Is there a phrase more chilling than that to most working adults? I recently heard it, and was mystified. I was told it was because of my internet use. (Appearently writing that you love the company you work for is bad.) Most people think that there's some underlying motive. I tend to agree.
For nearly a year I dated a coworked off and on. JB worked in a different location, and it was a very tumultuous relationship. Mostly, it was really hot sex caused by our mutual hatred of each other. Over the course of our relationship, JB was pulled into the HR office multiple times, and each time manageded to talk himself out of being fired. After one occurence that involved me, management had had it. Less then two weeks after he talked himself out of termination, I found my head on the chopping block.
Luckily, I was fired right after reading "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "FISH!", both of which I loved and took to heart. So while I cried, I drove myself to my mother's, where I had a phone, an internet connection, and a pair of arms to hug me. (Having worked for a cell provider, I had lost my only phone.) And I picked myself up. Started looking for jobs. Less then two weeks after being mostly unemployed, I was offered a promotion at the part-time job I had held for about a month. Lucky timing? Yes. But I've never seen any manager happy to hear about an associate being fired from another job before that day.
Do I work my ass off at my job now? Hell yes. I'm not making as much money as I was, but I'm having more fun. Before I was fired I was in a stagnant sales position, searching for other opportunities. I didn't realize how stuck I was, and I had convinced myself that I loved my job and believed in the company I worked for. Now I'm on an actual career track. I'm doing something I truly love, and can see advancement in the not too distant future. I look forward to work, and even when I bitch about a task, chances are I'm having fun doing it.
Am I proud of being fired? No, but I am glad it happened. I'm back to myself. And as I look for a new part-time job to keep busy, potential employers are impressed when I openly and honestly answer their questions about my termination and how I've gained from it. I guess you could say that being fired is one of the best things to happen to me since I moved to ME. (J being the other...)