{"id":1627,"date":"2017-11-04T08:16:59","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T08:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/new_thereporter\/2017\/11\/04\/youre-fired\/"},"modified":"2017-11-04T08:16:59","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T08:16:59","slug":"youre-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/1627\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou\u2019re fired!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The boss dials his secretary;<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTell the accountant I want to talk to him.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut sir, he\u2019s not in yet.\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat! It is already twenty to nine and he isn\u2019t in!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the big deal; he\u2019s only ten minutes late!\u201d the secretary would be saying to herself.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see him as soon as he comes in!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOk, sir.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Five minutes later.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSir, you wanted to see me.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

No playing the nice, heaven-bound guy role. \u201cYou\u2019re late!\u201d He growls and scans his watch. \u201cYou\u2018re fifteen minutes late!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSir, I was waiting for the bus for an hour and twenty minutes. I left home at half past\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care! I don\u2019t care if you left your house last Christmas! You are fired!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut sir, I\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are fired, and that\u2019s final!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe, just maybe, the chances such a scenario might seem slim. Even the most ardent Lucifer fan wouldn\u2019t be so insensitive! You can\u2019t fire a father of four just like that! You can\u2019t treat him like the suffering maid you kick around the house with impunity! Take my word, people these days go to such great lengths to harm others, firing someone is almost a non-event, which it isn\u2019t.  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A couple broke the news to a civil servant friend not very keen about watching local channels. Who is? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean you\u2019ll be fired for being late two days?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFired; you know, like your contract being terminated.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut they can\u2019t do that!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s verdict would be, \u201cBut they can\u2019t do it!\u201d But they can, in a few months time. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Look, if you enjoy shaving off minutes from your morning office hours I\u2019ve news for you; beat the habit before the plane leaves the tarmac. If proposed amendments to the labor law get the thumbs-up in the House, being late would be no laughing matter. Two days late in a month, and you\u2019d be statistics \u2013 in the \u2018unemployed\u2019 section. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are late!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSir, my little kid was sick and I had to rush him to the\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s your reason for being late!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut sir, my child is very sick.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are fired!\u201d Just like that.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I could imagine bosses craving to flex their muscles; bosses who already drawing the list of employees they\u2019ll nuke.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Believe me, \u201cYou are fired!\u201d The last thing any sand soul would want to hear these days. I mean, even being employed with a secure, sustained monthly income, life isn\u2019t getting any easier. Your dinner table top is already more table than dishes. You\u2019re finalizing plans to move your kids to schools with cheaper fees. The doctor\u2019s appointment is still pending, with the doctor still waiting for you to show up. Your wife has been complaining of everything from spinning head, to a rumbling belly, to a creaking back for the past year or so. Your children catch cold very other day. Your landlord has already warned rent would go up by eight hundred birr next month. And your boss says \u201cYou\u2019re fired!\u201d amidst this tsunami-powered scenario! It is tantamount to a life behind bars ruling.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Labor leaders are crying foul, because the proposed seem to weigh heavily in favor of the employer. Someone even said the employer should be given the power to fire any employee without any reason!  Well, well, well! Sounds like the famous hating someone for very color of his eyes. But who am I to say that. I know close to nothing about the labor laws. But one thing I know is the transport mess in this capital city of others doesn\u2019t make things as simple as they appear on paper. This city doesn\u2019t stand tall and proud for busses which run on schedule, minibuses which are there when people want them the most, or streets which are driver friendly. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

No one denies the workplace discipline these days leaves much to be desired. Quite many offices seem to be like driverless cars. People tell you the employer-employee camaraderie has become sort of a once-upon-a-time children\u2019s story. Workplace discipline has to be restored. Industrious workers have to be rewarded and the irresponsible ones brought into line. In a country where the unemployed crowd is ballooning every year those already employed have to prove their worse. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That said, it doesn\u2019t mean the only way out is by playing hardball. The proposals of the labor leaders have to be considered and debated, not because they have threatened nationwide strikes, but because that is the most intelligent thing to do. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you leaving your work?\u201d a friend inquires.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I can\u2019t take it with me.\u201d Nice joke. But, if the new amendments go through intact, leaving one\u2019s workplace for good wouldn\u2019t be any close to being a joke. You can\u2019t tell your spouse, \u201cI\u2019m leaving work next week,\u201d and go out for the celebratory cold beer. You\u2019d be probably saying \u201cI\u2019ll be leaving work in three months time.\u201d That\u2019s it; you have to give your employer ninety days notice! He needs only a few minutes to tell you to get lost, and you need three months to \u2018get lost\u2019 on your own!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I mean after all everyone is always on the lookout for greener pastures. When you find one the new prospective employers would probably say, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can give you two weeks to resign your present position.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWould three months be too much?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That would probably prompt the most hilarious laughter! It just doesn\u2019t\u2019 seem to add up!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And finally this bit of humor.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy aren\u2019t you working?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe boss and I had a fight and he won\u2019t take back what he said.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 \u201cHe said: \u2018You\u2019re fired.\u2019\u201d Hmmm. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A boss who takes back his \u201cYou\u2019re fired!\u201d outburst deserves some humanitarian prize.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Contributed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The boss dials his secretary;<\/p>\n

\u201cTell the accountant I want to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut sir, he\u2019s not in yet.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1946,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-touch-and-go","7":"category-uncategorized"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}