This has been on my mind for a while, even if the event happened in late December. I'm still feeling the effects to this day (the effects in question being unemployment, lol)
But let's start with context: I worked at a 3rd party installer for Best Buy called American Audio Video and everything was really great for a while. Loved my coworkers and the boss honestly fine for a while. Smoothly was doing what I was asked for months, learned a lot along the way. But a little bit into the time there 2 of my coworkers (the only 2 people I worked with actually) up and left. So they need a new guy who can help me out. I wait weeks for my boss to find a new guy, the whole time I can't even find a way to make money. Boss tried to be cool by occasionally sprinkling me a partial days wage, but it wasn't enough to clear the head space of impending crunch when we have a bunch of installations later.
So, they finally find a new guy. Let's call him Chad. This dude is an absolute FUCKWAD. His first conversation with me is about how he lives with Raz Simone. The well-known “CHOP Warlord” of whatever. He admits he's “not a support of those BLM riots” and INSTANT red flag. My old coworkers were mostly left leaning, and actually browse this subreddit. But this guy was a cryptobro, a billionaire simp, and would use slurs daily. So I just offhandedly make jokes that are somewhat leftist in nature. But this guy would always take it so serious when I say stuff like “eat the rich”. Like I'm part of the problem. Cuz his big issue is that “well billionaires create value and jobs for people, you're just another lazy leftist who doesn't understand the world.”
He would also keep taking these weird stances in our discxusion where he “still agrees with me” but then defend that for every left winger who believe in trans rights or higher wages or free healthcare, there's a poor right winger who will be hurt by abortions or pipelines being banned. So he keeps saying how I just blame the system and don't do anything. His opinion is that I blame others too much and should stop being an armchair activist. Like I haven't been part of protests and other political activism before. Btw, he's a felon so he can't even vote anyway.
But I tell him “Hey, so we don't agree on anything politically charged actually lets just drop it in the workplace. These discussions go nowhere” he disagrees, and says I just need to be more positive and understand that right wingers are still just as valid to hold their opinions. Im like, yeah sure. But if certain things they vote for hurt my friends. Im allowed to call them out. And he flips his shit that I'm just a regular person who talks shit about “his family” and he literally grabs my arm, hard and yells that “wow Trash2k!!! You're so FUCKING smart wow everyone should just listen to you wow! My family is dumb and bad, and all conservatives should shut up and die forever” and this is the point when i couldn't come to work without either crying or going completely greyrock unable to emote mode.
So luckily, that was just a week of work. Holiday break was coming up. I had the 23rd to the 26th requested off from work, with the actually words from my boss being “23rd to the 26th is ok!” And that usually means im in the clear. So I get to my grandparents house for the holidays and I've gotten 7 texts. Open the first one, its from Chad McCryptoBroCoworker. Chad tells me he “knew I was full of shit when I told him I had today off the day before”. I tell him that I'll talk to the boss and clear up we already had today cleared until the 26th. Apparently he backpedaled on that and went back the default before I asked days off. Which were Xmas eve -xmas and NYE AND New years. And all he ever did to prove he never said i had the days i requested off actually off was to just say “uhhh no i never said that i made it clear when your days were off” . So fast forward to after the trip, he calls me to tell me I'm fired for being a bad fit for the job. I had to teach Chad when I was already new. Had to deal with feeling unsafe at work the whole time.
So I assume Chad just… deeply disliking me or even slightly disliking me had some sort of tainting of the situation with my boss. They clearly talked about me being gone for my fully cleared holiday trip to each other before talking to me. But the boss said that “i only hear what i want to hear and do what i want to do” but clearly i asked because if i knew i wouldnt be cool to go on the trip i wouldn't have gone. I'd be mad about it, but at that time I cared more about making rent than my sanity. Kyle didnt know me well enough to believe I meant well by saying I had the day off. As far I know it was cleared. And the boss didn't give me any reassurance that he was aware it was an ACCIDENTAL misunderstanding even if I told him that verbatim. My assumption is he talked to Chad about my absence, then Chad said I had today, he forgot he told me I had the 23rd to 26th off, and now with tainted “ew Trash2k is a filthy leftist and Chad thinks he doesn't work hard” brain he decided I was a good fit. But honestly who cares about how they feel, I enjoyed the actual job and was good at it, even teaching the trained electrician (Chad) some things about how to do better work. I had a good work ethic and everything.
Is it safe to assume that it wasn't my fault I got fired? My family always sides with my managers for some reason so I'm not even sure who to talk to about this. Bad employers like this have always lived rent-free in my head for a while because it always feels like I'm unemployable. But my actual work ethic is good if I'm not treated like shit. Even today, I talked to the boss about him sending w2s. He sent me a screenshot of it. I asked if he could just get me a link to the QuickBooks or something because I legally deserve more than a barely readable, uncropped screenshot of my w2s. And he asked if I'm “literally 15”. No, I just want my actual w2 file. I don't trust this guy not to try to pull a fast one on me. Because as it stands I don't even know if I'm in the wrong for just asking for something beyond a screenshot. I want this saga to be over so I can finally block the Boss' number too.