Author Topic: Epic FU money stories  (Read 2795112 times)

SisterX

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #350 on: September 23, 2014, 03:06:38 PM »
Just found this article.  Guess we can do this with impunity now...

http://www.caintv.com/obamas-nlrb-now-ordering-reins

What the f*%# did I just read?  I sincerely hope that was satire, because otherwise it's partisan politics beyond inanity and into the realm of crazy.

Joggernot

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #351 on: September 23, 2014, 03:20:07 PM »
Just found this article.  Guess we can do this with impunity now...

http://www.caintv.com/obamas-nlrb-now-ordering-reins

What the f*%# did I just read?  I sincerely hope that was satire, because otherwise it's partisan politics beyond inanity and into the realm of crazy.
Not satire.  Real.  You can cuss out the boss and expect to keep your job.

jordanread

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #352 on: September 23, 2014, 04:02:39 PM »
Just found this article.  Guess we can do this with impunity now...

http://www.caintv.com/obamas-nlrb-now-ordering-reins

I don't think FU money means what you think it means... :D

zataks

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #353 on: September 26, 2014, 10:40:10 AM »
Kind of have one; it's more about being badass by living below my means than actually having FU money but I think the principles are the same in this case.

Have been extremely over worked and understaffed for a long time and I reached a breaking point and applied for a different position that would be a voluntary demotion for me.  Not really much less money (maybe 5%) but a significant status and responsibility demotion.  I saw my manager yesterday (who I do not directly report to; there's a supervisor as a buffer) and told her how exhausted I am and concerned for my health and that is why I'm applying for the lower position. 
She came back to me later in the day and emailed today saying that they are going to get us temporary assistants for relief until a long-term position can be created as well as attempting to get me a status and wage promotion (10%)! 

tl;dr: because I don't need higher wages I encouraged management to give me help and more money by applying for a lower level job.

SisterX

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #354 on: September 26, 2014, 11:54:52 AM »
Just found this article.  Guess we can do this with impunity now...

http://www.caintv.com/obamas-nlrb-now-ordering-reins

What the f*%# did I just read?  I sincerely hope that was satire, because otherwise it's partisan politics beyond inanity and into the realm of crazy.
Not satire.  Real.  You can cuss out the boss and expect to keep your job.

I was referring to the article itself.  It's crap.  And I'm not saying this from a partisan perspective, but as someone who understands journalism.  That article is not it.  Find better sources.

Joggernot

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #355 on: September 26, 2014, 01:59:39 PM »
Just found this article.  Guess we can do this with impunity now...

http://www.caintv.com/obamas-nlrb-now-ordering-reins

What the f*%# did I just read?  I sincerely hope that was satire, because otherwise it's partisan politics beyond inanity and into the realm of crazy.
Not satire.  Real.  You can cuss out the boss and expect to keep your job.

I was referring to the article itself.  It's crap.  And I'm not saying this from a partisan perspective, but as someone who understands journalism.  That article is not it.  Find better sources.
Please provide me with your list of unbiased sources that I may use them.

nyxst

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #356 on: September 26, 2014, 02:37:20 PM »
Back when I was married my ex had gotten promoted to a new job making decent money and his relative passed away leaving some inheritance.  I thought it was a good opportunity to shift gears and started taking real estate classes.  I worked as a receptionist at a lawyers office for shit money and didn't want to stay there forever.  Anyway, about a year later I was all squared away with my license. They hadn't given me a raise yet and it was about review time. They had increase my workload substantially from just receptionist to now doing all of the filing and estate planning for one of the partners.  I made a long list detailing everything I did for the firm and went in for my review.  I asked for a $8000 raise (which was a huge percentage of my salary...) and they basically laughed me out of the conference room.  So I handed them my two weeks notice (pre-typed) and kept my cool.  Each partner took turns over the next week grilling me on how I was going to manage and trying to scare me into staying.  Finally the 2 weeks passed and on my last Friday I was saying goodbye to my friends. Of course the top dawg partner calls me into his office and offers me a $10,000 to stay and said that he though I was just calling their bluff and they never interviewed anyone for the job and had no one to replace me.  I politely declined and explained that I didn't play games like that, but my moral code said human beings should treat each other with respect.  I was 23 at that time.... he was 67.. and he thought he was way more important that me since he was a big shot lawyer.  I don't think anyone had ever stood up for themselves like that with him.   It felt great! They ended up begging me to come in part time 2 days per week for over 3x my hourly rate to finish the estate work for 3 months.  I took that and ended up using them as my divorce lawyers (free of charge!!) so I'm glad I didn't burn the bridge to the ground.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2014, 02:42:56 PM by nyxst »

Cheddar Stacker

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #357 on: September 26, 2014, 02:41:16 PM »
@nyxst, cool story. Thanks for sharing.

Zamboni

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #358 on: September 26, 2014, 09:12:33 PM »
That is a great story, nyxst.

SisterX

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #359 on: September 29, 2014, 11:09:17 AM »
Just found this article.  Guess we can do this with impunity now...

http://www.caintv.com/obamas-nlrb-now-ordering-reins

What the f*%# did I just read?  I sincerely hope that was satire, because otherwise it's partisan politics beyond inanity and into the realm of crazy.
Not satire.  Real.  You can cuss out the boss and expect to keep your job.

I was referring to the article itself.  It's crap.  And I'm not saying this from a partisan perspective, but as someone who understands journalism.  That article is not it.  Find better sources.
Please provide me with your list of unbiased sources that I may use them.

I would never say "unbiased".  Everyone is biased.  I said "better".  The article you linked to?  That's the equivalent of using Buzzfeed as a source.

nyxst, fantastic story!!

MooseOutFront

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #360 on: September 30, 2014, 09:49:46 AM »
@nyxst, perfect FU money story.  FU and your money, guy.

GardenFun

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #361 on: September 30, 2014, 11:14:43 AM »
Worked at a company for over 13 years.  Had a major customer audit coming up.  Was working 12-14hrs/day for months preparing for it.  Boss (CEO) didn't understand the urgency and was consistently pushing against any changes I proposed until customer berated him due to lack of implementation.  It became my fault for not explaining the issue, not his fault for failing to listen for multiple months. 

