What Happens As An Older Worker When The Company Wants To Fire You

I can measure and evaluate people I meet very rapidly and so when I met a new Boss I would know within a short time what they were really like and if they were bad I saw it. They smile at your face, but I can see and feel their true feelings. I watch body language and facial expressions when they speak and watch their reactions when I say different things to them.

When I was a Store Manager I had a District Manager that very nice and supportive, but I knew right away he was a bad person. At the end of one visit he shook my hand and thanked me for doing a good job and as he walked out toward the door I watched him and thought to myself how long would it be before he came after me. We were out to lunch one day and we were joking and I had let my guard down and I was giving him some experiences I had and I saw him freeze and stop smiling and I said to myself there is the real person so I instantly stopped and put my guard back up. When he came after me he was trying to get me mad by insulting me or embarrassing me so that I would say something or do something like throw my keys on the desk and walk out which led to interesting exchanges. We sat down in my office at the table with the door closed where he started the discussion with me where he said he was going to cover what my failings and weaknesses were. By then I had been with the Company over 30 years in four states in many jobs and had gotten evaluations from dozens of people so I knew my strengths and weaknesses and he said he wanted us to discuss them. I thought to myself that this is a farce because he wants to fire me or get me to quit and there was nothing I could say to change that. He covered the first thing and I said thank you for pointing that out and I will work to do better. He said no I want us to discuss these issues and I said okay what is the next one. He covered ridiculous things that I knew I was doing properly and again thanked him. His face turned red and he pounded the table yelling at me now that he wanted a discussion. I looked at his red face and his pounding hands and the spit coming out of his mouth as he yelled at me and thought it is never good to make your boss this mad, but in this case it doesn’t really matter and I will not participate in this.

He made about $250,000 a year and would drive to my store one day a week to try to antagonize me. One day I walked out of a stockroom knocking the door against the wall as I walked rapidly out. He had just walked in and he said…