i've been giving this a lot of thought lately (no reason really...i swear). my parents always told me to never burn bridges if i were to ever leave a job; no matter what the circumstances, no matter how much i'd want to. their rationale was that you never know when you might need that person's help in the future, or when your paths might cross again.
it's a good thought, in theory, but i say FUCK THAT. arson is fun.
here's why i think burning bridges is not only acceptable, but often your only option:
1) it can actually lead to some change for those coworkers you are leaving behind whom you like. i've seen, on more than one occasion, where comments made during an exit interview sparked some change in the management. it's not common, but it does happen.
2) it makes you feel better. maybe not the best reason, but it's true.
3) it's always best to be truthful. what does sugar-coating your feelings accomplish? your boss is a douchebag. he's a perfectionist, a nano-manager and ill-suited to communicating effectively to cats, never mind other humans. let it be known, people. plus, if you were to ever find yourself on a bridge that leads in his direction you'll wish it were burned. so burn that motherfucker down.
this really has nothing to do with anything topical or pertinent to being a poet, but it's been on my mind lately. exit interviews are ridiculous, anyway. but, if you truly want to accomplish something, spew away. denigrate everyone you feel deserves it. let them sort through the ashes for whatever remains. fuck it, you've got a new job with a whole new set of assholes to deal with.
9 comments:
First: I stopped visiting your site 3 or 4 months after you stopped posting. It was making me too teary to come by here to find nothing new. Or it could've been the vodka. Whatever. Potato, potahto. Then a certain Irishman casually mentioned you were back, and my heart soared. Never leave us again, you bastard.
On the topic of this post: in 2003I found out that the jackholes at work were paying a minority male more than me. He had half my experience, a tenth of my intelligence, and none of my outright goddamned charm and social graces. I threatened quitting, they gave me a $3000 lump-sum bonus check to get us commensurate; then I cashed the check and turned in my two weeks notice. Then took one of those two weeks on vacation. The bridge crumbled to ash, and I cackled in the fading glow. I was warm. Or, that could've been my hatred. Either way, 1st and only bridge-burning, and totally worth it.
I always carry a zippo and some lighter fluid for just such an emergency.
Management deserves what they have coming to them, always, especially if they are inefficient, or morons.
good to hear. nightly i've prayed to god for your return. my prayers have been answered. ;)
now. shut up and write some poems.
asshole.
Welcome back to blogging Justin! Love the Driving Rant, I agree with you and all commentors on the pet peeves--particularly turn signals that stay on when the person has already made the lane-change but you never saw it and keep waiting for the idiot to make his/her move.
two cheers for Ms. Babineaux! that's what i'm fucking talking about folks! hot damn. stick it to the man. it never ceases to amaze me how managers think they can treat their employees like shit and don't expect some kind of consequence from it. and, they often have the gall to be amazed and shocked that we feel this way. "such insolence, such nerve, to feel hurt and angry by being treated as a subhuman by me...you're lucky to have a job..."
yeah, well, you're lucky my foot isn't up your ass. yet.
cc-
those would come in handy for other things as well. you never know when a BBQ might just break out. always be prepared! :)
Luis-
i agree. there is no punishment too severe or too unusually cruel for management.
PoetHound-
thanks, Paula. How are you? sorry i've let our correspondence lag, but you can ask anyone on here: it's my MO. i'm a selfish, lazy bastard...
oh, and improper use of directionals will always be a pet peeve. good call! :)
will have an exit interview in the next couple of days as I got myself a new job, the ineptitude, failures, down right brass balls, akin to a member of the travelling community pulling over in a new ford transit van and stopping you and asking if you’d like to buy a watch, which so happens to be the one he’s wearing, to say nothing of the inbred like stupidity of management, along with the missing personality and people skills of the new fuckpot director is just too much to go over in one exit interview. think I’ll smile and just be glad I’m going, after nine years even my desire for small petty revenge has been sapped.
work, who’d fuckin do it?
Justin,
So far doing well! Don't worry about the lack of correspondence, my own goes in waves of always-available to suddenly always-unavailable. Such is life. Keep in touch when you've got the time and energy.
no Brian-
lay into them. don't let them off. think of the co-workers you're leaving behind. think of the children. do it for the children. think of those less fortunate who don't have jobs and therefore will never be able to burn a bridge. do it for the jobless. :)
Paula-
expect an email from me soon. and by soon i mean, eventually! :)
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