Author Topic: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!  (Read 91948 times)

ender

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https://medium.com/@taliajane/an-open-letter-to-my-ceo-fb73df021e7a#.f2tgr5htv

Probably should not read this if you have a negative stereotype about millennials, because it pretty much walks down the stereotype list.

It's pretty much as anti-mustachian as it gets. Her grievance, while perhaps well intentioned and a "fair" complaint about minimum wage in SF, is utterly ruined by her inability to do math and as a result putting herself into a position where she pays all her takehome pay in rent.



Psychstache

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I had to stop reading when she went on about how shitty the company was for having a health plan that only required a $20 copay.

taekvideo

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She says it's the cheapest place she could find with access to work on the train.
Do you think she's lying?
She seems to do math just fine considering she was able to calculate what percentage of her income her rent was... her complaint is that there's no cheaper options available (not surprising considering the inflated real estate prices in SF... mostly the result of existing homeowners fighting against any new development for fear of property values dropping).
« Last Edit: February 20, 2016, 04:27:16 PM by taekvideo »

Psychstache

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She says it's the cheapest place she could find with access to work on the train.
Do you think she's lying?
She seems to do math just fine considering she was able to calculate what percentage of her income her rent was... her complaint is that there's no cheaper options available (not surprising considering the inflated real estate prices in SF... mostly the result of existing homeowners fighting against any new development for fear of property values dropping).

There was a comment a few posts down that someone found on craigslist in no time. At the very least get a roommate (like a coworker in a similar situation) like everyone else in SF. No way is living alone in the Bay Area "the cheapest place" unless it is on the street.

LeRainDrop

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Probably should not read this if you have a negative stereotype about millennials, because it pretty much walks down the stereotype list.

OMG, I feel like I have just been getting smacked in the head over and over again with a 2x4.

ETA:  Is it wrong of me to hope that her potential future employers google her and find her grievance letter?  She has set really high career goals for herself /s/:

Quote from: http://taliajane.com/about
Talia is a newly available aspiring comedy writer living in San Francisco who recently left Los Angeles to pursue a career in hangin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2016, 04:57:27 PM by LeRainDrop »

Paul der Krake

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She should probably change the tagline on her Twitter bio.


arebelspy

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Overall a lot of her complaints are valid, in that the costs are real, and her pay is low.

None of that is the CEO's fault, however.

She's right though, she's not making enough to live in the bay area.

Time for her to move to a place with a lower COL where a job that pays low is a living wage. She mentions early on in the letter that some of her coworkers had done exactly that.

She has the solution, and the power to implement it.  Time to do so.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Cassie

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Many of her complaints are valid and her style of writing had me laughing. However,she was hoping to get a position in media with them so she should have gotten a roommate and then stayed the year to see if she could move into a better position.  It was dumb to write the letter now.

clarkfan1979

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I would have loved to take a job in SF after college. However, like many people, I realized it was not financially possible. Instead, I took a more realistic route and moved to Fort Myers, FL, even though I wasn't terribly excited about it.

slugline

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Talia sounded like she was ready to quit anyway?

nnls

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2016, 08:07:00 PM »
I got even more frustrated reading the comments. When people tried to point out that ranting against your CEO was probably a bad idea and people would tell them off and defend her.

Also her edit to ask for money at the end REALLY annoyed me

human

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2016, 08:28:44 PM »
She makes less than 1500 a month. I know a lot of people on this forum like to show off about living on less per month and don't count a mortgage because that is somehow not debt or an expense.

I live off of 2k with 1k of that as rent and basic utilities, could probably drop to 1,500 but I also put away 2.5k a month right now.

Try living on 1400 with no end in sight is pretty demoralizing. It's easy to live off of 1,500 a month when you are making 100k a year, not so easy when making less than 20k.

