This is not meant to be a political thread. I mention this because without it, there would be valuable context missing. Please don’t make this thread about politics. Also, this isn’t a pity thread. I’m quite happy with how this all worked out.

I have had some pretty significant changes happen in my life lately.

The Company that I had been employed by for nearly five years, I have parted ways with. I actually left there back in July, but have been (and still am) under a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement that is very extensive). I am very limited as to what I can say. I cannot discuss The Company in social media. I will say that five years of working for ultra liberal people feels like a lifetime. I had zero support from the owners. Long and short, I turned their company around and made it a smooth running operation. After everything was running smoothly for a few years, they wanted to relax the rules and make things “more to their [parents] roots”, (hippies)and remove things like attendance policies, written warnings, etc. I was told I was too structured and too rigid. “Your expectations are too high, and we just want it to be a really fun place to work, specifically we want this to be the funnest place to work in town!”

The thing is, the patriarch of the family was an old hippie, but also a shrewd Jewish businessman. He didn’t tolerate bullshit, and while liberal, he wasn’t woke. He was a really good guy, and we got along like two peas in a pod. He truly appreciated me and what I was doing. His children and their spouses (my four bosses) were not like him, at all. Everything was smooth sailing, right up until three months after his passing. Then everything started going woke, full steam ahead. This was when things started making a very rapid turn for the worse, especially for me.

The catalyst to my departure was a situation where the shit hit the fan. Long and short, there was an employee (the one that gave me the baton I Karma’d off) that received a review he didn’t agree with and acted like an ass. The owners told me to terminate his employment. (My wife said this was a setup and not to trust the owners as they have no spine.) I gave him a chance the following day to stop his antics, and he progressively worsened. Prior to terminating him, I told the owners if I terminate him, one of my department managers will walk, and he will take three of his crew with him. Are you ready to lose these specific five people. They said yes. We had an in depth conversation about this, specifically so there would be no surprises. They gave me their word that they would have my back on this. Everything I said came to fruition exactly as I said it would happen. The owners were now beside themselves about this and losing such “wonderful” people. I was a terrible person and far too strict, and suffer from a serious lack of empathy.
When asked about their agreement with the termination and having my back, they simply didn’t have much to say. They just said that the business is going in a different direction.
I didn’t want to be a part of that so we parted ways. It was mutual.
I received my final pay from them last week, so now I feel a little more comfortable speaking about this as there is no financial retribution. I also have not mentioned the name of The Company, so technically I have not violated the NDA. Those of you who know The Company, please do not mention it in this thread as it could potentially lead to issues.

After my departure from work in July, my wife and I (and her sister) went to The Villages Florida on vacation for two weeks. It was a pretty awesome trip. I drank too much whiskey and had a great time driving around a golf car, swimming in pools, watching live music, and eating all kinds of good food. We arrived in time for Tropical Storm Debby. I was quite impressed with how much rain fell in two days. The highlight of my trip was meeting V-Tail and ArtieS for lunch, then we travelled across town to have a beer. It was a great time!

The day after we returned from vacation, the day my wife was supposed to return to work, those scumbags texted, yes texted her and told her not to come back. While I had signed an NDA and I am forbidden to discuss any of the details of my departure with any employees of that company, my wife was not bound by that agreement. She would have been able to tell the employees my side of what happened and the financial benefits aspect as well. This would have enraged the squad of five and The Company would have had an uprising, those five would have been mutiny on the bounty and probably taken more with them.

Upon returning from vacation I have stopped consuming alcohol. It’s a much healthier choice for me. So now I’m pretty boring. I don’t smoke, smoke weed, drink, or gamble.

I started looking for work as I would have liked to have had dual income. The issue I ran into that I didn’t expect was over qualification. No one wanted to hire me as they assumed I would leave at the drop of a hat for a “better job”. I feel that there are a few jobs and one I know of that my ex-employers violated the law and spoke in depth about my departure, and of me, in a very negative way. Instead of answering to how long I was employed, how much I was paid, and if I am eligible for re-employment, they divulged far more. It would come down to a he said she said, and they have a lot more money and lawyers than I have. Honestly these people are the biggest pieces of shit, scumbags I have ever worked for. Thank God I am free from their liberal hell.

