The day I got an At-Uh-Boy, a Raise, got Fired - and Re-Hired ...
So ... as the above photo shows, some days you are the brave Prudhoe Bay Alaska Field Inspector, some days you are Bearfood.
And that ain't me ... you got to realize - if you live around Bears - you are Bearfood. The key is ... not to become Bear Dinner ...
Things can change fast in the north of Alaska - both inside and outside the office. The following is a story of how the job could change on a moments notice.
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So ... I'd been working for the BPX CIC Group for several years.
The job had mutated from an As-Builting of Corrosion Drawings type thing to a Computer Fix-it, Drawings Update, Database Programmer, Contractor Liaison, Run around and basically fix anything I found Broken type Thingy - which was fine with me, as it kept me busy, and allowed me to work the hours necessary (upon approval) to get the things fixed ... I mean done.
This one day, I'm working at the office doing my normal myriad of things, when I was abruptly asked to report to the office of the 2nd in Command of the BPX CIC Group ... which was all of one door down and across the hall from my office door. When I did, he closed the door - and I suddenly felt as though I had just been called upon The Mat (In Military Terms - you are about to be shot).
While he was sitting down behind his desk, and initiating small talk to kill some time, I'm rummaging through my mind to try and figure out what I had done - or not done - to get called upon the mat. As far as I knew, I had been handling things as best as I could, and I had definitely been putting in the hours to tie-up any loose ends. I was stumped - I couldn't think of anything I'd screwed up enough to get shot for.
"Mike" he started, "I just wanted to let you know, you've been doing a great job for us. Fantastic, actually. And to show our appreciation for your efforts, I wanted to be the first to let you know that we are giving you a raise in your hourly rate."
Well - to say the least - I was dumbfounded. I sure as heck hadn't expected that. For a moment, I was speechless - which everyone who knows me knows that is really something for me to be.
"Um..." I said, obviously stammering a bit, "Uh ... Thank you Sir. I truly appreciate that ...uh ... it." I believe that was all I could spit out. I was literally stunned - this just wasn't something that happened everyday back then. At least, it had never happened to me.
After asking that I keep the raise quiet, and shaking my hand, I was shown the door, and I stumbled across the hall into my office. It was a good raise - a sizeable raise ... per hour. I wanted to call my wife, but this was in the day before cell phones, and I wouldn't think of using the company phone to call home in those days. So that would have to wait until later that night - I'd call her on the BPX BOC Pay Phone and let her know.
So after a few moments of letting it all sink in, I got back to work - except now it sure felt different. Better. It was a great feeling to be appreciated.
After lunch, I was at my desk, back into a myriad of projects, when the phone rang. It was the Secretary for the VECO Engineering Operations Manager on the phone (my real Boss - who I had never met), and he wanted me to report to his office at 2:00pm. I said I would be there, and hung up the phone. I assumed it was about the raise, and maybe when I could expect to see it on my pay check.
At 1:30pm, I let everyone know I had been asked to report to my Operations Manager's Office at 2:00pm, and would be out of the office for a bit. It was then I realized I had never been to his office, and asked for directions. It was over in the "Command Wing" of the BPX BOC - which is obviously why I had never been there before. That wasn't too far from the CIC Office, so I left about 15 minutes prior.
At 2:00pm, I was standing before the VECO Operations Manager's Secretary. I noticed the air was kind of oppressive in there, but I really didn't think about it much. She picked up her phone, let him know I was there, and then said I could go in now and motioned toward a door behind her. I walked over, opened the door, entered, and closed the door behind me. I then marched over in front of his desk, and basically, stood at Parade Rest for his review - as the way he was looking at me - that's what it felt like was about to happen.
"Mr. Shea" he started, "I wanted to let you know - you are fired."
To say the least, I was a bit stunned - again - I definitely wasn't expecting that. My gut tightened up a bit.
"I will not put up with VECO Employees talking to the Client behind my back about their paycheck, or pay rate.." he continued, "And after hearing what you do for them, I realized - we don't even have a job description for what you do. "
The later wasn't hard to believe - I don't think there was a job description for what I did.
I felt my "Fight or Flight Response" welling up in my throat - or was that the pit of my stomach, I wasn't sure ... and as I had never run from a situation, I figured it was time to fight.
"Sir", I started, "I didn't talk to the Client about anything - they called me in to the office - and told me they were giving me a raise. I didn't ask for anything - and I had no idea it was about to occur."