I actually thought the blog/article was hilarious and well written. Thanks for the link I've saved it to my favourites.

browneyedgirl

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2016, 08:32:33 PM »
I also thought this was hilarious and well written. Additionally, she's doing a lot of the things advocated by this thread: living near public transportation, eating a lot of rice. It's harder to live on 1,500 a month when you have no cushion then to live on 1,500 because you're banking 3 grand (and can use it as an emergency fund). As someone who's newly unemployed I found this heart wrenching and terrifying, but I don't think it deserves to be mocked.

human

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2016, 08:41:30 PM »
I also thought this was hilarious and well written. Additionally, she's doing a lot of the things advocated by this thread: living near public transportation, eating a lot of rice. It's harder to live on 1,500 a month when you have no cushion then to live on 1,500 because you're banking 3 grand (and can use it as an emergency fund). As someone who's newly unemployed I found this heart wrenching and terrifying, but I don't think it deserves to be mocked.

Good points she's eating bulk food and any food provided by the employer. She lived far from work to save on rent (of course she could have a roommate for her entire adult life I suppose, not sure how that proves that 8.15 an hour is a living wage for the area she lives in though).

Gondolin

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #14 on: February 20, 2016, 08:53:57 PM »
I feel like "breaking into media" is the new "moving to LA to become an actor". 99% end up working minimum wage while waiting to be discovered (by either a studio or the twitterverse).

I meet many fellow millennials who seem to think freelancing and making jokes on Twitter will somehow monetize itself without a coherent product / user base for that product.

I'm sympathetic to her plight but, arebelspy is right, time to get yourself out of this situation.

RosieTR

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #15 on: February 20, 2016, 09:50:13 PM »
I'm with the assessment that this is a bit whinypants. First, if you're going to make it in media, you can do Twitter/blogging from anywhere, working a job in customer service anywhere to figure out how to even get work/budget/skills. Some of us have lived with at least one other person our entire lives (parents, roommates, now spouse). That's called balancing other people's needs with one's own, because if you're a selfish asshole then you will find getting or keeping a reasonable roommate or partner difficult. Some of us have put off things we *want* such as having a pet or certain vehicle or fancy whatever, because that's called delayed gratification. I suppose it didn't even ever occur to me NOT to have a roommate after college, in a much lower COL area than SF. Once, I lived with 4 other people and their 5 dogs because it was a mile from work. I'm not saying everyone has to do this, but come on. Cutting her rent in half would have basically paid for all her other problems.

alewpanda

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #16 on: February 20, 2016, 10:04:44 PM »
Yes, she is struggling...and the numbers tell us why.

BUT, what they don't tell us are things like

a) why she must live in such a high cost area -- yes, close to her dad, but isn't there a town 30 minutes a way that would be cheaper and nearly as close?

b) why working 1 year in the entry level position is such a horrible requirement -- sounds pretty reasonable to me....

c) why she needs the car when she says she lives so close to public transport?

d) why she *must* work for this company -- she can likely find better pay elsewhere....better pay and a roommate and a sold car would mean worlds of difference.  Actually, even without better pay, the sold car and a roommate (a coworker that would be willing to turn the living room into bedroom) would make a world of difference.

e) why she had to go into debt for the move....save up a couple months and move maybe?



My husband and I have worked for incomes like this --  with a roommate, a second job, or a low cost of living, its not easy, but its doable.

She moved to a place that she cannot afford to live with her lack of work experience.  End of story.  Go live somewhere cheaper, get some ACTUAL work experience (college education with only freelance work and tutoring experience?  Unless the tutoring was very consistent...she didn't need to work much to get through college obviously), build of a resume, and try again in a couple years. 

I have nothing against her, or even her situation.  But she had deceived herself into thinking that some freelance work over the period of 4 years of college gives her an automatic bid to immediately enter a specific department of a specific (large) corporation.  Sorry, unrealistic expectations....


p.s.  I'm 27 years old....
« Last Edit: February 20, 2016, 10:11:38 PM by alewpanda »

Bergal

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2016, 11:11:06 AM »
Wow.  I do feel for her because it sounds miserable but sharing an apartment would have gone a LONG way to helping her make ends meet.  I had a roommate until I was nearly 30 years old because I couldn't afford to live any other way.   And I was making more than minimum wage. 

Paul der Krake

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2016, 11:43:34 AM »
Some of us have lived with at least one other person our entire lives (parents, roommates, now spouse).
Wow, I never realized that. All this time, we've been failing at adulthood!

