Well that fucking sucks.

"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
02/25/2018 at 22:50 • Filed to: do you people not know what friendship means?

My wife just found out that her employer just sold the business to a competitor. How did she find out? A coworker frantically texted her asking if she’d heard anything about it. Of course my wife was, “About WHAT now?” And how did the coworker find out? A freaking customer asked, “So do you know who the new owners are?” Nobody at my wife’s level knew. But it gets worse.

My wife calls so-and-so and such-and-such to get more information. She and her immediate boss talk for a while. The boss who is none too happy either explained that he wasn’t permitted to say anything until the sale was officially announced. Which is true, I’ve seen the scenarios enough time in her line of work. No hard feelings here. Company man at key position does company thing. Plus it’s not exactly the best to freak out all your workers with sudden ownership change with any real concrete details available.

So what’s the “worse” part I mentioned? My wife reaches out to her friend as anyone would. Something along the lines of, “I just found out blah blah blah!” Her friend went silent. “... Did you know?” More silence. “How long have you known?” Oh yeah. One of our friends knew for the last week. In fact had dinner with her the other day! Now why did she keep this a secret? “Well... I’m not supposed to say anything until it was official.” No.

Folks, she has nothing fiscally to do with either the seller nor the buyer. The real reason is that her boyfriend — someone we’ve also known for years — is good friends with the seller. So our friend kept that from us to appease him I guess? Nice. Really fucking nice. If I knew my friend’s livelihood was potentially at stake, you bet your candy ass I am giving them a heads-up. So I’m royally pissed at both of them. Meanwhile, my wife is just trying to process... And doing a good job, mind you. Meanwhile I’m in the other room absolutely fuming .

So yeah. That was my Sunday night. This really bites. My wife loves her job and makes a good living. It took her a long time to find this and now so quickly we could be in for some major changes yet again.

DISCUSSION (22)

Nibby > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 22:55

Dude. Coworkers are so fucking cliquey it sucks. Sometimes even people you feel you can trust are twofaced.

Hope you and your wife sort through this one peacefully and know y’all got my support! Good luck to her. She’ll be fine.

Nibby > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 22:56

fucking COMMUNICATIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Steve in Manhattan > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:03

I’ve had this happen to a couple people in my life, and they were retained because they were so good at what they did. She might just be fine.

JeepJeremy > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:06

Ugh. What a bunch of shit

Nothing > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:09

Damn, that does suck. I hope it all works out for you and your wife.

I’m trying to say supportive of my wife’s employment right now, but it’s hard. She has the opportunity to get a position at her current company that she’s wanted for about the last 7 years. The person she’d be backfilling for just became a manager on her current team, and he’s trying to tell her why she should stay put. New manager “things will be different now!” Ugh. So far, his pep talk is working, which is pissing me off, as it’s self serving, he simply wants her on her team because there literally is no available replacement for what she does. Granted, her job isn’t in jeopardy, so this isn’t a fair comparison. But the opportunity to reduce job related stress by about 90% is RIGHT THERE!!!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Nothing
02/25/2018 at 23:13

Oh that’s bad, man. Where someone is being told bold faced lies and in addition the employee has an an admirable but potentially detrimental sense of loyalty to that position or department. Happened to my buddy for about 4 years. He got fed with waiting and quit.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > JeepJeremy
02/25/2018 at 23:17

It’s just business, that makes me said but I get it. The friend thing is what makes me angry.

HammerheadFistpunch > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:25

That stinks, and I know that feel. I’ve been without an official direct report for about 2 months now because the company is reorganizing and they are:

taking their sweet time

completely mum on the whole thing.

So while I’m convinced I have a job, just the fact that all the details are up in the air AND hidden makes work hard. Not knowing stinks, and the fear of “what ifs” have not helped my general insomnia one bit.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HammerheadFistpunch
02/25/2018 at 23:28

I would react the exact same way. It’s so aggravating because it’s like, “Look if my position is obsolete, or if I make too much money, of if they want THEIR people in, I get it. Just tell me so I can start planning for the future!”

GLiddy > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:32

They weren’t obliged to share anything with you. A company I once worked for was shopping around for a better tax deal and city-backed construction bonds, so they let it be known that they were considering a move to another city. (Which, by the way, would have been fine with me.) The rumor mill got so heated that they had a -CONFIDENTIAL- meeting with the employees to assure everyone that they had no intention of leaving the city, and were doing this to get the city to help them with land acquisition, taxes, etc.

Two days later there was a story in the newspaper (this was a long time ago) giving details about the the meeting and how there was never any intention of moving all along. So this cost the company lots of money.

The point? You weren’t supposed to know this information until it was official anyway, so not knowing it sooner didn’t really harm you.

fhrblig > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:36

Ugh, that sucks. I hope everything works out.

My partner manages a retail store for a brand that has been around for 100+ years. He’s been miserable for the past 5 years. He’s applied with several companies but he’s got so much experience that it seems like he’s too expensive for each company he has applied to. In the meantime, I got tired of my job and applied to ONE friggin’ company and was immediately hired. I feel like crap. I wish one damn company would recognize his talents and experience and give him a shot.

Alfalfa > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:41

Maybe it’s because I don’t gossip much or get very close to most people, but no one ever tells me shit at work. My employer’s son recently started taking over many facets of the business, and everyone knew it was going to happen for a month before I did. Also didn’t know 2 co-workers were dating until they were practically engaged.

wafflesnfalafel > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/25/2018 at 23:50

We are seeing quite a bit of consolidation and “selling out at top of market” with my clients right now, (mainstreet type relatively smaller, regional businesses.) It honestly feels similar to pre-tech crash right now...

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > wafflesnfalafel
02/26/2018 at 00:13

I’m curious to see what happens, there’s is way too much consolidation happening right now and when there is a crash the small companies will grow again.

fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/26/2018 at 00:17

Just think how much more you’d be aggravated if you just signed the papers for a $3500/month mortgage payment.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > fintail
02/26/2018 at 00:55

Shit like this is exactly WHY I would never sign papers for a $3500 mortgage.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/26/2018 at 04:41

Confidentiality agreements are more powerful than friendships these days. In their position, I would have said nothing too.

You can fume all you like. But try walking a mile in some other poor bastards shoes occasionally...

pip bip - choose Corrour > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/26/2018 at 06:09

may i suggest a long walk on a beach with your dog,to help take your mind off the problem.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/26/2018 at 07:53

What about 3,500 doggo scritches?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/26/2018 at 09:04

Ugh. Hopefully they’ll want to keep her on and everything else stays the same!

fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/26/2018 at 09:22

Looks like the Zoidberg way (of not jumping into a house via emotions or urgings of FIRE sector dbags) might be the right way after all.

CalzoneGolem > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/28/2018 at 09:13

I hope she was told in no uncertain terms that was a bullshit thing to do to her friends.