One month prior to audit, boss tells me that they hired my replacement but are moving me to a new role.  Basically wanted me to sit in audit, state their implementation delay was my fault, and then let me go after audit was complete (my take on the last part).  Even if they didn't let me go, my workload wouldn't be reduced because the new hire would dump all the grunt work on me while she sat in meetings, looking very "director-ish". 

First conversation with boss on this change started with the phrase "you know, it is very hard to go from two incomes to one income".  I was in such shock, I didn't know what to say.  But what he didn't know was that the house was paid off, had plenty of FU money, and I had already planned on exiting the company a month or so after the audit, mostly due to him.  So I submit the 2-week notice, and the HR director (nice guy BTW), comes in and starts with the same "you know, it is very hard to go from two incomes to one income" line.  By this time, I had a night of sleep and a clear head.  I stopped him and said "we can skip the rest of the conversation.  This is where all of you erred in judgment.  I don't NEED to work.  I CHOOSE to work.  Everything we have is paid.  Forget the two week notice, I am quitting right now."  Didn't make a scene, just walked out.  I huge weight was lifted when I walked through those doors.  Met co-workers for lunch and they were happy for me to get the heck out of there.  Still friends with many of them. 

Like someone else said, you don't leave companies, you leave bosses. 

SwordGuy

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #362 on: September 30, 2014, 07:36:13 PM »
Like someone else said, you don't leave companies, you leave bosses.

I did that very thing today!   

Same client, new client department, new employer, better pay, more interesting technology to work with. :)

Got a nice send off from the client management today, which I'm sure rubbed my old boss the wrong way.  He was lurking around all day today, barely spoke, but looked like he wanted to say something snarky and couldn't.   It was pretty creepy.

Ladies, know that guy who watches you all the time and stands - just so - in a way that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up?   That's how it was today.   People who came into our work area noticed it right away and commented on it to me.

Only reason I didn't leave over a year ago was because I really believe in what our client does and want to do my best for them.

I don't have an epic FU story to go with it, other than to say that having a goodly stache meant I didn't have to worry while I looked for a better position.  I could negotiate with the client, my (now) past employer, and any potential new employer from a position of strength.   


jprince7827

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #363 on: October 02, 2014, 07:26:51 AM »
So over a period of days I have read every. single. post. on this thread. This is the greatest thread of all time.

I too have a kind-of FU story, though at no point did I burn bridges or say FU.

About 1.2 years ago I was 1.5 years into my first job and hating it. We were working 10-12 hour days and once a quarter we'd spend a weekend in the office. It's software so spending that long coding does something to your mind. This is not to say my boss was an asshole, or even his boss's boss, I love and still love all the people that worked at this company, and consider my former boss one of my best friends and mentors. It was just that the upper management demanded unreasonable things from us in unreasonable time so we all had to put in the effort.

Well, 1.2 years ago, I was standing in the shower after having worked the last 12 days in a row, 10-12 hours each, and suddenly I had a nervous break down. It felt terrible and such a release at the same time. I resolved then and there that I'd begin looking for work elsewhere. I'd done my time.

Right after that, as if the company sensed I was pissed(I had been doing some interviews), the hours lessened, the deadlines became more reasonable, and we graduated to 9-10 hour days and weekends were a virtual guarantee. There was one 34 hour stint in the office overnight to get a product launched but I wore that as a badge of honor. I decided to stay, but also I started posting for jobs on Elance.

I took a job making <5$/hr for 20 hrs to beat out the Indians and built a Ruby gem wrapper for some company's API. It was crappy work. The next job I got a month later paid 20$/hr, and eventually I got that client up to 60$/hr. By the end of last year(about 8 months after said break down), I was charging 80$/hr for 10-15hrs/week on the side of my real job running a private consulting firm.

By January of this year I was making 1$ for every 1$ I made at work, working only 10-15hrs a week, making 100$/hr. I had hired on my co-workers to do part-time work for me and was making 50% margins on their hours as well. In one two week period, I brought in 5,000$, outside of my normal paycheck.

Life was good. I was stashing hard. Then my main client offered me the CTO position at his company, for 2x my current salary, with similar equity. I thought about it hard for three weeks, and then informed my boss. My boss didn't even try to counter me, though if he had matched the price, or even come close, I would have certainly stayed - by this point the hours had gotten much more palatable.

I gave them 6 weeks notice, and during those 6 weeks the company offered me to keep working out of my office there since my new job was completely remote. They wanted to keep an eye on me and basically would let me have my job back whenever I want. In return, whenever they have a question about the software I wrote I'm right there to ask, and I still get to hang out with my co-workers every day(though they're in a different part of the building now.) They're good friends, so it works out.

The new company I work for is a startup and while they DO have money it is a risk. My previous company is worth 500mm. The stashing I did during the last year made sure I had at least 4 months expenses saved up before I dropped the bomb, and this is not even counting the years of coverage I have stashed in my retirement accounts if the worse came to worst.

FU money is a powerful thing. And now I'm freer than I've ever been.

trailrated

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #364 on: October 02, 2014, 09:25:37 AM »
Congrats, truly inspiring! It is pretty amazing to see real world examples paying off...it really reinforces why we all do what we do here.

dragoncar

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #365 on: October 02, 2014, 09:32:51 AM »
So over a period of days I have read every. single. post. on this thread. This is the greatest thread of all time.

I too have a kind-of FU story, though at no point did I burn bridges or say FU.

About 1.2 years ago I was 1.5 years into my first job and hating it. We were working 10-12 hour days and once a quarter we'd spend a weekend in the office. It's software so spending that long coding does something to your mind. This is not to say my boss was an asshole, or even his boss's boss, I love and still love all the people that worked at this company, and consider my former boss one of my best friends and mentors. It was just that the upper management demanded unreasonable things from us in unreasonable time so we all had to put in the effort.

Well, 1.2 years ago, I was standing in the shower after having worked the last 12 days in a row, 10-12 hours each, and suddenly I had a nervous break down. It felt terrible and such a release at the same time. I resolved then and there that I'd begin looking for work elsewhere. I'd done my time.

Right after that, as if the company sensed I was pissed(I had been doing some interviews), the hours lessened, the deadlines became more reasonable, and we graduated to 9-10 hour days and weekends were a virtual guarantee. There was one 34 hour stint in the office overnight to get a product launched but I wore that as a badge of honor. I decided to stay, but also I started posting for jobs on Elance.