MgoSam

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #19 on: February 21, 2016, 12:19:35 PM »
I saw the headline on that and clicked on it expecting to be outraged by the company. Thankfully I actually read the article and yeah, as a company owner I likely would have fired someone that

a. Wrote me a letter bitching about her pay scale (something that was told up front before accepting the job)
b. Released it publicly

There are ways to ask for a raise or cost-of-living increase. My company is tiny, so I doubt that would ever happen to be, but for a company the same of Yelp, what did she honestly expect?

Zamboni

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #20 on: February 21, 2016, 12:43:26 PM »
Whelp, she's not the brightest bulb, but her open letter sure did make me laugh. Coconut water, lol.

She needed to figure out how to take some of that free food home with her, because then at least she would have had a full pantry when she got sacked. I have a coworker whom I'm pretty sure has not purchased food for himself for nearly a decade . . .

Nederstash

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #21 on: February 21, 2016, 01:20:31 PM »
The overwhelming sense of entitlement really annoys me. She needs to realize she's being paid to do a job - in this case a very easy job like answering phones. The boss isn't paying her because he needs to support her, he pays her because she's doing a job.

Also, she seems pissed off that she needs to work an entry level position for 1 year before she can move up. Well, buckle up you special little snowflake, because this is reality.

Some people already pointed out she needs to live with roommates and sell the car. Can I add: going into debt to move to SF? Why didn't she have any cash at 25...?

As far as I can tell, her skills consist of: answering phones and writing snarky remarks. Wouldn't pay her a dime over 1500 either.

cats

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #22 on: February 21, 2016, 02:22:30 PM »
The only thing I object to in her current lifestyle is her idea that she should live alone.  I live in the bay area and most people I know have roommates, especially in their 20s/30s.  Even consultants making $200k/yr often have roommates.  It just doesn't make financial sense to live on your own, and honestly, a decent roommate or set of roommates is more fun than living alone.  The only people I know without roommates have either been living in rent controlled apartments for at least the past 5 years, or they're 40+ and earning a really good salary.

Aside from that though, a wage of $1500 is going to make it very hard to build up any savings here.  My monthly spending does average about $1500, with a reasonable number of luxuries, but as someone noted upthread, there's a big difference between only spending $1500/month but having a big paycheck to back it up with in case of irregularities vs. really only having $1500 coming in each month. 


But, she CHOSE to move here and it shouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that her salary was not going to sustain her and that she would need to resign herself to cutting a few more corners (like, for example, putting up with a roommate for another year or two).  Frankly, I feel a lot more sorry for people who grew up in the bay area and can't afford to stay near where all their family/friends are because they are being priced out by software engineers, etc.

kite

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #23 on: February 21, 2016, 02:28:21 PM »
She lives alone?!?!?!??!?!??!?!???!

This is a lifestyle choice out of reach of most of the world because it is just too expensive.  It's one of those luxuries that even people who can afford it choose not to do it....because the benefits (beyond financial) of living with other people are so great.  She set herself up for failure with the lease on her apartment.   

Since we're judging from a distance, I'm going to put the blame squarely on her Dad.  She does reference that she moved to that area so they could rekindle a relationship, one they never had previously.  And there's no getting around this, but having NO relationship with one of your parents can leave you deficient in many of the things a parent is supposed to teach.   Schools can only do so much.  But the life skill to live within your means is taught by your parents gradually over a frugal childhood or suddenly and harshly when you try to wing-it and fail as an unprepared young adult.

Millennials are not the problem.  It's the people who either raised them (or abandoned them) who are the problem.   

Cathy

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #24 on: February 21, 2016, 02:37:27 PM »
... It just doesn't make financial sense to live on your own ...

This is undoubtedly true, but there are countervailing factors.

By way of analogy, many members here like to prepay fixed-rate non-callable low-interest tax-deductible long-term debt, even though it doesn't typically make financial sense to do so and in fact exposes them to the very risks that they claim to want to avoid, such as financial difficulties relative to job loss. But they do it because it gives them psychological pleasure (I previously glossed this as a "sexual fetish", which may or may not be accurate).

