Yup. I’m out of a job again. But no big deal. I was already planning on being able to do comics full-time by March, so all this means is that we have to move the timeline up a bit. The timing’s a bit crappy, (who fires someone just before Christmas?? I mean, jeez…) but other than that, I’m actually pretty relieved to be on my own again.
For weeks now, I’ve been gritting my teeth and reciting my mantra, ‘you’ll be your own boss soon, you’ll be your own boss soon,’ just to get through the day, so it’s gonna be super awesome not to have to deal with THAT anymore!! And, I can wear my fuzzy slippers to work ALL I WANT now, which is good, cause it’s still about a billion degrees below zero out there…
So, yeah. Silver linings and all that. When you’ve got a job like making comics to fall back on, everything else just doesn’t really hold up.
* * *
Actually, got another funny moment to share. When my boss told me I was fired, I just looked at him for a minute.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Couldn’t you have fired me on Friday?” I asked.
“No. I make it a policy never to fire anyone on a Friday.” He replied.
“Why the crap not?” I said, indignantly. “That’s the best time to fire someone!! They can leave, take the weekend to drink or rant or whatever, and then get it all out of their system just in time for a fresh start on Monday! I could have been warm and comfy in my bed right now!!”
He apologized. Profusely. If anything good comes from this on their end, I hope that I have at least convinced that guy to rethink his stance on Friday firings.
Soranic Says:
Yeah, the reason for the monday firings, is so the poor schmoes who don’t do comics can spend a week being productive looking for a new job. If they do it on a friday, there’s a triple chance he’ll come in monday with a gun. 🙁
The things you can learn in HR.
SpotWeld Says:
On the subject of firing on Friday. I guess the major gripe about it is when you get the notice just as you are about to pack up for the day. Then your boss zips away before you can react. While I agree that Friday is probably a good time for the reasons mentioned, it might be best to assume a non-coward boss who will get you around lunch time so you can access, give your cube-mates the heads up personally and spend some time cleaning up your workspace (instead of some rather depressing moments in an office empty of folks who have already gone home knowing they’ll be back monday.)
Good luck on your new endevors!!
Ipstenu Says:
SpotWeld nailed it in one. My office fires you on Wednesday, unless it’s for something special (like the guy with a bottle of Jack at his deck … probably would’ve been okay if he didn’t drink from it).
I’d say sorry you got fired, but … I think you’ll be happier without it (and yay for the idea of books etc!). If you don’t need it for the money, enjoy the freedom! And today, if it’s even colder, curl up in bed and laugh.
Gabriel Rotar Says:
Good luck in your comics venture “Boss Lady” 🙂
Damien Sim Says:
Take care… true, it is very shitty of your ex-boss to tell you that your services are not need on a Monday… a letter on Wednesday or Thursday telling you that your services would not be needed the following week would have been nice. Then you can get all the packing/pillaging of your office stuff done by Friday, rather than that awkward Monday of packing up your stuff
pfogg Says:
Fire early in the week, provide no advance warning, don’t let people go anywhere unescorted once they’ve had the news, make sure they leave as soon as possible, and for large-scale layoffs, have some undercover cops on hand ‘just in case’. The latter can also provide some much-needed comic relief in an office suite of computer programmers (imagine 3-4 low-ranking police officers trying to dress appropriately for that venue, without ever having seen it before).
Blade Says:
that was totally lame of them to do that before christmas…geeze.
Well, at least you can be your own boss now.
robbie rotten Says:
Ok, so what’s the company’s name? I smell a boycot coming! 😉
Good to see you’re not too hung up about it, just enjoy christmas and newyears!
soilent Says:
I was fired three effing times just before XMas. And once right in front of my birthday.
Damien Sim Says:
My heart goes out to you Soilent… I guess it WOULD suck to be fired before Xmas… in my case, it would doubly suck because my birthday comes 5 days after Xmas.
PedroSteckecilo Says:
Total suckage, but as far as I can tell workplaces have a knack for “letting people go” at the worst possible time. An ex co-worker of mine was called from Calgary while visiting family in Holland so they could let him go while there was still a week left in his vacation.
Still good luck and have a Merry X-mas despite the suckage.
CSmythe Says:
Sucks that you got let go but it sounds like they didn’t know what they had in you anyway. Being under appreciated is lousy and you’re probably better off without them.
On a purely selfish note, does this mean back to 5 days a week Moosehead Stew? Your comics are pretty much the best part of my day so you can bear in mind that your fans are out here rooting for you no matter what happens.
Lisa Marie Says:
i got fired back in march because i missed too much time..the reason for my absence? my house freaking burned down and i didn’t have any documentation! i mean what did they expect me to get a note from the firemen? rarr..and the worst part is i could see my work from my back yard..call centers are assholes…sorry you had to get out of bed to freeze and get fire..i shall shake my fist at them for you.
Mom! Says:
Hey my girl, funny thing is – we weren’t very happy anyway were we? Sometimes freedom and opportunity come in strange designer packages…somehow the artists in us reconfigure the mess into something grand in spite of the original intention – and the world is a bit brighter for it. Thats one of the perks of being over 40 – you can say all the wonderful mystic stuff with a straight face…giggle
JAB Says:
Sadly, a lot of (crappy) companies fire people right before the holidays, so they don’t have to pay out holiday pay to a bunch of people they are planning to let go anyway.
Bill Says:
the other reason for not firing a person on Friday is the employer only has 3 calendar days (in most cases) to pay the employee. So they would only have 1 “work” day to do the paper work. And as someone who is addicted to weregeek I am happy you have more time to do comics … however the timing of the employer is truly disgusting
iliich Says:
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?