaLynn 18 August | 16:13
Congrats. You've found a powerful place to stand. May it serve you well.
posted by pointilist 19 August | 00:35
Dude, what makes this great is you had your boss (the cool one) in the meeting with you, so Bitchlady can't look at him with any gravity after that - he caught her out just like you did.

But yeah, BossBossBoss should have been there.

You rock.
posted by Lipstick Thespian 19 August | 14:04
mmm... giant hamburger... || Help me with some research real quick?

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