Similarly, even though it's a bad financial decision to live alone, for some people living alone has enormous psychological benefits and, for those people, living with roommates would involve immense distress. Even though it's a bad financial decision to live alone, it isn't necessarily a bad decision simpliciter. Unfortunately, the reality is that if you are one of the people who cannot live with others, expensive parts of the bay area are not the right place to live unless you are significantly better off financially than the writer of that letter. Her biggest mistake was the choice of locale. There are many places in the United States where it is inexpensive to live alone.

Paul der Krake

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #25 on: February 21, 2016, 02:44:50 PM »
But, she CHOSE to move here and it shouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that her salary was not going to sustain her and that she would need to resign herself to cutting a few more corners (like, for example, putting up with a roommate for another year or two).  Frankly, I feel a lot more sorry for people who grew up in the bay area and can't afford to stay near where all their family/friends are because they are being priced out by software engineers, etc.
People are not entitled to live in the most exciting places in the world at artificially low rent prices just because they were here first. People being priced out in a few limited markets is better than the alternative.

Similarly, even though it's a bad financial decision to live alone, for some people living alone has enormous psychological benefits and, for those people, living with roommates would involve immense distress. Even though it's a bad financial decision to live alone, it isn't necessarily a bad decision simpliciter.
Eh. I get what you're saying, but I have a hard time imagining this is the case for someone who posts open letters on medium.com to the CEO of a large company.

desk_jockey

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #26 on: February 21, 2016, 03:37:13 PM »
Years ago when young people wanted to move to New York to enter finance or the arts, they lived in shadier parts of town, stayed several people to one apartment and cut costs everywhere they could until they “made it” or went home.   Today… actually most young people still do that, even in San Francisco.

Sure this lady is high in the self-entitled and naivete spectrums, but it seems her bigger problem is that she doesn’t understand the media in which she communicates.  Years ago kids would write or call home and complain about many of the same types of things, and their parents would silently think “oh, she has a lot to learn about the real world”.   Very few young people had an outlet for their writing larger than a campus publication, which was largely ignored off-campus.   Now we live in a world where almost anything one writes publicly could suddenly reach millions of readers and thus convey to the writer all the benefits and consequences thereof. 

Hopefully she’ll learn a lesson, pause for some self-reflection, and come back stronger and ready to work her way up.

shelivesthedream

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #27 on: February 21, 2016, 03:38:41 PM »
Look, if I had ever had to have a housemate I would have gone 110% stir crazy in days. Thankfully my husband and I married young... However, I would have lived in a van to have been able to live on my own. I would have lived in a fucking tent on the M1 for some alone time. More realistically, I would certainly have lived in a tiny scummy bedsit and cooked all my meals on a slow cooker and plug in hot plate just to get some peace and privacy.

The thing that I didn't understand about this article is Marcus from CVS. I'm not sure exactly where CVS fits into the American societal ecosystem but it's strongly implied that CVS also pays minimum wage. Marcus from CVS has a spare $6... So why doesn't she? He is obviously living in the general area on the same general pay... But he can afford to "throw away" $6 on some random stranger. She's obviously doing some stupid things and exaggerating others.

kudy

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #28 on: February 21, 2016, 03:52:11 PM »
A few of my favorite quotes:

Quote
Then, after I had moved and got firmly stuck in this apartment with this debt, I was told I’d have to work in support for an entire year before I would be able to move to a different department.

Quote
I also have to pay my gas and electric bill. Last month it was $120. According to the infograph on PG&E’s website, that cost was because I used my heater. I’ve since stopped using my heater.


Oh, the horror - working a job for a year and having to pay bills at an apartment YOU CHOSE, in a city YOU DECIDED YOU HAD TO LIVE IN. You can't figure out what jobs you might have a chance at before getting "firmly stuck" in an apartment?

I couldn't help but cringe the entire time I read it. Obviously, many facts aren't fully explored in her complaint-filled rant about being poor and working an entry-level job in San Francisco, but it seems clear this woman has chosen to live in (or near) the most expensive city in the country, seems to live alone (rent is $1245), and has a horrible entitlement streak and no hustle.

cats

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #29 on: February 21, 2016, 04:32:17 PM »
But, she CHOSE to move here and it shouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that her salary was not going to sustain her and that she would need to resign herself to cutting a few more corners (like, for example, putting up with a roommate for another year or two).  Frankly, I feel a lot more sorry for people who grew up in the bay area and can't afford to stay near where all their family/friends are because they are being priced out by software engineers, etc.
People are not entitled to live in the most exciting places in the world at artificially low rent prices just because they were here first. People being priced out in a few limited markets is better than the alternative.


