"I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that..."

"If you don't like the effects, don't produce the cause."
-Funkadelic

Ex-boss calls and asks for blog to be taken down, threatens legal action.

Yesterday my ex-boss Jeff Ayers called to ask me to take down my blog. I asked him why I'd want to do that. He said because it painted Forbidden Planet in a bad light. Why should I care? They fired me. He informed me Rich was meeting with his lawyers and I told him good, I was meeting with mine. It was actually kind of unnerving because of how calm he was. Not at all like him. I actually felt guilty for a second for airing his dirty laundry all over my blog, I mean he has a problem, he needs help. I should feel sorry for him. But then I remembered how I was treated and that feeling faded fast. He asked why I didn't come to them instead of writing this blog. As far as I'm concerned that door was closed the second they fired me. I say fired even though I was laid off because traditionally when you're laid off you're given two weeks notice and there is severance pay. We were offered neither.

We went around in circles a bit. I told him if he wanted to talk that he and Rich should get their lawyers together and I would get mine and we could all talk. He said they would not sit down and talk with me until I took this blog down. I told him I would get back to him. I guess this post is my response.

I am exercising my constitutional rights to free speech as guaranteed by the first amendment and publicly airing my grievances against an employer who I feel acted irresponsibly, unethically and broke federal labor laws (time paid for time worked). If they want to launch a frivolous lawsuit against me, I welcome it because I will win.

It Breaks My Heart

ex-boss crying crocodile tears over joblessness in nyc.

this is from an interview with the abusive manager who fired me (or laid me off depending on how you wanna look at it) from gothamist.com:

"On Thanksgiving, I decided to run for mayor in 2009. There are a number of laws I’d change and/or repeal. I’d change smoking in bars in a second, but aside from that... I decided to run for mayor because I volunteer at the Bowery on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and this year—I’ve never seen New York in such a dire economic state. If I have to serve or help another person who actually has a job but can’t afford to eat? Some people have two jobs, multiple jobs, and they can’t afford to eat in this city. It breaks my heart. And I can barely afford to eat. It’s the cost of living in this city. If you take the train home at 3 o’clock in the morning, and you shouldn’t see the number of people you see going to service jobs, and going to awful third jobs. If you take the R train, how many brown people are on the train because they have to be the ones to do the slave labor? One problem with the city is that there’s an exponential Hispanic rise and the majority of them are working shit jobs, and that really pisses me off. Yes, the city must have this kind of thing to move, to keep the ball rolling. But there wasn’t always the class distinction. There used to be a fairer balance."

All I can think of to say is what the fuck? Are you serious? This interview was ran shortly before he and Rich laid off seven hardworking employees and replaced them with three lower-paid kids. He cries crocodile tears about the economic state, but what about the workers he callously got rid of in the middle of the biggest economic crisis since the great depression? Can you honestly tell me he cares about us and our welfare? Do you think he cares that only one of the seven people they laid off has found permanent work since they let us go? He treated us like garbage while we were working there, and then threw us away when he was done taking all he could take from us. He must volunteer at the soup line twice a year to alleviate guilt like a typical liberal, not willing to acknowelde the power he has over people's lives as a manager. That he could be responsible for someone slipping further into poverty and possible homelessness. Hypocrit. If he really cared about poverty he wouldn't be so quick to fire people or so freakin insane about busting shoplifters. Like when he busted some junkie kid who stole a few dollars worth of crap and Jeff was so mad he nearly threw him down the stairs. Then after the cops dragged the kid off he went through all the kid's stuff and took what he wanted and gave the rest to employees. But it's OK cuz Jeff volunteers at the soup kitchen two times a year. And junkies aren't really people. Niether are workers. Or customers. So you don't have to treat them with any sort of respect or human dignity.