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Out the door she goes

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!, Jan 11, 2008.

  1. We had a reporter quit this morning.
    I would say up and quit, but she had been planning this for at least a week and told only a few people, none of whom told management.
    Today was cleaning day, employees were asked to clean up their desks. We were allowed to wear jeans and the company bought pizza.
    The reporter who quit came in and started cleaning out her desk. At first I thought she was just cleaning up, like most everybody else - though, to be honest I didn't pay much attention to her, cause I was working on a story.
    The reporter who sat beside her, and knew she was quitting, helped her carry the last load of stuff out to her car. She came in, handed the ME her time card and said she was quitting - IMMEDIATELY!
    She said she wasn't taking a pay cut - our insurance rates went up (whose didn't?) - so her take-home pay was less.
    As she's walking out the door, she tells everybody "I'm quitting, bye," and left -- Not before she emptied her hard drive, deleted all her files, emails, contacts, phone lists the whole nine yards.
    The City Editor, who was on the phone, didn't realize for like 20 minutes she had quit.
    I can't say I'm sorry to see her go. She wrote about one story a week, when she showed and was generally pretty fucking lazy.
    Management had been trying to fire her for months, but because she was somehow disabled they refused to pull the trigger, despite having a cabinet full of paperwork citing her screw ups and failures.
    Now the whole office is bitching about what a shitty place this is to work.
    Me, I'm pissed at the way the bitch left. I thought it was pretty damn dirty.

    Rant over


    -30-
     
  2. Riddick

    Riddick Active Member

    I can't say I blame her for leaving that way. Better that way than having security escort her out the door and not letting her retrieve all her files from the her computer or delete any personal information.
     
  3. PHINJ

    PHINJ Active Member

    Why would you be pissed? I would enjoy it for its entertainment value and move on.
     
  4. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Yeah and you get rid of a slacker, to boot.

    Any newsroom worth its salt would be bitching about what a lousy place it is, irregardless.
     
  5. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Isn't that what everyone dreams of doing -- giving a big "FU" to your company on your way out the door on your terms?

    Of course, she's taking a pay cut to zero. But considering we have a thread on here by some guy who got booted by his paper after being hired three weeks ago, why feel bad that someone beat their employer to the punch?
     
  6. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    This is the best part of the whole thing.
     
  7. part-timer

    part-timer Member

    Did she leave before or after the pizza?
     
  8. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    These days, she left on her terms. I'm good with that.

    Odd ways I've witnessed papers lay off/fire journalists?:

    ***tapped on the shoulder.
    ***parking passes not work.
    ***security badges not work.
     
  9. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    In one shop, a copy editor had the pages he was assigned to work on the previous day taken off his desk. Then the meeting.
     
  10. MU_was_not_so_hard

    MU_was_not_so_hard Active Member

    My only problem with this isn't the employee -- rather, will she be replaced? Sounds like just about anyone could be an improvement. Hopefully, your shop won't just leave the position dark.
     
  11. NatureBoy

    NatureBoy Member

    I don't know. I'd rather she quits than sticks around and makes everyone else miserable. I remember one weekend I was working when one of the news-side copy editors was making a personal phone call at her desk and announcing loudly that she'd love to punch the news editor in the face. All the while, the news editor is standing at his desk, staring at her and asking those around him, "She realizes I'm right here listening to her, right?"

    Nah, she didn't last much longer after that.
     
  12. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    At one place I worked, the editor _ who had been on the job all of three weeks _ slipped a note under the publisher's door on a Sunday and was never heard from again.
     
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