TheBanyanTree: We fire with impunity

[Monique Colver]

If not exactly impunity, at least with a modicum of glee. Or if not a
modicum of glee, at least a deep and abiding sadness that such things must
come to pass. Or if not with sadness, at least with relief. Are we monsters?
No doubt, we're all monsters some time or another. Those of us in management
more so than at other times, but it's why they pay us the big bucks, right?

Ah, I how I fought for little Susie's place here to stay safe. "No," said I,
"keep her on, she's just overwhelmed by the turnover and the extra work, I
think she'll be okay."

"You know," they told me, "she's threatened to quit like this many times
before."

What do I know? I'm new.

I talked to little Susie. She felt guilty for not having enough to do, but
didn't want to do more bookkeeping. "I just want to do data entry," she
said, "and I really like it here."

And so I said to my co-conspirators, "Let's give her a chance. More data
entry, less bookkeeping." We are, however, in far more need of bookkeepers
than data entry, because once the data is entered, it must be dealt with.

And so it was so. But the data entry didn't get done, and when asked, Susie
was likely to retort with an email along the lines of, "But have you tried
doing this? It's not easy!"

Of course it isn't. We don't mind questions, and we don't mind being told
we're asking for the impossible, but we don't really like the attitude that
indicates we're some kind of imbeciles without a clue.

Even if we are. That is not the point.

It's all about the point.

And then little Susie wanted to talk to me. And so we talked. She talked of
going part time. She talked of being let go if she doesn't have enough of
the kind of work she finds acceptable. I have three bookkeepers plus little
Susie on my staff and all of us are busy all the time, so there's no
shortage of work. She talked of finding another position. I grew weary. For
several months I have been on the side of little Susie, at least giving her
the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not interested in trying to talk a data
entry clerk into wanting to keep her job. It eats up my time, and it
distracts me from issuing financial statements and things of that nature,
which is what I'm supposed to be doing, not holding the hand of little Susie
to try to get her through another work life crisis. Who wouldn't want to
work here? We're generous with vacation time (I get three weeks vacation

She asked me to talk to the company management, and so the three of us, my
two bosses and I, talked and we decided little Susie could have her dream of
being free. We gave her two weeks notice to decide on her next course of
action.

Today little Susie has been missing, and when my bosses asked me if I knew
where she was, or when she was coming back, I said no, I had no idea, but I
was certainly tired of wondering all the time. Does little Susie think that
because she works out of her home, as do we all, that we won't notice her
absence? "Go ahead," I said, "I'm really tired of having to keep after her."
Everyone else works on their tasks and comes to me with questions, when they
have them, and things get done. Not so with little Susie. Her tasks don't
get done, and I'm left always wondering what I need to follow up on next.

Do not feel sad for little Susie. She's been trying to extricate herself
from this company for longer than I've worked here, for unknown reasons. And
I don't know if she's little or not, we've never met, and her name isn't
even Susie. She's older than I am, which is quite old indeed, and I'm sure
little Susie, or whatever her name is, will be quite fine.

And now I can work, and not wonder what little Susie is up to.

Monsters Inc.