Chapter 7: Being an Asshole

The weekly status meeting with Eric had finally been trimmed down to two hours in length. Each group manager was given fifteen minutes to report on the progress of their projects.

For Dexter, his reports were now simple. He just put up a slide with each project plan along with markers on what was complete, in-progress, and pending. Anything that was in trouble was shown with a red flag. Any areas where there might be trouble was shown with a yellow flag. He had very few red flags, but quite a few yellow flags. His presentation usually took five to ten minutes.

This week was promising to be different. Mr. Morris had decided to attend and he was there with an agenda. It was pretty obvious by the way he glared at Dexter what his agenda entailed. Dexter gave him an exaggerated smile and waved at him. He fiddled with his phone and propped it up on the table next to his papers, facing Mr. Morris.

Eric looked around the room before getting ready to kick off the meeting. It had been his intention to tell the other group managers that it was time to reorganize their groups in the same manner that Dexter had done. He glanced at Mr. Morris and knew that his plans for the meeting had just been canceled.

Eric said, “Les, I’ll have you start off this week.”

Mr. Morris interrupted and said, “I want Dexter to report first.”

Eric said, “Dexter’s reports are usually short. I save him to the end so that we can wrap up and get out of here.”

“Of course they’re short. The guy doesn’t do anything,” Mr. Morris said while jabbing a finger in Dexter’s direction.

“That’s not true,” Eric said knowing that he was likely to be the next recipient of his boss’ wrath.

“Don’t cover for him,” Mr. Morris said with a sneer.

Eric said, “I’m not covering for him. He and his people are very productive.”

“I walked through his area last night and no one was there.”

With those words, Dexter knew his job had just come to an end. Mr. Morris was there to get rid of him, in a very public fashion. He wasn’t going to try to save his job, but he was going to save his dignity. He went on the offensive.

“What time was that?” Dexter asked.

“Five thirty,” Mr. Morris answered.

“The workday ends at five. So of course no one was there. They aren’t supposed to be there at that time,” Dexter said.

“Every other group had people working,” Mr. Morris said.

“So?” Dexter asked.

Mr. Morris said, “Clearly your people aren’t working.”

“That’s bullshit,” Dexter replied.

“I don’t like your attitude,” Mr. Morris said.

“I’m not going to allow you to criticize the people who work for me, without defending them,” Dexter said. “My people are doing a good job.”

“I’m the judge of what constitutes a good job,” Mr. Morris said.

“I think an impartial observer would say that you are a pretty lousy judge,” Dexter said.

“You had better watch what you say,” Mr. Morris said.

“Or what? You’ll fire me?” Dexter asked. “Go ahead.”

Everyone around the table gasped when he said that. Mr. Morris looked like he was about to have a stroke. Dexter smiled at their reactions.

Picking up a hard copy of his presentation, he said, “Oh, wait, firing me is going to be tough. For the last two months, my group has had the lowest defect rate of any group under you. Our systems have had the least amount of down time, too. We even had a project that was completed early, and under budget. I don’t think that has ever happened, since you took over.”

“You’re cooking your numbers,” Mr. Morris said.

Thinking about how the numbers had been fixed in the past, Dexter said, “That’s a slanderous statement.”

“Your days are numbered,” Mr. Morris said shaking a finger at him.

Dexter calmly sat back in his chair. He knew the proper procedures for firing someone with cause. To be fired on the spot, required that he be caught in a criminal or unethical act. Even then, there was a procedure that was supposed to be followed. To otherwise dismiss him, they had to have a documented history of poor performance.

He looked around the room at the other people there. He knew that this was likely to be his last day there. He figured that they deserved to know the truth about their career futures. He also felt that if he had to call upon them to testify, that it would help if they were aware of the lack of opportunities ahead of them, regardless of how much of a ‘company person’ they were.

He asked, “Does anyone in this room know why Eric was only temporarily given his current position?”

“Shut up,” Mr. Morris barked.

When no one answered, Dexter said, “That’s because no one in this room is ever going to be promoted above their current levels. Right, Eric?”

“Don’t pull me into this,” Eric said, frowning.

“When Mr. Morris offered me the position, I turned it down. I didn’t want to have the job, without any chance of it becoming permanent. You see, he told me straight out that there was no chance of promotion to the position,” Dexter said.

“I told you to shut up ... you motherfucking son of a bitch!” Mr. Morris said, his face turning red.

Dexter said, “You’re in here busting your asses in the hope of getting promoted. Well folks, it ain’t gonna happen. No one in this room is ever going to get promoted, while Mr. Morris is here.”

His little speech went over like a lead balloon. The last thing anyone wanted to hear was that their career had reached a dead end.

“You’re fired,” Mr. Morris said, slamming his hand down on the table as if the noise would further support his words.

Les asked, “Is that true, Eric?”

Eric nodded his head and said, “Yes. Mr. Morris told me the same thing when I asked why I wasn’t being considered for the position permanently. They don’t promote people at our level.”

Mr. Morris was subjected to a number of dirty looks. He glared at Eric for supporting Dexter. Deciding that enough was enough, Eric shot him the middle finger.

“Mother fucker!” Les said, glaring at Mr. Morris.

“Don’t talk to me like that, asshole. You should be happy that you still have a job,” Mr. Morris threatened.

Dexter had wondered how long it would take the Director to drop the ‘happy to have a job’ bomb. It had actually taken a little longer than he had guessed.

Dexter said, “You guys have been looking at Eric like he’s lucky. He’s not.”

“I told you that you’re fired! Get the hell out of here,” Mr. Morris shouted.

Dexter ignored him. “I feel sorry for Eric ... the poor bastard. He’s trying to hold down two jobs. You see, he’s still trying to run his group, since Mr. Morris won’t allow him to promote someone into his place ... nor even let someone have the position temporarily. Plus, Eric isn’t getting paid for acting as the department head. There’s no bonus for his extra duties.”

“Jesus!” Les said. “I had no fucking idea. I was pissed that I wasn’t offered the job.”

Les looked like he was ready to quit on the spot. He had been angered about not getting Mark’s old position. To discover that his career was at a dead end, only added fuel to the fire.

Dexter said, “Be glad that it wasn’t offered to you. He’s going to have to hold that position for a year, or more. Then he’s back with us, when they hire someone from outside! Talk about getting the shitty end of the stick.”

“I’m calling security to escort you out of here,” Mr. Morris said fumbling for his cell phone.

“While you’re doing that, I’ll just continue to explain things to the folks around here,” Dexter said calmly.

“What kinds of things?” Eric asked.

He had a feeling that no one in that room would be with the company a year from now, if that long.

Dexter said, “I looked up some things after my conversation with Mr. Morris. Did you know that there hasn’t been one promotion under Mr. Morris in the last two years?”

“I didn’t realize that,” Eric said with a frown.

He noticed that Mr. Morris didn’t bother to argue. Of course, Mr. Morris was too busy talking to someone on his cell phone to listen to what Dexter was saying.

Dexter said, “That’s right. You see, no one is getting promoted in this organization.”