Sure, I'm not saying you necessarily "deserve" to live somewhere by virtue of having lived there for your whole life, but I do feel more sympathy for someone in that situation as it's more they have been landed in a hard situation by virtue of something they couldn't control (being born in a particular part of the country) and have to figure out how to make it workable or get out of it, rather than someone like the author of this piece who has waltzed into a bad situation that she should have been able to see coming and now thinks her employer should be fixing it. 

Zamboni

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #30 on: February 21, 2016, 06:13:51 PM »
CVS is a very large drugstore chain. Marcus could make anywhere from minimum wage as a cashier to $150K+ as a pharmacist. He's probably in between those numbers as a shift supervisor of something. But it's funny to me because she so clearly looks down on people working what she considers a lowly retail job . . . because she's launching her "career in media." It's like "this peon at CVS even had $6, but I don't and it's your fault you meanypants CEO!"

I'm sorry but I just find it incredibly hilarious because an ex-coworker of mine had a daughter who flailed her way through a series of very short term (less than one month each) jobs after she finished high school. She would either quit or get fired each time. Seriously at least 4 different jobs that first summer. The funniest was her saying she couldn't work at the grocery store anymore because "the people who work there are just such LOSERS!" She thought a lot of herself, but apparently didn't own a mirror. She must have forgotten about her nose ring and the tat on her neck . . . exactly what corporate America is looking for in an 18-year-old who barely got through HS.

She latched onto a young man just as he was enlisting in the military and they got married quick so she could relocate with him. They moved and then she was lonely because he was working all the time and she didn't know anyone, so she immediately got a puppy . . .

nobodyspecial

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #31 on: February 21, 2016, 06:48:12 PM »
The startup founder/engineer in me wondered why the company needed to have its minimum wage customer service call center in SF.
It must be costing them a fortune in office rent when they could be paid for opening a center in some rust belt town where $8.50 after tax is a living wage

AH013

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #32 on: February 21, 2016, 07:20:30 PM »
She makes less than 1500 a month. I know a lot of people on this forum like to show off about living on less per month and don't count a mortgage because that is somehow not debt or an expense.

I live off of 2k with 1k of that as rent and basic utilities, could probably drop to 1,500 but I also put away 2.5k a month right now.

Try living on 1400 with no end in sight is pretty demoralizing. It's easy to live off of 1,500 a month when you are making 100k a year, not so easy when making less than 20k.

I actually thought the blog/article was hilarious and well written. Thanks for the link I've saved it to my favourites.

I think the end in sight was quite clear -- work hard for 1 whole grueling year, and that transfer into your dream job MAY open up...if you don't you know, go full dumbass and pen a gripe letter to your CEO about how you don't like the free snacks you're provided, or the free vision/dental/medical.  I'm sure the other benefits like 401k matching (3%), $60/month from Yelp towards whatever your gym membership costs you, free life insurance, 26 paid days off, and employee stock purchase at a discount were of little worth for her (though most adults would consider those valuable benefits).

Sucks she got laid off, but as she mentioned it was not unexpected given the letter she decided to post.

I think it's hilarious how the comments on the article backlashing against the guy that told the girl "don't bite the hand that feeds you" are railing on him saying "but they aren't feeding her...she's so broke she has to live on rice!"....except they actually are...literally feeding her...fresh sandwiches with deli meat, yogurt, fresh fruits, oatmeal, burritos, beverages...even beer!  Every comment from employees there about the free snacks say how awesome it is, one guy even said "Never have to pay for breakfast lunch diner [sic] or drinks ever again".

