Carparks have been around (probably) since cars themselves. The concept of the
parking space is obviously quite closely related to that of the car so I
guess I shouldn't be surprised that the carpark has become almost as much of
a status symbol as the vehicle it contains. Several people in my workplace
seem to hoard their spots as if it were their lifeblood, but one must ask the
question:
Is a parking space really worth losing my job over?
Yes, that's right - there is a real life basis for that line and the related
event did in fact, occur just yesterday. Firstly, here's the saga from my
point of view:
(dRiVeN is sitting at his desk, doing a little testing in
regards to a problem he is working on)
The company's production manager storms past, staring daggers at all who
happen to notice
(dRiVeN elects not to inquire or even acknowledge Mr
Juggernaut's passage until...)
A loud crash is heard from the direction of the back door* which is then thrown open and slammed in one
swift (and powerful) movement
(quietly, dRiVeN glances around the carpet divider to witness a set of
gaping cracks and large hole in what previously appeared to be quite a sturdy
door)
A heavy silence descends upon the usually cheery office. The
office manager (and head honcho in this neck of the woods) rolls his eyes and
follows out the back door.
About a minute later the Production Manager storms back in through the
front door, makes a quick left and dissapears into his office where he
proceeds to stew for about half an hour...he is later seen carrying a box of
possesions out to his car before he dissapears
So what happened? Let me tell you...
First though, a bit of background: The production Manager is rather fanatical
about his car and comes in most weekends (his own time) to prune the
surrounding gardens and trees so that no shit falls into the carpark. Out of
respect for this it has always been an unspoken rule that a spot is saved for
him. The Office manager either doesn't know this or doesn't care (he is
quite new in this office) but has said on previous occasions that he would
like a park left for him around the back (as is his right).
On this particular day our fearless leader drove in to find that there were no
spaces free for him. Picking a car at random he pulled over, walked up to the
office and requested that the owner of that vehicle kindly remove it to make
way for his own. Being so unused to this treatment the Production manager was
outraged (you'd see why if you knew the amount of work he puts in to the
gardens) and argued the point. It turned out to be a losing battle for him so he
stormed out, smashed the door and moved his car - coming back in through
the front entrance.
Evidently this angered him enough to whip up a quick letter of resignation (or maybe he had one prepared earlier), submit it and clean out his desk!
Update (the next day): I assume that the job of
Production Manager (in this sense)is quite a specialised field 'cause as soon as head office recieved the
letter, the offending individual was offered two weeks of
stress leave if he would stay. The offer has been accepted (I suspect he feels quite foolish now) and the door is already being bogged and
painted. Life goes on. I suspect his days are numbered though as there is already talk of training up someone else in a suspiciously similar area.
THE IRON FIST OF MANAGEMENT CRUSHES ALL WHO OPPOSE IT!
Keep it real.