2008-01-08
a fiery tale of set-up and lies
so...i got fired. I got fired for the first time in my life, from a job I hated, but it still sucks. It is the most ridiculous story, too. Basically, I was terminated for losing keys that were never actually lost. as a "keyholder" i had a set of keys to the store, and a few weeks ago they went missing. it was totally shady, because they were ALWAYS either on me, or in my work locker. then suddenly, one day, they weren't in my locker when I got to work. I freaked and spent 2 full days looking for them before I told a supervisor about it. She said "oh that sucks" but never told me to file a report, etc. So yesterday, my evil manager called me into the office at the end of my shift. "Do you have anything to tell me?" she asked.
Me: ummm...?
Her: so tell me: what is your title here?
Me: oh, about my keys.
Her: yes, your keys. what happened to them.
Me: (trying to keep it light) Honestly, I have no idea. I thought they might have even fallen out of my pocket and flushed down the [extremely powerful & automatic] toilet!
Her: No, Christine, I actually have your keys right here (tips an envelope upside-down, and my keys fall to the desk). Do these happen to be your keys?
Me: yes. Where were they?
Her: an associate handed them to me, and said "These are Christine's keys."
She then commences a lecture on responsibility, and how I had the store in danger, and I had our customer's money in danger all because the store was not secure. She then asks why I never told her about my keys.
Me: Well, I haven't really seen you, and since I told a supervisor and she didn't suggest that I take any more action, I didn't think about it. I'm sorry.
Her: Well, you have seen me in passing. That should be enough. And I am the GENERAL MANAGER. You need to tell me if the safety of the store is in jeopardy.
Me: (starting to sense this is more than just a talking-to). Again, I'm sorry. it wasn't the first thing on my mind. I never knew that I should make a formal report (I never, ever used those keys so didn't know it was a huge deal). I never even got papers with my actual job description, everything has been so crazy!
Her: Well, Christine, after talking with the district manager [blah blah blah] it would have been different if you had reported this earlier [blah blah blah] and he has decided that this will result in your termination.
Me: um...
Her: Christine, I have had these keys in my possession since December 17. And I am just now hearing about it.
Me: wait a minute. You've had my keys the whole time? where were they even?
Her: an associate found them sitting on a box, and handed them to me, telling me that they were Christine's keys. I hope this is a lesson to you of responsibility [blah blah blah etc etc]
Me: *silent and in disbelief as I have to sign my termination papers, stripping me of my health benefits & all my accrued paid time off*
So, I was completely railroaded and didn't have any good responses. I feel like there's so much I could say to her right now...I may call her later this week. My first question? How come you wouldn't just do the decent thing and give my keys right back to me? WHY WOULDN'T YOU JUST GIVE THEM BACK TO ME?! I feel completely set up. She had my keys and just waited til it had been long enough to fire me. She has all the locker combinations, and it is very unlike me to lose things...just saying. As soon as I lost the keys, I felt like something shady was going on. How would this random "associate" who handed her the keys know that they were even mine? How would she know unless they came right from my locker? She could have just shown me the keys and asked if they were mine. But no, I get fired because maybe my keys fell out of my pocket at work, and they were in the GM's possession, thus leaving the store completely NOT in danger. See? I get fired for losing keys that aren't lost. She had obviously been planning on doing this for a long time, because she had never talked to me about it before then. Already had the paperwork for me to sign. And the fact that she had my keys since fuckin December 17 means she was just holding out and keeping me arounnd as holiday help. Then, she acted like I had just ignored the issue and not reported it. Not true! If my supervisor would have said, "hey, you need to make a report to the GM about this," I would have. This is completely unfair, and I am so beyond angry. ANd of course she makes me wait til the very end of my shift to fire me. I am so reporting her to Gap Inc HR. She is evil, and so many people have quit because of her or have been fired for insignificant reasons. She has had it in for me since the beginning.
I am trying not to be mad since I was looking for a new job anyway, but the UNFAIRNESS of it all! I am so disgusted, I couldn't even sleep last night.
anyway, the silver lining to this situation is that I now have more time this week to finish my personal statements & law school applications. After that, it's back to the job search!
missaru at 9:33 p.m.