I guess maybe she should reach out to Marcus @ CVS.  I mean he's just a lowly CVS employee and not of the standards of her genius with her creative wit and media awesomeness, but maybe he'll be kind enough to let her live with him for free (I mean, he did give her $6...maybe he thought she was cute?)...oh wait, I forgot, roommates are so beneath her.

cloudsail

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #33 on: February 21, 2016, 07:36:54 PM »
I recently hired an entry level engineer who was hesitant about moving to the Bay Area because of the high cost of living. His salary is many many times what this woman's was. When he first moved here he was living with two roommates in a 2 bedroom apartment (one girl was sleeping in the living room). Last week he was excited to tell me that he is moving into an apartment nearer work with only one other roommate.

This is an ENGINEER whose salary is over 100k and is pretty much guaranteed to increase significantly as he gains in experience.

I'm sorry, but I have zero sympathy for this woman.

shelivesthedream

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #34 on: February 22, 2016, 06:47:36 AM »
I guess maybe she should reach out to Marcus @ CVS.  I mean he's just a lowly CVS employee and not of the standards of her genius with her creative wit and media awesomeness, but maybe he'll be kind enough to let her live with him for free (I mean, he did give her $6...maybe he thought she was cute?)...oh wait, I forgot, roommates are so beneath her.

Maybe Marcus at CVS could get her a job there and then she would obviously earn enough money live on and then have extra to throw $6 around at random strangers, and she would have time after her shift (presume hourly pay only when the store is actually open, not 24/7 customer service) to work on that freelance job she mentioned that she doesn't have time for at Yelp.

shotgunwilly

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #35 on: February 22, 2016, 02:25:10 PM »
Nobody's fault but her own.

She also has the nerve to beg for money at the end, in her update.

MgoSam

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #36 on: February 22, 2016, 02:50:50 PM »
She also has the nerve to beg for money at the end, in her update.

Can't fault her for that, there are bound to be people that think of her as a hero, and they may be willing to send a few bucks her way. Seeing as how I can't imagine anyone will hire her for the foreseeable future, she might need such charity.

Her letter has popped up on my FB feed, man I hate the headline that people are using for it. She wasn't fired for asking for a higher wage, but rather the tone of her letter, along with the fact that it was posted publicly. I would fire someone for that.

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #37 on: February 22, 2016, 02:54:25 PM »
One thing about social media is that it becomes possible for every possible snippy remark or rant to go viral.

We all probably remember venting or expressing ourselves in an immature way when we shouldn't have. Sometimes, yes, a person can get fired for it or there can be negative long-term consequences. But one person's dissatisfaction with their work situation (whether it's justified or not) never used to become national news unless someone exploded or got set on fire.

KCM5

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #38 on: February 22, 2016, 03:19:47 PM »
Isn't this just a digital resume?

1. Write snarky stuff about job in bay area
2. Go viral
3. Get desired job in "media"

I'm not sure why everyone think's the letter was a stupid thing to do. Sure, she lost her job. But it didn't pay enough for her to live where it was located (getting a roommate aside, which sure, would have alleviated the stress a bit but that low of wage in that area probably isn't doable in the long term) so why not throw a hail mary hoping to get her name out there? I think it was a good move.


Paul der Krake

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #39 on: February 22, 2016, 03:28:48 PM »
Isn't this just a digital resume?

1. Write snarky stuff about job in bay area
2. Go viral
3. Get desired job in "media"

I'm not sure why everyone think's the letter was a stupid thing to do. Sure, she lost her job. But it didn't pay enough for her to live where it was located (getting a roommate aside, which sure, would have alleviated the stress a bit but that low of wage in that area probably isn't doable in the long term) so why not throw a hail mary hoping to get her name out there? I think it was a good move.
I don't think that's going to help her. She might get a few thousands in donations today, but she has likely marked herself for the foreseeable as un-hirable. But then again it only takes one employer to say yes, so who knows.

Putting a reminder in my calendar to look where she is 6 months from now.

LeRainDrop

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #40 on: February 22, 2016, 05:39:02 PM »
Putting a reminder in my calendar to look where she is 6 months from now.

Would you please add to your calendar reminder to come post an update in this thread?  ;-)

Eric

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #41 on: February 22, 2016, 06:23:22 PM »
I do feel bad for people who have to forgo heat all winter because they can't afford it rather than viewing it as increasing their badassity and savings rate (me).  It probably sucks to view this as your future for what I'd imagine feels like the rest of your life.

