And though I had slain a thousand foes less one,
The thousandth knife found my liver;
The thousandth enemy said to me,
'Now you shall die,
Now none shall know.'
And the fool, looking down, believed this,
Not seeing, above his shoulders, the naked stars,
Each one remembering.
--John M. Ford, The Final Reflection

The Asylum Director

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"The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn't require any." - Russel Baker

Monday, June 18, 2007

I'm Unemployed. Again.

I was originally going to just edit my original post for this day, but this event requires a completely separate update.

You see, as the title above implies, I've just been fired. This, of course, really shouldn't come as a surprise. Now, here's what I managed to grasp of the situation and how things ended up the way they are at this exact moment.

I am told I have an attitude problem. No disputing that. However, from what I've managed to understand (and believe me, you can come to understand quite a lot when you know what to look for), this is not because of my general personality. No, my abrasive, brash, take-no-prisoners, whiny, annoying demeanor isn't exactly the cause for my untimely dismissal. In reality, what happened is more like them taking issue with my adamant objections to a particular project.

You see, for a very brief while, I was asked to take one of the so-called "Elite" writing programs. We've covered the basics of this little thing once before, so not really that big a problem there. Anyway, I am told that my attitude towards that project was the problem. Interesting. You see, I had that project forced on me, despite my vocal objections that such not be the case. Now, I understand that I'm really not allowed to pick my spots for the job, but I had to draw a line somewhere!

So I complained and I ranted about just how much I didn't want the project. For someone who's only done that once before (the casino blogs project), I think I deserve to be cut a little slack. Besides, I didn't say anything that I didn't say about all of the "Elite" projects that were thrown my way. First off, I didn't believe in the project in the least, and I certainly didn't feel like I would be able to put up with the client's impossible demands. Whoever has it now, I am told, has easier things to abide by.

Of course, that't can't be the only reason, can it? No way. I may risk sounding like an egotistical bastard by my next statement, but suppose there was something else that prompted this. Like, say the post that will live in Intelligraph infamy? I can't tell if he's ever read it, but if he does, then he's got no right to fire me over what is the truth.

This, naturally, is merely speculation.

The truth is, I might never know the real reason behind my sudden termination. Never have any clue as to why everything about my clearance was processed before I even signed the forced resignation papers. No real reason for my sudden exit, with no forewarning whatsoever. Unnerving, isn't it? Then again, I suppose I should be glad.

Yes, I'm not the least bit angry over this. I'm happy about it.

You see, anyone who's listened to me or has read this blog would know that I've been contemplating leaving for a long, long time now. I was hoping to find work first before getting the Hell out of a bad situation, but they've beaten me to the punch. Not that I mind. Saves me the trouble of having to print a resignation letter and kissing up to the boss' dumbass-ness one more time.

However, something does seem a little odd here. Provided he did read my blog, that may imply a few things. First, he is far too sensitive to take criticism, much less accept the truth when someone shoves it down his throat the way I do. According to what I heard, he actually sent a few people an e-mail that attempted to (lamely) defend himself from what I posted before. Silly course of action, considering the fact that anyone who got that would likely know he was just attempting to recover what little credibility his words left him.

Another thing that one might come to believe after this event is that he's a complete and total idiot. So I spoke the truth and pointed out the flaws in his statements. So I have an actual opinion. So I decided to speak out about how I felt on my personal blog. Am I not entitled to that? Do I not have the right to talk about things that matter to me on my own damn time? So what if my opinion happens to be contradictory to what his perception of his company and employees happens to be? He can't fire me for having an opinion and he can't fire me for what I wrote. There's nothing in the Labor Code or my contract that keeps me from speaking out that way. I'd complain and go to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), but that's not worth the time. There'd be no point to doing that.

Howeve,r if he did read that post, what does that say? He monitors each and every little detail of what his employees do? Does he not trust us? Or does he just pretend to work all day long, but in reality he's just checking out the websites we go to? What doe she really do all day? Monitor his writers like "Big Brother" from 1984? That'd be an interesting notion, but it would explain his utter lack of knowledge of how the trenches of his company actually work. It also implies that he does not respect the privacy of his employees, but that's an entirely different issue.

