Well, this was about twenty years ago, and this was when I really discovered I could handle a busy office setting pretty well. Good with people, decent at paperwork and I had a talent for selling services. I had a boss who trained me and turned that raw talent into what I became. The company was on the upswing and my office alone, which certainly wasn’t being run by me yet, was raking in sales.
As time went on, our team grew and so did our sales. The boss who trained me began having health problems related to a bad breakup he was going through. I don’t understand what happened because he was very quiet about his personal life. Before I knew it, he’d backed away completely and he’d taught me how to basically do everything.
Right about this time, I was dating this spooky goth girl. I was flattered by her attention and her cuteness, but she was really clingy. She was my first dating experience so I let a lot go. She would literally hang out at my work all day. I mean just haunt my office, flirt with me and get me flustered while I was working. It was fun at the time, but I’d never stand for the persistence she had.
So, one day, spooky goth chick comes to my work crying. She had a panic attack and I took her to one of the meeting rooms. My then-boss suddenly appeared after a months long hiatus. The timing was kinda weird honestly. Back then, there was no text messages so no idea if someone called him or what.
So, here I was, leading goth chick through a guided meditation to stop her panic. It was actually working, but suddenly my boss burst in, and demanded to know what was happening. She screamed and ran off into the room, having no idea who this man was. He was retired Chinese Army so he was as serious as a gunfight.
I was stupid really. The whole idea of letting a girl hang out at my job all the time was fun but really didn’t lead to a girlfriend ever. I got fired and dumped in the same day. My boss told me that he was firing me to teach me a lesson, but he will consider rehiring me in a few months if he believes I learned my lesson.
So, months go by and I can’t get a job. I eventually got something new and life went on. I also never heard from that boss. But eventually did run into former coworkers who saw the aftermath of my termination.
So, after I took my walk of shame, the office fell apart. One of the contractors we employed stepped up and became an employee, then did a good job of running the office. I came back to try and work there, and he said he’d literally have to re-train me if I came back, and I’d only be very part time because they didn’t need anyone. Whatever, no big loss.
The problem was, my boss had somehow degraded in his ability to function. He just could not function at the level I could. He’d taught me everything and it’s really not difficult to master repetitive office functions. This job wasn’t a difficult one. I think it was largely that I was a 20something who walked eight miles a day. He was in his 50s and was fighting some kind of illness.
The office recovered when said contractor stepped up. But the damage was done. The dominos were already falling. By dominos, I mean numbers. This office went from generating 2/3 of the store’s income to about 20% of it. This caused the store to lose its position as top in the company.
So, apparently the number one store in the company slid to third place. The store that was first and second place went under. This caused the company to declare bankruptcy. Apparently some former coworkers I talked to were there when some kind of police showed up in tactical gear and seized everything.
The final result was people losing their jobs without getting their final paychecks. Stores across the country were shut down without anyone onsite being warned.
To be fair, I was just a cog in the machine. I feel like this company was doomed from the beginning. My then-boss stepped up and saved the company and basically trained me to do his job for him. The weirdest part was that I was arrogantly aware of how important I was to this company. But I really considered that to be a joking, sarcastic opinion. Frankly, had I not allowed a girl I was dating to hang around, when she didn’t even want to be my girlfriend was silly and stupid.
The ultimate stupid move was how this company was built. It was really a house of cards. And even though I really don’t even feel like I deserved the level of validation this gave me; yes, the place went under without me.