TheIronSheik
SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
I debated actually putting this story up here because it reveals more about me than I probably want known. As a warning, this story probably won't be that funny. So if you're looking for humor, be forewarned. It is me being honest an vulnerable, so go a little easy. Shtick is always welcome.
About two weeks ago, my idiot boss and I get into it again. I know he's been trying to set traps for me and I'd been doing a great job of navigating through the mine filed. But I slipped and replied in an email something I shouldn't have. Nothing major, but still not good. That was a Friday. The following Monday, he doesn't talk to me all day. And just as I'm about to leave, he asks me if I can come into a conference room with him. When I go in, I see there's an HR lady in the room, too. My first thought is, "Crap. I'm being fired." But then I remember that he sent me an invite to meet with him on Wednesday of that week. So I'm confident I'm just getting in trouble.
The HR lady, who I do not know, pulls out papers and puts them in front of me like I'm in an interrogation room at a police station. I can see they look like phone records. He says that I was supposed to talk to people in the field and get some feedback from them. But he can see from my cell phone records that I haven't called anyone. The weird thing here, is I already have results from this and have moved this project along ahead of schedule. I look at them confused and say, "I use my personal cell." I have an iPhone and they gave me a Galaxy. I'm an old man and I don't feel like learning a new OS. So I just set everything up on my personal phone. Again, it's important to point out that I have proven results that show I've called people and moved forward on the project, but he is concerned with how I'm doing it. The HR lady than says angrily, "You used your personal cell? You're supposed to use the cellphone we gave you. That's insubordination."
At this point, I can tell she is not impartial. Also, I find it hard to believe you can get in trouble for not using a work phone. I feel like you can get in trouble for using your work phone instead of your personal, but not the other way around. But I don't know for sure so I just say, "OK."
He then begins to accuse me of several things that are not true, but because I messed up, he's basing everything around that one truth. I plead my case back making sure I counter all of his lies, even saying I can show proof his claims aren't true. But again, the HR lady seems to be arguing with me on points she doesn't know any facts about. It's clearly a 2 on 1 situation. Then, out of no where, she says, "Do you even like working for this company?" It was such an odd question, it literally stopped me in my tracks. As I began to speak, she cut me off and said it again. "Do you even like working here? Because I have to tell you, it doesn't seem that way to me. I've walked by your desk and said hi to you and you don't even respond back. I've never seen you walk over to our side of the building and say hi to anyone over there." She then says, "Do you have some sort of problem where you can't seem to talk to people and be friendly with them?"
I was in shock. This isn't why I was in here. I wasn't in trouble for not being friendly. There was no reason for this line of questioning. I looked at her and I had to tell her something I'd never told any other employer. Hell, I've only told about a dozen people in my life (up until this post): I said, "I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was a young kid and I am on the spectrum of Autism. Meeting people and talking with them is one of the hardest things in life for me." As I said this, I heard my boss say, "Uh-oh" like he was genuinely shocked and didn't realize he made a noise. Her face changed immediately, too, and she became much nicer.
The meeting ended abruptly after that and I left to go home. I was pissed, embarrassed, and sad. I told my wife and she was just pissed. I didn't sleep at all that night and I thought about calling in sick the next day. But my wife said I needed to go in and notify the head of HR what just happened.
I set up a meeting with the VP of HR the next day, who I am friendly with. She was very nice to me and explained that it was all just a misunderstanding and that no one outside of those three people would ever know. Thing is, it wasn't a misunderstanding. The woman overplayed her hand and it came back on her. The VP also apologized for what happened and said that my boss was willing to work with me to better our relationship.
So, in a way, things ended up working out in my favor. He's been super nice to me, but he also treats me like I'm a special ed kid. He sent me an email that said, "Don't ever be embarrassed for who you are." I was like, #####, I'm not embarrassed of who I am. I embarrassed I had to announce it to people who had no reason to question me about it.
My wife is still pissed. She keeps saying I should maybe talk to a lawyer. But I don't want to talk about it with other people. I hate even talking about it here. I've already deleted this post 5 times. And I'll probably regret hitting send when I do. But whatever. I'm interested to hear what people think.
On one side, there's pretty much no way I ever get let go from this job. All of my past indiscretions have essentially been wiped clean and my boss now treats me much better, even though I still don't like him.
I also know they said they'd never tell anyone other than those three, but I almost feel like they have to tell some higher ups. Because I'm sure right now they don't want any bigwigs to accidentally to discipline me for whatever reason. Regardless, I feel like everyone I talk to knows, even if they don't.