Abe

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #42 on: February 22, 2016, 07:54:48 PM »
Lack of maturity makes her a likely liability for future employers. She does have some good points about the overall ridiculousness of the SF housing & rental market in an economy that combines the worst aspects of market-based pricing and government-induced artificial supply limitations. Hence a place that, though I would like to live in, would never do since being over-worked in paradise is worse than retiring early in a good enough place.

Goldielocks

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #43 on: February 22, 2016, 08:39:28 PM »
Ack!!  I read to this line and had to stop...

 "I was told I’d have to work in support for an entire year before I would be able to move to a different department."

Boohoo... someone gives you, a person with no contacts and no experience EVER, a steady job then has the balls to set a business policy to reduce turnover which is otherwise way too high?  BAH, many companies insist on 2 years...  the beauty of it is that she proves it later by explaining the value of her 3+ months of experience to job performance.

---------

Read a bit more --- oooh, now there is waspish complaints that the FREE FOOD is not available on all shifts....  There are so many solutions to this, my dear....  this trainwreck is like crack, I can't stop reading.... yep,  now treating bread like it is a personal right even though I, too, started to make my own the year it jumped in price...   

--- copays ---- anyone NOT have copays?  I know some plans have wellness checks for no copay, but mostly, they exist even in gold standard packages..
.....
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.
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Here is the kicker -- after that bitter article, she asked readers to help her get a job!  Wow,  no way do I want to work beside someone like that...
« Last Edit: February 22, 2016, 08:52:49 PM by goldielocks »

MgoSam

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #44 on: February 22, 2016, 08:42:17 PM »
I have a friend of a friend that just moved to SF to work for a startup (it's a well known company that I'll leave nameless). Apparently she was making good money here, and is hating the job because they treat everyone as an intern for the first year, and then you can do something more interesting.

It's a good example of how FB isn't the real world, because this person constantly posts glowing reviews of her workplace or the city.I don't think she's being dishonest, but it's just a good realization how what people post on FB is so different from what they really feel, it's a way for them to post only what they want to.

KodeBlue

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #45 on: February 22, 2016, 08:51:02 PM »
Putting a reminder in my calendar to look where she is 6 months from now.

Would you please add to your calendar reminder to come post an update in this thread?  ;-)

I suspect she would have sunken back into obscurity.

MrsPete

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #46 on: February 22, 2016, 09:38:50 PM »
My first thought upon reading her essay:  If you genuinely want to die every minute of every day, it's probably not your environment.  It's probably you.  Evidence:  Moving out of that environment didn't make her happy; rather, she finds herself crying in the bathtub; in short, she found herself unhappy in different circumstances.  When I was poor, I was often stressed about bills and unhappy about being unable to buy things I wanted, and -- yes -- I can remember crying about specific financial details at times ... but I was never unhappy about my life in general. 

She chose her new location, in part, so she could be closer to her dad ... then racked up credit card debt to make the move possible.  Why not move in with dad at least for a time?  Like maybe the one year she anticipated "paying her dues" by working in this low-salary job.  Couldn't that one choice -- even if it isn't what she really wants -- have made all the difference in her eventual success?

She sees her coworkers grasping for frugal ways to live:  Second jobs, living with parents.  She recognizes these as attempts to "make it", but she doesn't make any similar attempts herself.  A part-time job at CVS sounds like a great idea.  A job waiting tables could've meant taking home real food instead of snacks.  My first couple years out of school, I couldn't "make it" on just one job; most of the young teachers with whom I work have a part-time job (or at least a summer job).  Fun?  Nope, but also not unusual for a young person on an entry level salary.

They feed her at work?  What a cool perk! I wish I could bypass making my lunch every day!  She doesn't seem to appreciate that benefit, even though she hasn't purchased groceries since she moved.  I suspect she doesn't understand -- perhaps because she's young -- that this isn't a typical thing, and she should appreciate it.

$20 for a medical co-pay is pretty good.  Again, is this her youth and inexperience showing?  Still, she's an adult now, and she really should realize that this is a sweet deal.  Better than I have.

Do you think she's lying?
Honestly, yes.  I don't see how anyone could qualify for a rental that eats up 85% of her take-home pay.  I don't doubt that she's in a difficult situation, but I don't believe everything she says.

