Things DO Happen For A Reason

The phone rang at 11pm last night. My first thought was, “Who died?” because when you reach your mid 30’s that’s what you think. But luckily no one had died (we’ll someone did, but no one I know and that’s another story). It was RaceGirl.

RaceGirl and I have known each other for about six years. I knew we would be forever friends when we walked out of a job together, her freshly fired, me having just quit, boxes in hands, heads held high. I’ll give you a little backstory.

RaceGirl and I lived in Mississippi. We worked at a training squadron that trained pilots for the Navy. Imagine about 30 women providing office support for about 300 pilots. It’s a great environment for a single girl! But that’s not the story either.

The story is about having a dream and actually taking the necessary steps to getting it.

I was RaceGirl’s supervisor. She was constantly on the internet looking for jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her dream was to work in Nascar. I suppose it should have bothered me that she was on the internet looking for another job, but it didn’t. Her work was always done and done well. Plus there was another reason that I couldn’t blame her for wanting to leave….

The Reverend.

The Reverend was MY boss. He was a black man (this is not a racist post, just stating the facts) and he didn’t like white people. He made my life and subsequently RaceGirl’s life difficult. He was not very educated, couldn’t spell to save his life and had absolutely NO idea what was appropriate in the workplace. He was an HR nightmare.

RaceGirl had come to me on several occasions stating how unhappy she was. She said she liked working with me, but was just fed up with the way we were being treated. She and I reported the situation to The Reverend’s boss on several occasions. Nothing was done.

Finally, after many months, my advice to RaceGirl was to make the best of her time there and continue to look for something in Charlotte.

But moving away from your home and family is tough. And sometimes it takes a push to get you out of your comfort zone. I guess what I’m trying to say, is sometimes bad things happen and it takes a long time to realize the reason.

RaceGirl was fired from that job back in 2002. She was devastated. It’s taken almost 3 ½ years but RaceGirl moved to Charlotte, held crappy jobs to get by, and just last night found out that she got a job at DEI (The DE stands for Dale Earnhardt, people). That’s why my phone rang at 11pm.

So, on behalf of RaceGirl I am drafting a letter to The Reverend. I think it’s going to go a little something like this:

Dear Reverend,

I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how one of your former employees is doing. I’m sure you remember RaceGirl.

Well, I am proud to say that she just got the job of her dreams. You remember, the one you told her she could never get? The one you said was unattainable?

I just wanted to thank you for making her so discontent while she was there. I know without your constant abuse, lack of understanding and blatant disregard for any human consideration she wouldn’t have been able to pick herself up as quickly as she did after being unjustifiably terminated. Instead of feeling defeated she got angry. Wasn’t it funny when she sued your ass?

So, anyway I hope you’re not a race fan because I don’t think you’ll be getting tickets. But I’ll be sure to wave to you from the pits.

Sincerely,
The Supervisor Whose Employees You Told, “She’s Stupid”

P.S. Just a note. Now that I have my Master’s Degree in HR maybe you’ll finally listen. Sending out an email addressing your female employees as “My Ladies” wishing them a “Happy Valentime’s Day” (your spelling, not mine) really isn’t appropriate.