It's been a rough past 10 days for me.
About two weeks ago, my idiot boss and I get into it again. I know he's been trying to set traps for me and I'd been doing a great job of navigating through the mine filed. But I slipped and replied in an email something I shouldn't have. Nothing major, but still not good. That was a Friday. The following Monday, he doesn't talk to me all day. And just as I'm about to leave, he asks me if I can come into a conference room with him. When I go in, I see there's an HR lady in the room, too. My first thought is, "Crap. I'm being fired." But then I remember that he sent me an invite to meet with him on Wednesday of that week. So I'm confident I'm just getting in trouble.
The HR lady, who I do not know, pulls out papers and puts them in front of me like I'm in an interrogation room at a police station. I can see they look like phone records. He says that I was supposed to talk to people in the field and get some feedback from them. But he can see from my cell phone records that I haven't called anyone. The weird thing here, is I already have results from this and have moved this project along ahead of schedule. I look at them confused and say, "I use my personal cell." I have an iPhone and they gave me a Galaxy. I'm an old man and I don't feel like learning a new OS. So I just set everything up on my personal phone. Again, it's important to point out that I have proven results that show I've called people and moved forward on the project, but he is concerned with how I'm doing it. The HR lady than says angrily, "You used your personal cell? You're supposed to use the cellphone we gave you. That's insubordination."
At this point, I can tell she is not impartial. Also, I find it hard to believe you can get in trouble for not using a work phone. I feel like you can get in trouble for using your work phone instead of your personal, but not the other way around. But I don't know for sure so I just say, "OK."
He then begins to accuse me of several things that are not true, but because I messed up, he's basing everything around that one truth. I plead my case back making sure I counter all of his lies, even saying I can show proof his claims aren't true. But again, the HR lady seems to be arguing with me on points she doesn't know any facts about. It's clearly a 2 on 1 situation. Then, out of no where, she says, "Do you even like working for this company?" It was such an odd question, it literally stopped me in my tracks. As I began to speak, she cut me off and said it again. "Do you even like working here? Because I have to tell you, it doesn't seem that way to me. I've walked by your desk and said hi to you and you don't even respond back. I've never seen you walk over to our side of the building and say hi to anyone over there." She then says, "Do you have some sort of problem where you can't seem to talk to people and be friendly with them?"
I was in shock. This isn't why I was in here. I wasn't in trouble for not being friendly. There was no reason for this line of questioning. I looked at her and I had to tell her something I'd never told any other employer. Hell, I've only told about a dozen people in my life (up until this post): I said, "I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was a young kid and I am on the spectrum of Autism. Meeting people and talking with them is one of the hardest things in life for me." As I said this, I heard my boss say, "Uh-oh" like he was genuinely shocked and didn't realize he made a noise. Her face changed immediately, too, and she became much nicer.
The meeting ended abruptly after that and I left to go home. I was pissed, embarrassed, and sad. I told my wife and she was just pissed. I didn't sleep at all that night and I thought about calling in sick the next day. But my wife said I needed to go in and notify the head of HR what just happened.
I set up a meeting with the VP of HR the next day, who I am friendly with. She was very nice to me and explained that it was all just a misunderstanding and that no one outside of those three people would ever know. Thing is, it wasn't a misunderstanding. The woman overplayed her hand and it came back on her. The VP also apologized for what happened and said that my boss was willing to work with me to better our relationship.
So, in a way, things ended up working out in my favor. He's been super nice to me, but he also treats me like I'm a special ed kid. He sent me an email that said, "Don't ever be embarrassed for who you are." I was like, #####, I'm not embarrassed of who I am. I embarrassed I had to announce it to people who had no reason to question me about it.
My wife is still pissed. She keeps saying I should maybe talk to a lawyer. But I don't want to talk about it with other people. I hate even talking about it here. I've already deleted this post 5 times. And I'll probably regret hitting send when I do. But whatever. I'm interested to hear what people think.
On one side, there's pretty much no way I ever get let go from this job. All of my past indiscretions have essentially been wiped clean and my boss now treats me much better, even though I still don't like him.
I also know they said they'd never tell anyone other than those three, but I almost feel like they have to tell some higher ups. Because I'm sure right now they don't want any bigwigs to accidentally to discipline me for whatever reason. Regardless, I feel like everyone I talk to knows, even if they don't.
It's been a rough past 10 days for me.