She's right though, she's not making enough to live in the bay area.

Time for her to move to a place with a lower COL where a job that pays low is a living wage. She mentions early on in the letter that some of her coworkers had done exactly that.
Yeah, this is the right answer. 

Try living on 1400 with no end in sight is pretty demoralizing. It's easy to live off of 1,500 a month when you are making 100k a year, not so easy when making less than 20k.
That's a fair statement.  It's not so hard to be frugal when you know that you can dip into savings if you need to go to the doctor or need new tires.  And, yes, living in poverty is definitely demoralizing.  What I find frustrating about the article is that she doesn't seem to be taking any steps towards altering her situation.

I feel like "breaking into media" is the new "moving to LA to become an actor". 99% end up working minimum wage while waiting to be discovered (by either a studio or the twitterverse).
I think it's also a form of "do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life".  Thing is, most of our hobbies just don't translate into paying jobs -- that line needs to die, and we need to be honest with young people:  You're well-suited to do any number of jobs; choose one that you find acceptable, work hard at it, and look for emotional fulfillment from your friends and family.  Don't confuse your career for your life. 

The overwhelming sense of entitlement really annoys me. She needs to realize she's being paid to do a job - in this case a very easy job like answering phones. The boss isn't paying her because he needs to support her, he pays her because she's doing a job.
Honestly, while that sounds so obvious, a lot of young people have trouble grasping it.  I'm thinking about a young lady I know who was VERY upset that she was written up in her job for failing to show up /not calling in.  After all, she had her mother write her an excuse note!  This person was a high school graduate working full time in a retail job.

Lack of maturity makes her a likely liability for future employers. She does have some good points about the overall ridiculousness of the SF housing & rental market in an economy that combines the worst aspects of market-based pricing and government-induced artificial supply limitations. Hence a place that, though I would like to live in, would never do since being over-worked in paradise is worse than retiring early in a good enough place.
Yes, lack of maturity is definitely a key problem here.  However, on the other side of that coin, when I was her age I did some whining too about how hard it is to transition into the world of adult workers.  I'm glad I didn't have access to the internet so I couldn't make a fool of myself /limit my future choices by saying something about my employer in a semi-public arena.  For that reason, I have some sympathy for her.

dragoncar

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #47 on: February 22, 2016, 10:55:29 PM »
I guess maybe she should reach out to Marcus @ CVS.  I mean he's just a lowly CVS employee and not of the standards of her genius with her creative wit and media awesomeness, but maybe he'll be kind enough to let her live with him for free (I mean, he did give her $6...maybe he thought she was cute?)...oh wait, I forgot, roommates are so beneath her.

Maybe Marcus at CVS could get her a job there and then she would obviously earn enough money live on and then have extra to throw $6 around at random strangers, and she would have time after her shift (presume hourly pay only when the store is actually open, not 24/7 customer service) to work on that freelance job she mentioned that she doesn't have time for at Yelp.

This is what really got me.  She obviously thinks that the people at Safeway and CVS are doing better financially, but makes no effort to actually get a job at those places.

I have a friend of a friend that just moved to SF to work for a startup (it's a well known company that I'll leave nameless). Apparently she was making good money here, and is hating the job because they treat everyone as an intern for the first year, and then you can do something more interesting.

It's a good example of how FB isn't the real world, because this person constantly posts glowing reviews of her workplace or the city.I don't think she's being dishonest, but it's just a good realization how what people post on FB is so different from what they really feel, it's a way for them to post only what they want to.

SF startups are known to pay up to 90% of total compensation in hype.


Eric

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #48 on: February 23, 2016, 12:49:32 AM »
I have a friend of a friend that just moved to SF to work for a startup (it's a well known company that I'll leave nameless).

If it's well known, can it still be considered a startup?  Isn't it just a tech company at that point?

galliver

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Re: I can't do math, so I wrote a public letter to my CEO and get myself fired!
« Reply #49 on: February 23, 2016, 12:56:27 AM »
I admit I only skimmed most of the thread but it didn't look like anyone had posted the rebuttal:

http://www.businessinsider.com/stefanie-williams-response-to-yelp-employee-talia-jane-2016-2