"Well, I could care less - I will not be dictated to by anyone as to what I pay my employees. You are on a plane tomorrow - pack your bags. That's it." And with that, he pointed to the door with a slight smile on his face.
At this point - I was mad. So mad, in fact, I wanted to crawl across that desk of his and personally wipe that smirk off his face. However, as I was suddenly unemployed, I figured instead of spending the night in a Deadhorse Jail Cell, it might be a better use of my time updating my resume while I still had access to a BPX Computer.
So, I left his office without another word, and made my way back to the CIC Offices. That short walk sure seemed to have turned into a long walk - I was sick to my stomach when I got there. I had never been fired before ... for anything. Ever. It was ... embarrassing. At least, it sure felt that way. It felt awful.
I sat down at my desk for a few minutes. my mind was awash with all that had happened that day. Talk about a high and a low. What was I going to tell me wife? How was I going to make the house payment? Crap!
So - I figured the VECO Ops Manager had called the CIC Boss and let him know ... but I also figured I better let them know that I was going to do my best to get things wrapped up before my departure - whenever that was - the following day. So I walked across the hall, and knocked on the CIC 2nd in Command's door - which was open. He was on the phone, but waved me in.
I closed the door behind me, and turned toward his desk. He motioned that he was just getting off the phone, and signed off on his call.
"What's up?" he said with a smile.
I said "Well, I just got back from the VECO Operations Manager's Office. As you probably know by now, he fired me."
"He what?!" He stood up behind his desk - obviously, this was news to him by the surprised look on his face.
"Um..." I stammered, "Yes sir - he fired me ... something about he would not be dictated to by anyone about what to pay his employees."
"Mike", he interjected, making a "Woah Horsey" motion with his hands, "I'm sorry about that - that obviously was not what we intended. If you could give me a few minutes, I need to make a few phone calls."
"Well sure, Sir. I just wanted to let you know I'll do my best to get everything tied off, and leave my alternate instructions as to where I was at when this all happened."
"Don’t do that..." he motioned to stop with his hands, "As a matter of fact, why don't you just take the rest of the day off."
"The rest of the day off?" I repeated.
"Yes - you do that. I need to make some calls - I'll fix this. Just show back up here in the morning, and we'll have this thing worked out. Don't worry about this - and I'm sorry it happened, But it will all work out."
"Uh... yes sir." I said, I let myself out, leaving his door open.
Well, this was a day of firsts - I had got a raise, got fired, and now, got the afternoon off - all three firsts in my time on the North Slope. I grabbed my stuff off my desk, wondered whether I should just stay and knock out a resume anyway, but then decided ... what the heck - an afternoon off was a paid afternoon off ... and worth taking, at this point.
I headed up to my room - stopping by the snack bar to grab a bunch of food first - so I could hibernate behind my door for the evening. I figured I'd sneak down later and call the wife, and inform her of the day's events. I figured that would be a lively conversation. I snuck up to my room, turned on the TV as low as possible to ensure I didn't wake any day sleeper, and kicked back on the bed.
It turned out it wasn't a lively conversation - as I fell asleep about 6:00pm, and didn't wake up until about 1:00am. By that time, I wasn't going to wake her up to tell her what had happened the day before. Not yet - I had to see how this was all going to play out later in the morning.
I didn't get back to sleep. It seemed like the hours just crept by.
Around 6:30am, I slipped back into what I hoped was still my office.
It wasn't long after that the CIC 2nd in Command showed up, and walked into my office. He closed the door, and turned to face me.
"Mike", he said with a smile, "Everything is fixed. You now work for CTG - and you still will be getting that raise we discussed. I sure am sorry about what happened yesterday, but as it turns out, I think you will like working for this contractor much more than VECO - as these guys are a Computer Company - and that's pretty well what you do. They should understand your job a lot better than VECO ever did. They will be calling you today to get your paper work started - let me know if you have any more trouble with this, OK?", and with that, he shook my hand, smiled, and headed back over to his office.
And with that, I was no longer a VECO Employee, but a CTG Employee - working for the 10th Contractor that had owned my contract since I had started working for BP Exploration. I sat there for a moment, took it all in, and figured "What the hell", and went back to work.
And that's how I got a raise, got fired, got an afternoon off and rehired - all on the same day. Well - within a 24 hour period.
At least, that's how I remember it ...
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