In the last few months I spent a lot of time hanging out at home and spending time with my wonderful wife. It’s been a much needed break.

I applied for a job as a police recruit at our local PD. On Halloween I passed the physical test, crushed the written test, and went before the oral board. I heard back from them right after Veteran’s day. They were willing to proceed with the background investigation and polygraph. This is where something came to light. The hiring officer asked me; “Are you ready to deal with people on their worst day? This will be everyday. Either because they are a victim, or because you are arresting them. You need to be aware that almost every call you’ll be dealing with someone on their worst day.”
While police work sounds like a really fun job, this definitely put a hell of a damper on it. I will say it was worth going through the process. It was a huge boost to my self-esteem that I was the only one of five people that passed the physical testing. I am also quite proud that I scored 100% on everything other than the written communication exam which I scored 96% on. I was told my answers to the oral board were good and that I showed a lot of thought and situation analysis in my answers.

I am still good friends with one employee at my old job. He is a solid guy and will be my friend forever. He did inform me that things are going pretty rough there. Major shortage of employees. Too much work for most to do with the newly relaxed expectations. The best employees being worked too hard while the lazy ones aren’t held accountable. Lots of OT. Teammates working until 8 pm on Mondays, mandatory Saturdays and some Sundays. The owners have been in the repacking department doing some of the least desirable, menial tasks, specifically, packaging products and many of those are very undesirable to package. The owners normally spend October - January in Telluride at their vacation homes, and haven’t had that opportunity this year. They have been stuck here, working like dogs doing shit tasks.

Recently I accepted a position as the Club Manager of Planet Fitness. I have been there since the start of November and it’s been great. It seems to be a far lower stress job than I have had in the past. So far I find it to be one of the more enjoyable jobs I have had. I’m also very happy to be out of the house and back to work. It’s been great being social, and I’m quite good at customer service, so it’s been a great start! The downsides are that I took over a club with a huge deficit of employees. Not really enough to cover the hours we are open. I don’t have an Assistant Manager and my Fitness Trainer is an anti-social introvert. I do have a lot of support from above. My District Manager (boss) is a very bright young lady and helpful. I have been given a really awesome training manager that is very interested in seeing me succeed. So for now, and who knows how long, this is a good place to be.

I guess we will see what the New Year brings us.

Though it stinks you had to go through all that, it does sound like things are heading in your direction now. Congratulations!

Wishing you great health, happiness, and prosperity in 2025, from Casa de vthoky.

Having lived through a similar situation, I wish you the best!

Merry Christmas and may the New Year being you happiness and blessings!

Thats a lot to have to go through. Glad to see you have a new path. Good luck and have a great Holiday Season.

Cheers to a happy and blessed 2025!

Some pretty significant changes indeed! It sounds like Planet Fitness is a good place for you now so that's positive. Get ready for the first of the year "loose wait get back in shape" onslaught!

quote:

Recently I accepted a position as the Club Manager of Planet Fitness. I have been there since the start of November and it’s been great. It seems to be a far lower stress job than I have had in the past.

Good. That's something that you can't put a price on.

Money is fine, but as long as my bills are paid, I'd rather have the lower stress job even if it pays less.

quote:

This is not meant to be a political thread. I mention this because without it, there would be valuable context missing. Please don’t make this thread about politics.
***
I will say that five years of working for ultra liberal people feels like a lifetime. I had zero support from the owners. Long and short, I turned their company around and made it a smooth running operation. After everything was running smoothly for a few years, they wanted to relax the rules and make things “more to their [parents] roots”, (hippies)and remove things like attendance policies, written warnings, etc. I was told I was too structured and too rigid. “Your expectations are too high, and we just want it to be a really fun place to work, specifically we want this to be the funnest place to work in town!”