I took a job making <5$/hr for 20 hrs to beat out the Indians and built a Ruby gem wrapper for some company's API. It was crappy work. The next job I got a month later paid 20$/hr, and eventually I got that client up to 60$/hr. By the end of last year(about 8 months after said break down), I was charging 80$/hr for 10-15hrs/week on the side of my real job running a private consulting firm.

By January of this year I was making 1$ for every 1$ I made at work, working only 10-15hrs a week, making 100$/hr. I had hired on my co-workers to do part-time work for me and was making 50% margins on their hours as well. In one two week period, I brought in 5,000$, outside of my normal paycheck.

Life was good. I was stashing hard. Then my main client offered me the CTO position at his company, for 2x my current salary, with similar equity. I thought about it hard for three weeks, and then informed my boss. My boss didn't even try to counter me, though if he had matched the price, or even come close, I would have certainly stayed - by this point the hours had gotten much more palatable.

I gave them 6 weeks notice, and during those 6 weeks the company offered me to keep working out of my office there since my new job was completely remote. They wanted to keep an eye on me and basically would let me have my job back whenever I want. In return, whenever they have a question about the software I wrote I'm right there to ask, and I still get to hang out with my co-workers every day(though they're in a different part of the building now.) They're good friends, so it works out.

The new company I work for is a startup and while they DO have money it is a risk. My previous company is worth 500mm. The stashing I did during the last year made sure I had at least 4 months expenses saved up before I dropped the bomb, and this is not even counting the years of coverage I have stashed in my retirement accounts if the worse came to worst.

FU money is a powerful thing. And now I'm freer than I've ever been.

Ah yes, nothing like an incestuous client relationship to keep the money train rolling :-)

jprince7827

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #366 on: October 02, 2014, 01:27:57 PM »
Quote

Ah yes, nothing like an incestuous client relationship to keep the money train rolling :-)

Not to mention one of my subcontractors was my brother, so hello nepotism :D He also then did two years of internship at the 500mm company on my recommendation. It's all who you know in this world.

oinkette

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #367 on: October 06, 2014, 02:35:05 PM »
Mine isn't a real FU story but I did manage to quit.

I basically had the boss who could write the book on how NOT to be a manager.  How one could manage to be a micro-manager yet totally unavailable is beyond me, but that was him.  He literally walked around the office at 4:55 each day to make sure everyone was still there.  His way of "motivating" people (literally his words) was to threaten to fire them.

He was absurdly paranoid to the degree that we could not send an email to another department unless we cc'ed him. He forbade us from going to the staff Christmas party or the staff retreat. 

Then he hired a crazy woman to be the assistant manager so he wouldn't have to deal with us lowly worker bees. She basically took her cues from him and one upped them.  She would lie to make us look bad in front of clients.  She took over the 4:55pm rounds, but worse, she was a workaholic and did the rounds at 8am as well to make sure we were there for the start of the day as well. 

One day she informed me, in front of coworkers, that my top was innappropriate because I was "jiggling" in it.  It wasn't even low-cut or tight! I know because I checked with at least 3 other employees (other the ones who were right there and appropriattely mortified for me).

I eventually found another job accross town making 10% more in a better company.  My last day I wore that top just to spite her.  The best part is, we have monthly meetings in town with all the people who work in that industry and so I see both her and my old boss occasionally.  I try to wear that top (which my current boss has no problem with) when I can.  I'm also sure it's a thorn in his paranoid side to know that I discuss him and his awful management style with my current coworkers.  Which I do.

TootTootBeepBeep

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #368 on: December 05, 2014, 08:04:32 PM »
I didn't end up quitting, but it felt really good

I had just gone through a company sponsored training program that was significant in time and money, but poorly run. I didn't get a lot out of it. Throughout the program I gave a lot of feedback to make it more useful, but this fell on deaf ears. Upon being released and required to perform my new monkey skills I still needed to ask for help. I went to a good friend and coworker just down the way to ask how to do a particular task. While talking to my cw and a few others about the task, his boss (a bitter old man who helped fund the training program) approached. He listened for a moment then looked directly at me and said:

You can't even do that? Well you aren't worth much.

I looked him in the eye and stated: You're a Dick.

TBH I didn't actually mean to say it, It was word vomit. BUT IT FELT WONDERFUL!

The company i work for is super prim and proper. It is a large organization, but this man certainly could have had me fired or at least had me written up among other punishments. He and the other cw's stood in disbelief and I walked away.

Though no consequences (that i am aware of) came to be, my small FU 'stache which would cover my expenses for 6 months or so gave me the freedom from anxiety of whatever consequence my word vomit would produce. It was the best, most accidental moment of my working career.

Zamboni

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #369 on: December 05, 2014, 08:17:31 PM »
^That's beautiful.

jprince7827

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #370 on: December 05, 2014, 08:18:04 PM »

I looked him in the eye and stated: You're a Dick.


DAYUMN.

smalllife

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #371 on: December 06, 2014, 10:20:56 AM »
I finally have a story!

I don't have what I consider to be a FU stache, but I just had a major win at work.  My company has been resisting work from home opportunities for people in my department because of some responsibilities that do require physical presence.  I had a conversation with my direct boss and good friend that basically said that if the work environment didn't change I was one foot out the door.  The work is fine, we're just understaffed, overburdened, and have a physically stressful work environment (constant noise, distractions, and interruptions).  That led to a nice long chat with the head of the company, who will be meeting with my department to air some laundry and create a workable list of solutions.  AND I get to test working from home one day a week :-)

I credit a semblance of FU stache, a growing confidence in my skills and employability, and a wonderfully supportive SO.

WIN!

DoubleDown

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #372 on: December 06, 2014, 10:39:48 AM »

One day she informed me, in front of coworkers, that my top was innappropriate because I was "jiggling" in it.  It wasn't even low-cut or tight! I know because I checked with at least 3 other employees (other the ones who were right there and appropriattely mortified for me).


