The Art of Getting Fired

I got fired from McDonalds. I was 16.

Getting fired means one of two things:

1. You’re bad at your job. You’re forced to grow which means a better job.
2. You’re good at your job. But you work for a bunch of B and C players. You end up with a way better job.

The day started out as just another day in the Drive Thru. I was working the window.

Then I ran low on ice.

I sounded the alarm through my headset. “I need ice over here!”

My headset crackled, “Okay, in a minute.” It was Allen. Allen controlled the whole operation. He was Top Boss, Head Honcho, Big Cheese…Swing Manager!

Customers continued ordering and I continued filling drinks. Another request for ice, another “In a minute” reply.

“I’ll go get it myself.”

Allen didn’t mince words. “No. Stay there. We’ll get you ice.”

Two more customers, two more requests for ice, two more “In a minute’s.”

Then I ran out of ice.

The Drive Thru came to a screeching stop.

There I was, stuck, explaining the situation to mini-van Mom while she’s wrangling two hyper-active kids climbing around the car barefoot with Kool-Aid stains on their mouths.

Forget this. I’m going to get ice.

Allen caught me. “Don’t you dare! I said I would get you ice!”

Being the rebellious teenage punk that I was, I kept walking to the ice machine. “Yeah, you said that four times already and customers are getting irritated.”

I got the ice.

Then I got the drinks ready and threw in a free Happy Meal toy for mini-van Mom’s trouble.

Caught red-handed again.

Allen was nearing the end of his rope. “You just stole from the company! That’s it. Come back here. I’m writing you up.”

“Alright.” I couldn’t have cared less at this point.

Allen pulled out a thick pad of some disciplinary forms. They really put a lot of work into these things…they must go through a lot of them.

He shoved a pen into my hand. “Here. Sign this.”

“I’m not signing anything.”

Allen was borderline insane at this point. “Just sign the damn paper!”

“No, thanks.”

Not knowing what else to do, Allen pulled out all the stops. He then threatened me with even a bigger player, the General Manager, Dawn. “I’m gonna tell Dawn!”

The only time I saw Dawn was when…actually I don’t know. I rarely saw her.

“Okay.”

Allen reached the end of his rope. “That’s it! YOU’RE FIRED!”

Sweet. I took off my apron, punched my time card and asked Allen, “Can I get my free meal first?”

Holy smokes, this pushed him over the edge. “OH MY GOD! JUST LEAVE! GET OUT!”

“Okay.”

I left.

By the time I got home, the other McDonalds across town had heard about it, called my parents (I lived at home) and offered me a job.

I never called back.

Why didn’t I care?

I didn’t work scared.

When you don’t work scared, you hold all the power. I lived with my parents. I didn’t have many bills to pay. I was also good at my job. I knew that I could find another job somewhere else with no problem. And, I didn’t have to jeopardize my personal values at the expense of holding onto it.

How can you use this mindset to your advantage as an adult?

• Be a champ at whatever you do, no matter the job, no matter how much you love or hate it. Follow this quote, “How you do anything is how you do everything.”
• Live like a gangster. This means owing nothing on your credit cards, your car is paid off (or easily affordable), and your house isn’t a prison. Follow this quote from the movie Heat: “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.”
• Build your middle-finger fund. The game changes when you have the cash to say, “No. I’m not going to give in to your unreasonable demands.” Funny enough, this also demonstrates leadership. You are now leadership material.
• Build your champions. Keep up with friends. Do stuff with them. They know people. Attend industry or professional groups and help out. When things go down, you’ll want people on your side. You never want to be in a position of planting a tree today and expecting apples tomorrow.

The point is, when it comes to jobs, friends and relationships, build yourself into a position where you’re not having to settle for second class treatment.

How do you know when you’ve gotten to that point?

When you can confidently say one of the world’s most powerful words…

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