So instead of telling everyone I know about this individually, I’ll recount the story of my Tuesday evening at work.
I’ll start with a little bit of background. I started work as a Production Scientist at Beckman Coulter Genomics on May 10. I was immediately thrown into a fast-paced, insanely stressful production lab. Seriously, I’ve never been so consistently stressed before in my life. I’d get to work, check the schedule, and immediately worry that I wouldn’t actually have enough time in the day to finish everything they wanted me to. Pretty much every day my chest was tight with anxiety about getting my work done and doing it right. Everything I handled and worked on was worth literally thousands upon thousands of dollars. Every sample plate, of which I handled over 200 a day, was worth over $300, and I regularly ruined a few every day. So did everyone, but man, it was mind boggling to know how much money I could cost that company.
Anyway, I was working a Wednesday through Sunday shift for the first six weeks, which sucked. Working weekends is awful when you barely have a social life and are trying to regain one. Then I got offered the opportunity to work Monday through Friday, 11:30am to 8:30pm. I heard “weekends off” and said HELLLLLL YES. Or I just said “yes please.” So I took the late shift.
The late shift was freaking intense! Everyone would go oh, I can’t finish my work by 5, I’ll have Tristan finish it up. I was the last person in the lab every night, so anything I did wrong would be immediately obvious the next morning, to everyone. I had to learn all facets of genetic sequencing so I could handle any extra work people had. And they kept throwing more work on my lap. But I got really good at what they had me doing, and I started to actually finish all my work without issue, do it correctly, and get home on time. Then they decided to train me for two weeks on something else! Awesome, they must want to keep me around, if they’re going to take two weeks to train me!
The training was boring as hell, but whatever. I figured it out, and they put me back on late shift this past Monday. At this point, I had really gotten to like the late shift, so I was happy to be back on my “normal” schedule.
So ok, I’m thinking this is great. I’m good at what I do, I like my shift, and I like what I’m getting paid. Awesome. Then Tuesday night at 6pm, I get a phone call from the recruiter who found me the job. You see, I was in a temp-to-perm position, technically employed by the recruiting agency and not Beckman Coulter itself.
“Hey Tristan, how are things going there?”
“Oh hi… um… I think really good!”
“Really? Because… I just got an email from your supervisor, Coleen, saying they’re unhappy with your performance and want this to be your last day of work.”
“Um. Uh. Wha?”
“I’m so sorry! This has never happened before! Apparently it’s not your work they don’t like, it’s your… attitude? Honestly, I don’t know. The email is so vague…”
Fuck Beckman Coulter. Fuck all of them. Nobody said a thing to me. Nobody told me I was doing anything wrong, I never heard that I wasn’t working hard enough, had a bad attitude, or upset other people. I had no fights or rivalries with other employees. Hell, on Monday, one of my supervisors told me she was very impressed at how well I had learned to take control of crazy situations when I came in for my later shift. She even mentioned it several times that day, and again on Tuesday. Clearly she either didn’t know I was being fired, or… I dunno, wanted to boost my confidence before I got canned?
So ok… I left a note on several desks. It basically said hey, it was pleasure working with you, I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I would really appreciate having you as a reference. Please email me if you are willing.
No emails. Not one. I texted and called Coleen, the supervisor who actually gave me the axe. “Seriously, what did I do?” Nothing.
This is what I don’t understand sometimes about people. I can understand that sudden budget cuts made it necessary to let me go. I can understand that someone really, really didn’t like me, and they just didn’t feel I was a good fit at this place. It happens. I’m not really offended by the idea that I’m not cut out for working in genetic sequencing long term. But to not get a single reason beyond a vague email about my attitude and getting along with other employees, when I really didn’t think there was any problem, is utterly insulting and downright rude. Coleen even made eye contact with me as she was leaving for the night, I smiled, and she gave me a blank stare as she walked by, not saying a word to me. Fuck you Coleen. I know I can be a dick sometimes, and I often have trouble being entirely sympathetic to peoples’ problems, but that just seems so low to me. Maybe that’s why I’ll probably never be a lab supervisor.
I’m so sick of people hiding behind phones and email. Everyone is so afraid to say things in person, but through technology, nobody feels bad ignoring or insulting you. It’s so easy to sit at a computer or look at your phone screen and say whatever you want, without regard to the feelings or potential reactions of the recipient. Seriously, I’m really not all that upset about losing my job. I mean it sucks, and I’ll obviously lose money and have to go through another desperate, stressful, and depressing job hunt, but these things happen. Life giveth, and life taketh away. But to not get a reasonable explanation of why I was let go, is bullshit. Even a small reason, like oh, you took a long lunch that one day and it pissed us off. Fine, at least that’s something beyond a vague, generic “attitude problem.”
So again, fuck you Beckman Coulter. Fuck you Coleen. And fuck everyone there who really seemed to like me and compliment me on my work, then completely ignored my humble request for a reference. Now I can list 3 months of work on my resume without a goddamn reference, which is going to look just wonderful. Thank you, you fucking dicks.