I am not an employment law expert, but I'd say (based on a fair amount of training as a manager) this is about as much of a glaring, textbook, poster child example of sexual harassment that you could find (okay, one slightly step higher would be "have sex with me or I'll fire you"). I'd venture that if you pursued a claim against the company, you would almost certainly win (or force a settlement). I'm not advocating that course of action, because you may very well deem it's best to let it go and give it no further attention or power in your life. But if you were inclined to do so, I'd say you have a rock solid case. Perhaps a lawyer with experience in this area could chime in, if needed.

ScienceSexSavings

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #373 on: December 06, 2014, 12:00:22 PM »
Vengeful fashion statements are my favorite fashion statements.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #374 on: December 07, 2014, 06:42:24 AM »
My story is not at all dramatic, but it does illustrate the power of FU.

I was close to retirement in my teaching job (1 year to go) when I heard about a really interesting term contract.  I applied, was offered the job, but - the job was at a higher level, in a Province that pays better, and they offered me less than the salary I was already making.  I had checked with the faculty union and knew starting salaries were negotiable, unlike the school I was at where salaries were totally set by the collective agreement (so I was not at all used to negotiating).  I had to sadly but confidently explain that although I really wanted the job, I did not need the job (which they knew) and I could not afford to take the job since they were offering me considerably less than my salary. Counteroffer - if the person talking salary with me could get it, would I take the job if I had a salary match plus some research money? Yes, I say, and a phone call a few days later said I had the new salary.  Of course after that it was a whirlwind move, but no bridges burned.  I am still on excellent terms with colleagues and superiors at my previous school and visit at least once a year.  But I did all the "responsible" things, got everything prepared for my successor, all in about two weeks.    So everyone was happy, although my colleagues were in shock at how fast it all happened - academic moves like I did are usually long slow processes.

retired?

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #375 on: December 07, 2014, 11:07:38 AM »
In my view, the real value of FU$ is that it allows one to not say FU and hang on in fairly poor, but not horrific situations.  It changes your mindset and allows one to ignore stuff that would otherwise make you quit.  Two cases where this is very valuable are 1) you're in a high paying job but want more savings and 2) you are near your preferred full retirement age......allows you to hold on rather than enter a job search.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that I had FU$.  Wasn't until after I quit (first time I'd quit without having a new job lined up) and started reading MMM, etc. that I started to realize I could cut way back on my earnings and be fine.  With my new and better understanding of my situation, I probably would not have quit.  Just knowing you can is a powerful thing.  Makes me think of the quote "The best offense is a good defense".


RE leaving managers rather than companies, attached is what I provided to sr. mgt. who perhaps had no idea how poor the mgr above me really was.  The company has an agenda to have more women in higher roles (a good idea), but there are not many women, at this firm, in roles that would lead to sr mgt roles.  Thus, whether or not a lady has sound mgt skills does not really matter in whether to "fast track" them.  I got a poor one.

Nords

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #376 on: December 07, 2014, 11:17:01 AM »
In my view, the real value of FU$ is that it allows one to not say FU and hang on in fairly poor, but not horrific situations.  It changes your mindset and allows one to ignore stuff that would otherwise make you quit.  Two cases where this is very valuable are 1) you're in a high paying job but want more savings and 2) you are near your preferred full retirement age......allows you to hold on rather than enter a job search.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that I had FU$.  Wasn't until after I quit (first time I'd quit without having a new job lined up) and started reading MMM, etc. that I started to realize I could cut way back on my earnings and be fine.  With my new and better understanding of my situation, I probably would not have quit.  Just knowing you can is a powerful thing.  Makes me think of the quote "The best offense is a good defense".
If it's any consolation, anecdotal experience over the last decade (both here and Early-Retirement.org) indicates that once you're FI you have even less patience for the BS. 

I'm skeptical that anyone can ignore quitting-level provocations when they can just-- quit.  Six months before you reach FI, sure.  Six months after-- not so much.

My brother-in-law the tax CPA is coming up on his last tax season.  He just reached FI this summer but he Stockholm Syndrome feels obligated to go through one more marathon with the team before hanging it up in May.  Either that or he wants to make sure that he understands exactly why he's going to ER and never go back...

retired?

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #377 on: December 07, 2014, 11:57:11 AM »
Nords - I'd call my situation "at FU$ with do-able effort in the spending area", but working another 5 years and I'd be "FU$ with no effort".  That's the trade-off for me.

There's FI and there's FI.  But, I agree, FI doesn't require much change would make it hard to put up with the bs.

lizzie

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #378 on: December 07, 2014, 12:44:22 PM »

One day she informed me, in front of coworkers, that my top was innappropriate because I was "jiggling" in it.  It wasn't even low-cut or tight! I know because I checked with at least 3 other employees (other the ones who were right there and appropriattely mortified for me).


I am not an employment law expert, but I'd say (based on a fair amount of training as a manager) this is about as much of a glaring, textbook, poster child example of sexual harassment that you could find (okay, one slightly step higher would be "have sex with me or I'll fire you"). I'd venture that if you pursued a claim against the company, you would almost certainly win (or force a settlement). I'm not advocating that course of action, because you may very well deem it's best to let it go and give it no further attention or power in your life. But if you were inclined to do so, I'd say you have a rock solid case. Perhaps a lawyer with experience in this area could chime in, if needed.

Nonlawyers are often under the impression that comments like this lead to automatic liability and big payouts from employers. It just isn't so. Sexual harassment is actionable only when it is so severe or pervasive that it effectively changes a term or condition of the plaintiff's employment. The "jiggling" comment almost certainly wouldn't meet that standard. You would be completely shocked at the behavior that courts have said is not severe enough to create liability.

That said, lawsuits are still expensive for employers, even if the employer is almost certainly likely to win. They want employees to stay far away from any behavior that could lead to a lawsuit so as to avoid the expense. That's why they train their managers to nip this kind of thing in the bud.

Raay

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #379 on: December 08, 2014, 01:57:32 PM »
Having read many of these stories here, I don't get one point: why do the posters feel self-congratulatory and proud about them in a cynical way?

From my point of view (of a self-employed individual who also employs some other people), you are the guys who have voluntarily signed a contract to work for someone, agreeing to conditions set out in said contract, essentially selling your best-effort labor for a given remuneration. If you don't like the conditions or think the pay is too low, you should have sought employment elsewhere (or maybe self-employment). If your employer is violating the contract terms, politely decline to continue working for them and get out. Even if your employer mistreated you, behaving like some entitled vengeful brat, sabotaging work while waiting for the "enough FU money release" and then sticking it "to the man" when you quit reflects as poorly on you as it does on your unfortunate boss.