So, again the question, where do I go from here?

That's what has me just a tad bit worried. I'm not entirely sure. I'm thinking that a job in China might be a good idea, but then again, I don't want to have to deal with Chinese people. It isn't the people so much that bother me as the language. Of course, there is that QA job I've been considering for a month or so now.

Ah, but I can worry about that later.

I'm finally free.

10 comments:

Frankie Calcana said...

I'm completely speechless. Eto na lang, mamimiss ka ng buong division naten. :(

Cough Syrup Junkie said...

i heard about that email thing. akalain mo may pahabol pa pla sa napakahabng first email nya. haay...sa tngin ko nga, he tries to monitor all of us here in the office. i just wish i can see his reaction sa mga nadidiscover nya. hehe. keep in touch.. we'll miss you. *sniff

Anonymous said...

CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms or not, how they are viewed depends entirely on the person it is intended to. Apparently your boss (or ex-boss, for that matter) didn't take it like that. Think back - was the project REALLY that bad? Was your ex-boss REALLY that bad as well? I salute your courage of voicing out your concerns at work but I also think that you should understand that we cannot always LIKE what kind of duties we are given at work - and yes - we can complain all we want about it but truth of the matter is, THAT thing we're complaining about would STILL be there for us to accomplish no matter what we say. It's just got to be done wether we like it or not.Then again - what do I know naman nga diba? Good luck on your future endeavors.

k said...

i, for one, am shocked. i didn't expected it. and here they are peddling a he's-whiner routine to everybody (not that they found anyone who believes...). :P hope to see you again.

k said...

ay. about the monitoring thing, i think they do that. one time, i was surprised to see that the boss's wife was one of the people in the who's viewed me part of my friendster. i think, they don't just monitor, they ACTIVELY look for us on the Net.

digitalburyong said...

tsong ayus yan. walang nawala sa'yo. sa kanya marame. gudlak. something beautiful will come your way (robbie williams).

Spongebabe said...

i really do think they try to monitor us. it's kinda creepy. i dunno about you guys, pero i think that's just low. if they can't trust us, there's no way we should also trust them.

and what they did to you harvey.. damn, i was really "windang." didn't think they'd really do something like that.. but i guess we couldn't really put it past them, could we?

one thing is for sure, though. whatever they say about the reason behind your termination, no one's buying it.

hay, harvey. mamimiss ka namen. actually, namimiss ka na namen.

ah basta, keep in touch. we'll see each other again someday. ^_^

Anonymous said...

Harvey! ano ba yan! absent lang ako nung isang araw, pagbalik ko wala ka na. hehe. May gap na tuloy dito sa makeshift cubicle natin. Ok lang yan, at least mas malaya ka na para hanapin yung mas ok na opportunities para sa iyo. anyway, kitakits na lang minsan pare. inuman tayo. hatakin natin si clarence. hehe.


...at yung commemorative bote ng mineral water dito nawala na rin. tinapon mo ba? Akala ko tatagal pa yung bote na yun dito sa office kaysa sa atin. hehe.

Maggie said...

A total shocker. Harvey, I'd have to admit, you are an asset to Intelligraph and yet I hear this somewhat serious but silly thing happened. Take it with a grain of salt pare. Well, I think you have already.

Now it wouldn't be a shock if I told you the same thing happened to me right exactly before I started to work for Intelligraph.

So yep, you're right, you are finally FREE! Congrats!

PS - Remember nagpaalam ako sayo dati na include kita sa blogroll ko dito sa blogspot? Thank you and well, I'm asking you again na include din kita sa Multiply blogroll ko ha? :)

frizzyeatworld said...

Oh, wow. I didn't know things at the office were THAT, well, crazy.

Best of luck to you, Harvey. The same goes to all of you in the TCS department -- at least to those who are still working there.

"The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief." ~Shakespeare, Othello

Power to the poeple!


Fritz