Would Rather Be Fired Than On Fire

I was interviewing for a position in a warehouse when, mid-interview, the manager took off for a smoke break.

So I stayed and waited. And then the fire alarm went off. So I left for the fire alarm.

When the alarm was over and everyone was returning to the building, I went back to the manager’s office and sat down to wait for him to finish my interview.

Rather than finish my interview, he started chewing me out for ‘wandering out.’

During the fire alarm.

Midway through being chewed out for leaving, DURING THE FIRE ALARM, something inside me just went DING! I practically felt the ‘parking expired’ flags pop over my eyes in a cartoon fashion. I was just absolutely done with it.

I simply stood up, gathered my stuff, and left without explanation. The manager kept trying to talk to me as I left, saying the usual ‘You’re not a team player’ style dismissal/begging. I didn’t even have ears to listen at that point.

They didn’t call me back, and frankly, I didn’t want them to.

They snapped back and tried to tell unemployment that I’d ‘refused a valid offer of work’, but fortunately when I set the record straight with the unemployment office it did not impact my benefits, including a short cell phone recording as proof – It’s OK, big signs all across the property said that we were being monitored and recorded, and that counts as consent! – I continued to receive unemployment until I found a more suitable position.