Unless you were kidnapped and forced into slave labor, an bad employment contract is by your choice and by your fault to a great extent. Staying longer than you like and sacrificing your ethics and work morale just for the paycheck (or maybe for your children's sake or what not) demonstrates that you were probably not worth hiring in the first place.

P.S. It may come as a shock to you, but managers are people, too, not some bloodthirsty alien exploiters. They may be even genuinely worried about you from time to time, and they are most certainly concerned about making things run smoothly (if only in self-interest).

hdizz

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #380 on: December 08, 2014, 02:09:49 PM »
Having read many of these stories here, I don't get one point: why do the posters feel self-congratulatory and proud about them in a cynical way?

From my point of view (of a self-employed individual who also employs some other people), you are the guys who have voluntarily signed a contract to work for someone, agreeing to conditions set out in said contract, essentially selling your best-effort labor for a given remuneration. If you don't like the conditions or think the pay is too low, you should have sought employment elsewhere (or maybe self-employment). If your employer is violating the contract terms, politely decline to continue working for them and get out. Even if your employer mistreated you, behaving like some entitled vengeful brat, sabotaging work while waiting for the "enough FU money release" and then sticking it "to the man" when you quit reflects as poorly on you as it does on your unfortunate boss.

Unless you were kidnapped and forced into slave labor, an bad employment contract is by your choice and by your fault to a great extent. Staying longer than you like and sacrificing your ethics and work morale just for the paycheck (or maybe for your children's sake or what not) demonstrates that you were probably not worth hiring in the first place.

P.S. It may come as a shock to you, but managers are people, too, not some bloodthirsty alien exploiters. They may be even genuinely worried about you from time to time, and they are most certainly concerned about making things run smoothly (if only in self-interest).

When you say "employment contract" are you speaking figuratively?  Because while you make some good points, for many the only conditions set out as requirements are the minimum requirements of US labor law, and frankly, even then I've rarely seen all of them met at the same time, and this is at white collar and blue collar jobs alike.

NumberCruncher

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #381 on: December 08, 2014, 02:16:13 PM »
Having read many of these stories here, I don't get one point: why do the posters feel self-congratulatory and proud about them in a cynical way?

From my point of view (of a self-employed individual who also employs some other people), you are the guys who have voluntarily signed a contract to work for someone, agreeing to conditions set out in said contract, essentially selling your best-effort labor for a given remuneration. If you don't like the conditions or think the pay is too low, you should have sought employment elsewhere (or maybe self-employment). If your employer is violating the contract terms, politely decline to continue working for them and get out. Even if your employer mistreated you, behaving like some entitled vengeful brat, sabotaging work while waiting for the "enough FU money release" and then sticking it "to the man" when you quit reflects as poorly on you as it does on your unfortunate boss.

Unless you were kidnapped and forced into slave labor, an bad employment contract is by your choice and by your fault to a great extent. Staying longer than you like and sacrificing your ethics and work morale just for the paycheck (or maybe for your children's sake or what not) demonstrates that you were probably not worth hiring in the first place.

P.S. It may come as a shock to you, but managers are people, too, not some bloodthirsty alien exploiters. They may be even genuinely worried about you from time to time, and they are most certainly concerned about making things run smoothly (if only in self-interest).

You do have a point to a certain extent - sabotaging work is not the healthiest response to a bad work environment, but those stories seem like the minority.

I think the problem is that too often it can feel like you're trapped into a job and don't have the flexibility to choose or just get another job (or maybe the energy to look after particularly stressful days). That's why FU money (and mustachianism in general) can be so powerful, as illustrated in what seems to me as the majority of stories on this thread - you start feeling like you have the agency to up and move, as opposed to living in fear. Many people without as much financial security would see declining work as a luxury they could not afford.

Eric

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #382 on: December 08, 2014, 02:16:44 PM »
Having read many of these stories here, I don't get one point: why do the posters feel self-congratulatory and proud about them in a cynical way?

From my point of view (of a self-employed individual who also employs some other people), you are the guys who have voluntarily signed a contract to work for someone, agreeing to conditions set out in said contract, essentially selling your best-effort labor for a given remuneration. If you don't like the conditions or think the pay is too low, you should have sought employment elsewhere (or maybe self-employment). If your employer is violating the contract terms, politely decline to continue working for them and get out. Even if your employer mistreated you, behaving like some entitled vengeful brat, sabotaging work while waiting for the "enough FU money release" and then sticking it "to the man" when you quit reflects as poorly on you as it does on your unfortunate boss.

Congrats!  You figured out the point of this thread!  Quitting feels good when your job sucks, but you can't quit if you're in debt or living paycheck to paycheck.  Hence, F U Money.

Raay

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #383 on: December 08, 2014, 02:17:56 PM »
Having read many of these stories here, I don't get one point: why do the posters feel self-congratulatory and proud about them in a cynical way?

From my point of view (of a self-employed individual who also employs some other people), you are the guys who have voluntarily signed a contract to work for someone, agreeing to conditions set out in said contract, essentially selling your best-effort labor for a given remuneration. If you don't like the conditions or think the pay is too low, you should have sought employment elsewhere (or maybe self-employment). If your employer is violating the contract terms, politely decline to continue working for them and get out. Even if your employer mistreated you, behaving like some entitled vengeful brat, sabotaging work while waiting for the "enough FU money release" and then sticking it "to the man" when you quit reflects as poorly on you as it does on your unfortunate boss.

Unless you were kidnapped and forced into slave labor, an bad employment contract is by your choice and by your fault to a great extent. Staying longer than you like and sacrificing your ethics and work morale just for the paycheck (or maybe for your children's sake or what not) demonstrates that you were probably not worth hiring in the first place.

P.S. It may come as a shock to you, but managers are people, too, not some bloodthirsty alien exploiters. They may be even genuinely worried about you from time to time, and they are most certainly concerned about making things run smoothly (if only in self-interest).