The thing is, the patriarch of the family was an old hippie, but also a shrewd Jewish businessman. He didn’t tolerate bullshit, and while liberal, he wasn’t woke. He was a really good guy, and we got along like two peas in a pod. He truly appreciated me and what I was doing. His children and their spouses (my four bosses) were not like him, at all. Everything was smooth sailing, right up until three months after his passing. Then everything started going woke, full steam ahead. This was when things started making a very rapid turn for the worse, especially for me.

Well, without making this a political thread...
You do see how everything becomes about politics, because politics is about how we organize groups into civilization.

Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά (politiká) 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources.

But good for you in getting away from the prior Company, which you have seen enough of to know that's not the type of organizational culture you want to be a part of.

Congrats on the new opportunity!

Beancooker, just a few random thoughts FWIW from an old guy who somehow survived working in several toxic workplaces.

If for whatever reason that prior employer calls you with a change of heart DON’T EVEN CONSIDER RETURNING! They might feign change but once they get back on track it’s same stuff different day. I’m going to sound brutal but let them fall on their faces. The underlying problems will still be there and once they are fat dumb and happy it’s going to be the same results for you.

Slightly different scenario but it always amazed me that how an employer can treat an employee poorly, refuse to fix something but once that employee gives their notice now suddenly they are “on it” and offer to make things right. One company I worked for had a comptroller that was the golden boy. My manager agreed there was problem, his supervisor and the comptroller contended there was no problem. Owner was oblivious, he was still making money but as my department was a offshoot of the main department overall results were the same, just a shift of profits from my section. And I was paid on the profit created by the offshoot.

Well, six months of asking questions and getting ignored I gave my notice. One of my meetings with the owner I said “Ive been saying there was a problem. Nobody listened to me and now we are here”. The owner then said “Well I’m listening now.” My answer was “And what about tomorrow? Too little, too late.” Comptroller left a few years later under a cloud, never heard exactly what happened though but it was ugly from what I was told.

You have a new opportunity with PF, grow with it.

The LEO career, maybe go auxiliary for awhile to see if it’s a good fit. One regret in my life was turning down a chance at that forty years ago. My wife wasn’t comfortable with it so during the early training phase I gave it up.

I’ve had several offers to come out of retirement and back into my old line of work from both my prior employer and others that knew me over my years in the business, turned them all down with a polite “thanks but no thanks”.

The business won’t last too long without someone like you running it as you see fit.

Sorry that you had that experience and that the owners turned out to be such scumbags. The places I have most enjoyed working were the places where only the mission mattered. If one even knew the politics of the owners, it was irrelevant to what we were all there to do.
Here’s hoping that your experience at PF will be *much* better and that life becomes much smoother sailing for your family with the drama of your prior company.

Eventually The Company will be up for sale, as the idiots in charge will run it into the ground. The spoiled kids running The Company will miss not having months off skiing in Telluride, and will sell hoping to invest the money from the sale into something profitable.

If you had a partner who could finance it, perhaps you could buy it and turn it around.

Noah, sorry to hear of all the turmoil. But it sounds like you are landing on your feet despite their despicable behavior. I wish you continued success with your rebound. Merry Christmas!

I would have documented the agreement via email sending it to them and yourself.

Glad to hear things have seemed to settle in after a bumpy road.

quote:

This is where something came to light. The hiring officer asked me; “Are you ready to deal with people on their worst day? This will be everyday. Either because they are a victim, or because you are arresting them. You need to be aware that almost every call you’ll be dealing with someone on their worst day.”

This is some of the dumbest shit I have ever heard!

Not even close any way I would describe the job. Do some ride alongs and get a better feel for it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Black92LX,

Let their dreidels spin backwards.

Make sure you have someone check the tanning beds once every day or so!

I'm glad it all worked out

People suck

What happened with the LEO job?

F^ck those guys. Live your life and be happy!