An Awkward Place

My cool boss didn't finish out his two week sentence. Tuesday morning he said:" Fuck you, you back-stabbing weasels" and stormed out of the building. I don't blame him, the company terminated him for no given reason and then they expected him to stay on for two weeks and train his replacement? I'm amazed he didn't walk out on Thursday when they gave him his notice. The area manager told me it was because he was playing video games (a false charge), but Hole never told my boss that- I believe Hole was in breach of confidentiality , perhaps even flirting with slander or defamation just by revealing the unsubstantiated charges leading to termination of an employee. It was this slimy rumor-spreading that cause my boss to blow his top yesterday. They were talking shit about him behind his back to his staff- that's pretty low. It's despicable, really.

I missed his explosive exit but not the aftermath. When I arrived at the scene, his replacement pulled me into the empty office she has been hiding in since her arrival.
She was stricken, overwhelmed with the reality of her new job and her utter inability to perform it alone. Her support system, area manager Mr. Hole, left the job site Monday after I walked out on him during a lecture on attitude. One would think that he would have fired me on the spot for such a blatant display of contempt, but I think it was starting to dawn on him that our job is a lot more complex than it seems and that they have already fired the person who knows the most about it. If they fire me, they are fucked, plain and simple. My cool boss pretty much created the system and we both know it by heart, but there are no manuals or guidebooks- we learned by doing it and I'll floss my ass with a barbed-wire toothbrush before I write a training manual for $12 an hour. If they want a training manual, they can hire me as a consultant and quintuple my salary.

Anyway, Replacement was freaked out and she made a very risky decision. She was honest with me.

I have been telling her how bad the company treats it's staff, how certain people in the Firm can get away with murder and some can't , and especially what an incompetent buffoon I think Mr. Hole is. I had a lot to say and most of it was negative. The only good things I had to say were about my old boss. She has been with the Company for a mere 10 days and still believed the bullshit they feed you in orientation about "team spirit" and "company growth" - I told her to forget all that.
She is on her own, I said. My boss did a great job for two years and they swooped down and canned him without giving cause and there is no reason she shouldn't think that it can't happen to her.
We have had four area managers in the last two years- the company fucks with the managers- after watching this "transition", I'm not even interested in staying. It's just a paycheck to me.

I meant every word I said.

So she took me aside and said: " I need you a lot more than you need me. That much is clear. I really need you to stick around for at least a week or two. Please?"

That sort of honesty is dangerous. She has admitted weakness and by doing so is appealing to my benevolence for help in an otherwise helpless situation. It was hard to resist eviscerating her once I saw that underbelly, but I didn't. None of this is her doing. I have nothing to gain by tormenting her.

I can't hate her anymore. She's a green first-timer, it wasn't her fault that my boss got pissed on; he was a scapegoat, she is a sacrificial lamb.

So I said I would try to help but I couldn't promise for how long. I also told her that if Mr. Hole came back to the office, I was going to get fired- it's one thing for me to disrespect him behind closed doors, but I'm going to tell him to fuck off in public, and he really won't have any choice after that-he'll have to fire me.
And they can't fire me because I have all the "secret formulae" locked in my head.
I also said that as soon as I am released from my contract, I would also be released from my no-compete clause. I was going to the partners and explain that the Company provides no equipment or support whatsoever and is , in fact, a wholly unnecessary middleman that can't even cover travel expenses for it's employees. The Firm, by my estimate, could save $125,000 a year by switching to an internalized Records dept.
Which I could organize.
As soon as I said this , I wondered "why didn't I think of that sooner?"
I should ask the Firm.

Mr. Hole was in town today. He didn't come to the office, the new boss went to meet him somewhere off-site. A site manager walks off the job in a hail of profanity and the area manager doesn't show up to do damage control with the client? Instead, he has a covert , off-premises meeting with the new manager.
Bizarre.
If I was the Firm , I'd be questioning company wisdom.

The new manager spends her hours behind a closed door in an office without network access. After five business days, she has yet to get an Outlook account or even introduce herself to IT.
Her main function is to relay messages to me from Mr. Hole , who is not allowed to talk to me, and to tell my replacements to do busy work. I have refused to do busy work, another cause for dismissal- I have been begging to get canned, really, I have.

I thought she was going to report me to Hole for talking so much shit and I fully expected a red-faced Hole to come charging into the office, incensed and maybe even ready to fight. I mean, I called him a chronic liar, a useless clown and a dunce, just to name a few epithets and I said it all knowing that my interlocutor would most likely repeat my words to him.

I wanted Hole to come in and attempt to deal with me. Godzilla help me, but I really wanted to beat him down verbally and force him to fire me. He has insulted me and degraded my friend.
I feel vengeful.
I want to strike back.
I know it's wrong, but I feel compelled to make him as miserable as he has made me- and it doesn't help that he really has placed the company at legal risk- I am tempted to contact HQ and send a letter warning them of the discriminatory practices used by Hole. Unlike the Replacement, I have no empathy or compassion for Hole. I may still write that letter.

The company wanted to put a new face on the Records team so they brought in a manager who
stays behind a closed door in an empty office and an area manager who allows himself to be bullied and intimidated by the file clerk.

I'm sure I'll be gone sooner than later, but for now I'm enjoying the freedom to say exactly how I feel. I have nothing to lose or gain- my relationship with the company is beyond healing. This change will, I think , be better for me in the long run. I wish I hadn't spent all my money on car repairs, but I'll get by, find a temp job, do sound...something will come up.

Meanwhile I feel like a platoon sergeant who's been in-country for years with the same team; the good louie just got fragged by friendly fire and the best rifleman was discharged for having mud on her boots during trench warfare.
The green replacements ask me questions like: " Is my hand grenade supposed to be making this sound?" and it's my job to keep them alive until they learn the jungle.

Then I get fragged.