When you say "employment contract" are you speaking figuratively?  Because while you make some good points, for many the only conditions set out as requirements are the minimum requirements of US labor law, and frankly, even then I've rarely seen all of them met at the same time, and this is at white collar and blue collar jobs alike.

Well, the places I worked (white collar in Germany) all had written contracts that always included a job description, at least outlining the tasks and responsibilities involved, and also included the clause that I will essentially "do my best" to fulfill my assigned duties. So saying "FU" to my employer or attempting any other "epic" escape would certainly feel to me like breaching the contract that I myself signed.

Here in Germany we also get an "Arbeitszeugnis" at the end of a job - which is a recommendation (or a veiled warning) from the employer that can be presented to (and is often asked by) the next employer. I long felt that it was stupid and patronizing and sucking out employees' liberty, but considering some stories told here, maybe it's not such a bad idea...

Raay

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #384 on: December 08, 2014, 02:22:31 PM »
Having read many of these stories here, I don't get one point: why do the posters feel self-congratulatory and proud about them in a cynical way?

From my point of view (of a self-employed individual who also employs some other people), you are the guys who have voluntarily signed a contract to work for someone, agreeing to conditions set out in said contract, essentially selling your best-effort labor for a given remuneration. If you don't like the conditions or think the pay is too low, you should have sought employment elsewhere (or maybe self-employment). If your employer is violating the contract terms, politely decline to continue working for them and get out. Even if your employer mistreated you, behaving like some entitled vengeful brat, sabotaging work while waiting for the "enough FU money release" and then sticking it "to the man" when you quit reflects as poorly on you as it does on your unfortunate boss.

Congrats!  You figured out the point of this thread!  Quitting feels good when your job sucks, but you can't quit if you're in debt or living paycheck to paycheck.  Hence, F U Money.

Ok, I suppose I'm just arguing semantics. "FU money" certainly has an aggressive/negative/malevolent connotation to me... unlike "FI money". I just note that many stories revolve against long-term unhealthy work relationships and vengeful quitting, not just departure (maybe simply because the latter - not involving any sort of scandalous behavior or vigilance - tend to be rather boring and go unnoticed).

GardenFun

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #385 on: December 08, 2014, 05:02:50 PM »
One common problem in the U.S. are "non-compete agreements".  So if you are good at your job in a particular field, but the working conditions at your company have deteriorated from when you first hired on (and signed the non-compete), you typically cannot work in the industry for 1-2 years, depending on the length of non-compete paperwork.  For most of us who got a job right out of college and have worked at the same place for 10+ years, trying to break a non-compete agreement is a unknown (and somewhat scary) issue.  Hence, the desire/freedom of having FU money available to ride out the unemployed/underemployed timeframe.

Zamboni

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #386 on: December 08, 2014, 05:22:36 PM »
^^Congratulations because it certainly sounds like your working conditions in white collar Germany were better than people is the USA often experience.

Until very recently I have not had a job description that had any substance to it.  In some jobs there was not any description at all, or at least not one that anyone showed to me.  Other descriptions were so vague as to be completely meaningless.  I certainly agree with you:  it is refreshing to have an explicit document that one can examine before taking a job, and then again later whenever there are questions about exactly what one is supposed to be doing. 

But you have to remember that people often take job A (which might or might not have no written job description but is fairly amenable to the person's skills and interests) and then, either gradually over time or suddenly, that lovely job gets morphed into completely different job B without anyone ever asking them about it.  Sometimes it is simply a change of manager that leads to this; some managers just like to ignore formal company policies like working hours and some managers think it is somehow fun or motivational to insult or belittle other people. Sometimes it is a formal restructuring that takes a person out of a role they like and puts them into work conditions they don't enjoy at all. Sometimes someone ends up being harassed daily for years or otherwise harshly mistreated, and this is certainly difficult to predict from a few minutes at an interview before taking a job.  Sometimes a worker (often a women or minority) finds out that he or she is being drastically underpaid compared to everyone else who has the same job.  Sometimes when they point this out to the kind and reasonable manager that we must all surely work for, they are told "tough shit" either quite directly or in not so many words.  Indeed, there are all kinds of reasons someone might have an FU attitude upon leaving a job, and if you have never experienced that, then be thankful that you have had such a charmed working life.

GardenFun, from what I understand non-compete agreements are rarely worth the paper they are written on, but they do effectively scare many people into thinking that can't get another similar job.  Originally they were designed to keep salesmen from stealing customer lists, which made sense. I worked for a company that instituted these mid-stream to all employees after I'd been there a few years (everyone had to sign one when they earned their next promotion.)  The result was that most people just wouldn't tell anyone at work where they were going to work next when they left the company.  It was odd.

electriceagle

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #387 on: December 08, 2014, 05:39:30 PM »
One common problem in the U.S. are "non-compete agreements".  So if you are good at your job in a particular field, but the working conditions at your company have deteriorated from when you first hired on (and signed the non-compete), you typically cannot work in the industry for 1-2 years, depending on the length of non-compete paperwork.  For most of us who got a job right out of college and have worked at the same place for 10+ years, trying to break a non-compete agreement is a unknown (and somewhat scary) issue.  Hence, the desire/freedom of having FU money available to ride out the unemployed/underemployed timeframe.

Fortunately, these are enforceable in California only when your former employer pays you for your time.

gimp

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #388 on: December 08, 2014, 08:34:13 PM »
Quote
from what I understand non-compete agreements are rarely worth the paper they are written on

This is true. California is especially explicit, but it holds true pretty much everywhere: if you want an employee to honor a non-compete, you're paying them.

Investment banks and financial firms actually often do this, if you're laid off or whatever they will pay you 3 months' salary in exchange for a 3-month noncompete agreement. (3 months is normal but it may be more or less.) This is so that by the time you go back to work, any confidential information you had is most likely irrelevant / out in the open.

Tech companies try to make employees sign non-compete agreements but you can just laugh at those. Some try to make the noncompete a condition of employment but they'll never enforce it. In some cases, they will actually pay out to get a noncompete to really hold weight. This is entirely different from signing upon leaving that you won't discuss internal xxyyz and secret blah blah; that's not only good form, it's also probably already implicitly agreed upon when you signed NDAs to start working - now it's just explicit what you're NDAing on. Interviewers always understand an answer like "Well, I worked in this area with these sort of tools, but unfortunately I can't give you explicit details" - because your new employer wants you to be good at keeping secrets.

