'Twas the Job After Termination

[sideshowstarlet, BSN, RN]

Context: At the end of August, I got fired from a job after being falsely accused of leaving written threats to kill colleagues with office supplies such as keyboards and staplers. HR claimed they did a "handwriting analysis" by comparing the note to work I did (even though we only do electronic charting) and determined it was me. I was fired, never given the chance to defend myself. I wasn't even told what they were investigating until I was fired. I did qualify for unemployment, so they must not have had very much evidence that I did this. I was offered a new job in mid-September, and the background check was completed today. I start my new job next Monday. I wrote this poem to process my feelings of starting a new job after being terminated from my old one. (The poem also alludes to the fight I had to go through to be paid properly... just before these written threats were found... hmmm...). I'm just another amateur writer, hoping that using the written word to process my craziness can help me one day achieve emotional stability. 

'Twas the job after firing, 
And all through the city, 
Businesses were hiring, 
Still things weren't pretty. 

Unemployment was granted, 
A small weekly sum, 
Yet I'm still disenchanted, 
By what may soon come. 

I was offered a new role, 
Back in mid-September. 
Promising on the whole, 
Yet I can't help but remember... 

Being offered my old post, 
And feeling so lit, 
Ready to do the most, 
Thinking myself a good fit. 

Will my new job be new? 
Or the same old bull-spit? 
Will I be with a good crew? 
Or a bunch of half-wits? 

Will HR be shirkers, 
Or forthright and fervent? 
Or will they confuse workers
With indentured servants? 

Will my promised pay, 
Be in my check Q 2 weeks, 
Or will they display 
Crooked payroll techniques? 

Will they think I'm a threat, 
To their bottom line? 
Are they in debt?
Must I fight for what's mine? 

When they look at me, 
And see all my hard work, 
Will they see Lucy Letby? 
A killer? A jerk? 

Will my skill threaten others? 
Or will they see the good I do? 
If I had my druthers, 
I would start work anew. 

I'd be caring and sweet, 
The best worker ever! 
I'd be efficient and neat, 
Kind, smart, and clever. 

I know it's a must, 
To be friendly and nice, 
To gain colleague's trust, 
I hope my charm will suffice. 

Will my boss be perceptive, 
Kind, smart, and clear-eyed, 
Or will they be deceptive, 
And claim I threatened homicide? 

Will I be trusted 'round keyboards, 
And black Swingline staplers? 
Will they welcome me on the wards
When staffing strain occurs? 

Only one way to find out! 
Come next week, I'm back to work! 
I'll be tireless, strong, and stout, 
Though I possess many a quirk. 

If you were ever fired, 
Terminated, falsely accused, 
You're gonna be tired, 
Your ego will be bruised. 

Yet, there's other jobs out there, 
This is not the end. 
They're hiring everywhere! 
Soon you'll wish for a weekend! 

Who knows how this role,  
Will pan out in the end,
But if my boss is an a-hole, 
I can always try again!

[Davey Do]

YOURS IS AN INCREDIBLE WORK OF PROCESSING, POETRY, AND HUMOR!

I laughed so hard at one verse, tears came to my eyes, laughed out loud at another, and thoroughly enjoyed this work, sideshowstarlet!

I doff my proverbial artist cap to you!

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Very good.

Scary that these things can happen.

If that had happened to me I would have been straight onto my union and getting a case set up and taken them to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal.

[sideshowstarlet, BSN, RN]

Davey Do said:

YOURS IS AN INCREDIBLE WORK OF PROCESSING, POETRY, AND HUMOR!

I laughed so hard at one verse, tears came to my eyes, laughed out loud at another, and thoroughly enjoyed this work, sideshowstarlet!

I doff my proverbial artist cap to you!

Thank you, Davey! It's nice to have my writing appreciated! 

GrumpyRN said:

Very good.

Scary that these things can happen.

If that had happened to me I would have been straight onto my union and getting a case set up and taken them to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal.

I'm not part of a union. I wish I was. I've never been at a workplace that has a union.

[GrumpyRN, NP]

sideshowstarlet said:

I'm not part of a union. I wish I was. I've never been at a workplace that has a union.

UK, very different employment laws. Don't actually have to be a member of a union to raise an unfair dismissal case but it makes it easier.

[Davey Do]

I feel so much at home with you two.

Thank you so much for being a part of this.

BTW: @GrumpyRN - you might want to check out sideshowstarlet's thread"The Light T the End of the Tunnel" on the General Nursing forum.

[sideshowstarlet, BSN, RN]

Davey Do said:

I feel so much at home with you two.

Thank you so much for being a part of this.

Thank you for telling me about this group and for reading the first poem I've written in several years. 

[Davey Do]

sideshowstarlet said:

Thank you for telling me about this group and for reading the first poem I've written in several years. 

Dare I say you would be a welcomed member on that artist website I told you about.

Truly.

I'm having so much fun here, but other voices beckon. See you later.

[Davey Do]

Sideshowstarlet said she wrote this humorous poem in order to deal with her feelings after being terminated, which took ne back to my own final termination 3 1/2 years ago:

 

[sideshowstarlet, BSN, RN]

Davey Do said:

Sideshowstarlet said she wrote this humorous poem in order to deal with her feelings after being terminated, which took ne back to my own final termination 3 1/2 years ago:

 

Oooh! I remember lurking on this thread. The action had already been completed by the time I discovered it in Summer 2020. I was living in Maine at the time. If I knew Rita's real name, I would be looking her up on Linkedin to figure out where that troll ended up after leaving Wrongway. 

[Davey Do]

sideshowstarlet said:

Oooh! I remember lurking on this thread. The action had already been completed by the time I discovered it in Summer 2020. I was living in Maine at the time. If I knew Rita's real name, I would be looking her up on Linkedin to figure out where that troll ended up after leaving Wrongway. 

Thank you for your reply, because I've considered updating that thread, "Profanity & Disrespect" but figured no one would be interested at this late date.

Rita- there goes that great memory of yours- mysteriously left Wrongway not long after my termination.

Clark -the culprit- also left, and last I heard, he was working at a prison facility as a Rec (hee hee) Therapist.

[sideshowstarlet, BSN, RN]

Davey Do said:

Thank you for your reply, because I've considered updating that thread, "Profanity & Disrespect" but figured no one would be interested at this late date.

Rita- there goes that great memory of yours- mysteriously left Wrongway not long after my termination.

Clark -the culprit- also left, and last I heard, he was working at a prison facility as a Rec (hee hee) Therapist.

Oooohhh... Intrigue AND irony!!!

Off topic, but as someone who's also a Licensed Master Social Worker, I'm not a fan of how we assign the "Therapist" title to people who function as tech's. They implement programs that can be therapeutic, but they aren't therapists. I mean, there would be mass mutiny if we started calling med-aides "Med Nurses" or CNA's "Personal Care Nurses." It also makes it harder to search for jobs online when a lot of posted "Therapist" positions are (going by the job description) really tech jobs that pay $15/hour. Rant over.

I'm sure Rita must have a Linkedin page which she has updated by now.