Cafe Hitch-hike

2021-02-12

Happy Trails

I've seen enough Grand Pubah resignation announcements to know how they usually go. They usually start out with flowery or historical language:

My love for agronomy sprouted from the time I planted soybeans alongside my Pop-Pop, and was more fascinated when I learned about George Washington Carver's soil experiments with the peanut and legumes.

Then, they usually give a description of what's been going on lately:

We've encountered so many obstacles thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic

followed by what the organization has been able to do:

but we've been absolutely resilient, and you all have given me immense strength.

and then comes the announcement:

As of (3 weeks of today), I will be stepping down from my duties.

closed with something halfway sweet (and usually not accurate):

I've learned so much from you all, and you've blessed me with your dedication and initiative.

We knew this GP had a blistering time with us. Yeah, certain networks in our institution are very hard to break into, but at the same time, no one does themselves favors by going about like a bull in a china shop as this one had. They also inherited some serious merde from the previous GP, but instead of cleaning it up, they stepped in it and tracked it all over the place.

We weren't sure how much longer this GP was going to last. We were tossing around guesses on what would happen, how, and under what circumstances.

Terminations used to be rare until this GP came on board. This particular individual was known to give public notices of people leaving during the late afternoon on Fridays. They gave their notice in the same fashion.

There was one time when they did not, and it was the first person they fired. The person that was taken out was actually a grand pubah they supervised and it was a shock. We received an announcement that said GP would be working remotely until they retired, but everyone knew they were forced. I saw the announcement the moment it was in my box, and I sprinted to my former boss's office down the hall to tell them.

Well, since we're working remotely, I texted him the minute I saw the message. Nonetheless, I still ran around my house a couple of times because this resignation was a complete surprise, and my neck is still sore from hastily jumping out of my chair.

So I joked to myself to not use certain types of language if I ever became a GP and resign or retire. I joked I'd have to have a theme song to accompany my walk of shame out of the building or wear something goofy (like a fur coat or an oversided cowboy hat). This GP attached a link to Roy Roger's Happy Trails in their message. Damn, I knew this person had a rough time here and people thought they hated their colleagues and underlings, but I sensed some sarcasm in that dedication.

I'd never wish ill on this GP or their decision. If anything, I do hope they find the happiness and peace they deserve (and seem to have lacked in their time here). But, this GP really inflicted a lot of pain and was outright hostile to a lot of us. Many people in their division resigned or retired early, and those who remained had very low morale.

Meanwhile, I'll quietly step to the side and observe how all this will roll, here on out.

downwind | upstream