Basically non-competes are bullshit scare tactics. I've actually heard of non-competes... for people working in fast food... so they "can't" work for any other competition (any other restaurant in the area.) You can imagine exactly how much this is enforced. But you can also imagine scumbag managers ("managers" earning $10/hr instead of $8/hr) threatening high school kids with legal action if they take that taco bell job. Shit's weird, yo.

farmstache

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #389 on: December 09, 2014, 06:21:03 AM »
Well, the places I worked (white collar in Germany) all had written contracts that always included a job description, at least outlining the tasks and responsibilities involved, and also included the clause that I will essentially "do my best" to fulfill my assigned duties. So saying "FU" to my employer or attempting any other "epic" escape would certainly feel to me like breaching the contract that I myself signed.

I think you either might not have experienced workplaces that are just bad enough, or maybe you are in a line of work where people don't suck the life out of their employees. Maybe Germany is nicer about their employers. I had contracts with job descriptions once. About a month in, the whole job description had changed, because me and another employee could work best at different stuff and our manager redivided the responsibilities to cater to our strengths. This was for the best and certainly was not added to the contract. Then there are whole industries where you are hired for 40h weeks, but expected to "give your blood and sweat" to the company, and work 60h weeks. This isn't in the contract and if you want out, you have to basically change your whole field of work, because every company is very similar in this field.

Still, most of us DO AGREE with these crazy conditions beforehand and it isn't them that makes us want to quit in a whim. It's the attitude of a boss after you ask to change some of it, it's a problem with a coworker, it's a particularly long stretch of strenuous work without recognition and taken for granted, it's the fact that you reach FI and don't need it anymore. If you have a boss that sucks, sometimes you won't be able (or want) to quit "politely" as you say. Also, there are bosses that feel extremely insulted by someone's leaving, especially if the reason isn't a higher pay somewhere else.

Dr.Vibrissae

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #390 on: December 09, 2014, 06:25:38 AM »
Quote
from what I understand non-compete agreements are rarely worth the paper they are written on
...
Basically non-competes are bullshit scare tactics....
In my field non-competes of a year are pretty typical, however, they are usually geographically limited. They can be challenged on the grounds that the geographic radius (5 miles or whatever) is wider than the area from which clients are drawn.  However, if they are appropriate, they are enforceable.  This is to stop associates from leaving a practice, setting up they're own shop (or moving to a neighboring practice) and poaching their previous employer's clients. Or, less commonly, to prevent a Dr. from selling their practice and then reopening a new practice shortly thereafter.

I worked with one Dr. who was originally hired on a part-time contract (no non-compete clause) though she was now working full-time hours.  She used that fact and the fact that she was the highest grossing Dr. as leverage to improve the terms of our emergency duty and to resist interference from the terrible manager that was hired on just before I left.

Raay

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #391 on: December 09, 2014, 02:46:44 PM »
Zamboni and farmstache, I see your point ("this is not what I signed up for"), but still I wouldn't condone developing a FU attitude - I guess I dislike that it implicitly (and perhaps somewhat paradoxically) puts you into a "vengeful victim" position rather than at eye level with your employer.

To put it another way, I don't like the idea of tit for tat taken to such extremes - if someone is an asshole to you, it doesn't automatically justify  being asshole to them (I'd say it's not honorable) or worse yet, toward the company (as in case of a single asshole manager - by making a FU exit you might be striking not so much against that particular person, but more against the organization, which may or may not be at fault for your "misfortune"). To put it even shorter, it's childish behavior.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #392 on: December 09, 2014, 04:23:27 PM »
Zamboni and farmstache, I see your point ("this is not what I signed up for"), but still I wouldn't condone developing a FU attitude - I guess I dislike that it implicitly (and perhaps somewhat paradoxically) puts you into a "vengeful victim" position rather than at eye level with your employer.

I think you're looking at it too far on that end of the spectrum.  FU money isn't so you can treat your employer poorly, it's so you don't have to put up with your employer treating YOU poorly.  Before getting into personal finance I was in debt and broke feeling stuck working for a shitty company and a shitty boss.  Once I got my finances under control, nothing about how I treated my company or did my job changed, but it let me see a way out, so I did, burning no bridges and having an open offer to come back.  That's how I read most of the stories here.  Maybe having FU money is like having power, where it can show you what kind of person you are?

Bikeguy

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #393 on: December 09, 2014, 05:00:12 PM »
Wanted to point out that non competes for employees are illegal in California.   So,  if you move to California,  your non compete won't apply.

SwordGuy

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #394 on: December 09, 2014, 06:34:45 PM »
Depends on whether the non-compete has a clause in it stating the court of jurisdiction is somewhere else...

iamsoners

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #395 on: December 09, 2014, 09:09:41 PM »
Wow, great thread. I've got one, and it involves the entire Board of Directors of our organization...

My first job out of college was working for a rapidly growing non-profit.  It grew way faster than management had the capacity or brains to deal with. After 12 weeks as a temp, they hired me to run an entire department (fresh out of college, with a degree in history which I assure you was entirely unrelated to the task at hand).

In the beginning the work had a sense of urgency to it and I enjoyed essentially getting thrown into the deep end and learning how to swim in my field. But the leaders of this organization were crazy--narcissistic, lazy, fought with each other over everything, were working kick backs, you name it. Job dissatisfaction was high and so was turn-over (about 50% per year).

At one point I quit my job and stayed on as a consultant. My new job didn't pan out and I still really cared about the cause and had hope for changes in the organization (the Board had just fired the E.D.) so I negotiated to come back--at twice what my starting salary had been 24 months prior.

I stayed for another 2 years and though the organization never got better or more effective. It was boring and easy but the money was ridiculous for my age and being a non-profit so I stuck around, saving something like 65%.

But it was crushing my idealism to see these absolute idiots squander so much money, pick fights with each other, and generally do nothing to address our stated mission. One guy, "Tony" was particularly tedious and terrible--farming work out to other departments, taking credit for things he didn't do, boring the shit out of us with his slide-show presentations of photographs from his most recent vacations (which were mandatory!!), doing inane shit like making everyone with an Associate job title carry his 30 houseplants across the office when he moved to a bigger office, always asking the youngest woman in the office to get him a sandwich (that kinda crap makes me mad--you have an assistant, don't take advantage of the new kids). Oh and he organized an all staff retreat led by EST (which may or may not be a cult depending on who you talk to). Honestly--it wasn't the straight up stealing stuff I'd seen previous senior staff do but it was enough to be annnnnnnnnooooyyying but not really my problem since it was in another department.

Then, it just so happened that the day I went to put in my resignation, the E.D. also announced his departure. The Board of Directors of the organization was meeting in person and called us in towards the end of the day to let us know that "Tony" would manage things for the forseeable future (probably a year, maybe forever).  After 25 years of shit jobs, this was finally Tony's big break!

The Board benignly asked if anyone had any questions or concerns.... I raise my hand and politely ask why this guy is being promoted when all of his direct reports have filed complaints against him, their department never meets their targets and he took us all to his cult meeting?  I'm not joking when I say I said it in the politest possible tone. He was sitting 5 feet from me. This set off an hour of others piling on their complaints about why he shouldn't lead the organization.

Ultimately the Board continued with their plan to place him as interim director--which only shows how f'ed up the whole place was. But it felt good to tell them all the crap that was happening under their watch and it did probably prevent him from becoming the permanent ED.

Several years on from that, I probably wouldn't do it again today--it's not worth any professional consequences and it's not as important to me to prove my rightness by being mean.

iamsoners

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #396 on: December 09, 2014, 09:17:14 PM »
As an aside, I also witnessed another pretty badass departure from the same organization.  Our first ED had some actual psychological problems--narcissism high among them. He went through assistants at a pretty fast clip--probably one per month.  At one point we hired a new assistant. He came into work two days, everything seemed as ok as it could be given the crazy boss. The weekend passed, Monday came, everyone said hey, "where's new assistant"?  I sat in the cube next to him. Tuesday: Hey, has anyone seen new assistant?  Wednesday: Someone should call new assistant...

It took the company two weeks to realize new assistant was never coming back.

Also at the same company:
-woman gives her resignation and two weeks notice in protest of them firing one of her friends. Over the next two weeks she files a major complaint with the BBB and gathers confidential info about the org which she then uses to start an "anonymous" blog criticizing the organization--it was well read amongst staff and the entire community of our work.
-man gets fired. deletes all of the files off of his computer before walking out. We had no system to deal with that... the files were literally just gone.

halftimer

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #397 on: December 09, 2014, 10:31:02 PM »
I have 2 related stories of being willing to end a job when the circumstances merited:
1. My long time office was moving to another city, and offered to fund my relocation with them. After considering all the options, I said no but helped train my replacement and accepted a lovely severance/parting package. I took a few months off without even looking for another job, then decided to try out temping.
2. The agency put me in a 'temp to hire' position that started off ok, but my coworkers were horrible. After a particularly bad day I realized there was no reason for me to continue. I called the agency and asked how much notice was needed to quit. "None" (Mental high-five!) But the next day when the agency relayed to the company that I would not be returning, the big boss asked for permission to contact me. I consented and explained why I didn't want to continue, then he explained that my coworkers were "known bullies" but that he planned to close that department in 2 months. They had not yet given the layoff notices, but if I was willing to keep that information confidential they wanted me to continue on during the transition, then afterwards in a better position. I admit it was a lovely feeling going back into work the day after that - having the bullies speculate on why I was not there the day before and then continue with their grumbling - while I smiled with the knowledge that they had 10 years tenure and were about to get rightfully fired, while I was invited to stay in a bought out contract. I continued with that job for a few years with advancing responsibilities and never regretted my early meeting with the boss at the time when I 'quit'.

jprince7827

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #398 on: December 10, 2014, 10:11:09 AM »
I have 2 related stories of being willing to end a job when the circumstances merited:
1. My long time office was moving to another city, and offered to fund my relocation with them. After considering all the options, I said no but helped train my replacement and accepted a lovely severance/parting package. I took a few months off without even looking for another job, then decided to try out temping.
2. The agency put me in a 'temp to hire' position that started off ok, but my coworkers were horrible. After a particularly bad day I realized there was no reason for me to continue. I called the agency and asked how much notice was needed to quit. "None" (Mental high-five!) But the next day when the agency relayed to the company that I would not be returning, the big boss asked for permission to contact me. I consented and explained why I didn't want to continue, then he explained that my coworkers were "known bullies" but that he planned to close that department in 2 months. They had not yet given the layoff notices, but if I was willing to keep that information confidential they wanted me to continue on during the transition, then afterwards in a better position. I admit it was a lovely feeling going back into work the day after that - having the bullies speculate on why I was not there the day before and then continue with their grumbling - while I smiled with the knowledge that they had 10 years tenure and were about to get rightfully fired, while I was invited to stay in a bought out contract. I continued with that job for a few years with advancing responsibilities and never regretted my early meeting with the boss at the time when I 'quit'.

Oh, that's just delicious. Well played, sir.

BlueHouse

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #399 on: December 10, 2014, 02:05:17 PM »
Unless you were kidnapped and forced into slave labor, an bad employment contract is by your choice and by your fault to a great extent. Staying longer than you like and sacrificing your ethics and work morale just for the paycheck (or maybe for your children's sake or what not) demonstrates that you were probably not worth hiring in the first place.
When I was a college student working as a waitress, I thought it was so much fun!  I couldn't understand how or why the older servers had such negative attitudes or allowed the random bad customer to get under their skin.  Then I realized that the difference in attitudes was because I had choices in my life.  I was in college, working toward any number of better opportunities.  The older servers were single moms or people with no education, struggling to pay the rent or a kid's medical bill.  Not a lot of choice for them. 
While I'm sure you treat your employees with respect and dignity, not everyone does.  And it often seems that those who supervise the people with fewer choices are sometimes complete jerks. 

As I write this, I am remembering a certain Labor Day weekend where the restaurant manager tried to strong-arm me into working a single shift in the middle of the weekend, despite me giving notice weeks in advance that I wouldn't work that weekend.  I was able to say "no thanks" with the knowledge that it could get me sacked.  It didn't, but it did force the lady with kids to cancel her plans to cover the shifts.
 
Education or savings or plans = options=choice

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!