Ready, Aim, Fired

Friday the 13th. Ominous.

I knew bad shit was going down. 2 months ago, our entire group of teachers in Wrocław had decided to refuse to go to Gliwice, a shithole city that our friend who had trained with us was forced to work in. He told the boss of the company after training that he wanted to return to Wroclaw or he'd quit. He wans't going to spend a year of his life in Poland's own answer to Brampton. He was reassured and promised a spot here in Wroclaw within a month. A month passed, with no spot for him. Two months of promises passed, and still no work in Wroclaw. One day, the former head teacher of his school told him the truth, that he was never going to be transferred and they were just lying to him in hopes he'd grow roots in Gliwice. Finally realizing that he was being lied to and screwed over, he quit his job one payday and moved here to find work. The boss, an angry, overly macho pig of a man was furious. His whole life, he was used to screwing people over and being screwed over himself didn't sit well with him. With a shortage of teachers now in shithole Gliwice all the teachers here in Wroclaw were asked to work there for a week one at a time to cover for our friend. As a group, we all refused on principle. The boss found this out while on one of his many skiing trips to Austria and was livid.

Then this week, signs became obvious that shit was going down. A new teacher suddenly showed up. Another to come in a month. Then I was told that I had a meeting with the owner of the school on Friday. Mysteriously, next week's schedule, always up on Wednesdays, was not to be seen. Was I fired? I thought so, but everyone told me I was paranoid. I know the crazy redneck owner of the company hated me and two months ago I remember he had vowed to fire people for ruining his skiing trip in Austra with the news that nobody was going to work in Gliwice.

I called the owner, asking if I was fired, and he refused to tell me. From this, I knew I was canned. This fucker had insulted me personally each time I'd met him, telling me 5 minutes after asking what my blue collar parents and family do, that anyone that works with their hands is a moron. When he fired the last teacher, he tore a strip out of her for half an hour, degraded her, and the suddenly told her she was finished and to pack her things. I promised myself that although he would fire me, he wouldn't get a chance to degrade me first.

We met, and right away I was told I was fired and for nonsense reasons. I knew I had nothing to lose, so I tore a strip out of him. I refused to speak in Polish, because I knew the owner spoke broken English and was ashamed of it. Every time he spoke English, I pretended I didn't understand him and asked his wife to explain. Midway through his sentences I yawned and asked him what his point was, because I wasn't intereseted. Then, at the end, I pulled out my camera and took a picture of me getting fired. "I'm getting paid in two days right? Ok, everyone smile, me getting fired, 2006" He was furious. He was even angrier when told him the first picture didn't turn out and I wanted one with just the two of us. He told me if he ever sees this picture I'm getting sued.

Yes. I took a picture of myself getting fired, and I took it to show all of you, and to ensure my boss lost sleep.

Good night to all, save him.


Photo #1. This was taken 5 minutes after them accusing me of not taking my job seriously and me heatedly denying it. What bullshit.

The head teacher is seen here with hands crossed praying to God to help him grow a spine.














The bosses wife. She's upset here because she knows she's going to get beaten tonight for this. Halfway through sex my goofy face will pop into the owner's head and she'll end up with a shiner and a sore bum.

He took my job. But my camera took his soul. If you're looking for a job teaching English in Poland ask to see the top of your bosses head. If it looks like this, it's him - find another school quick!

Me one hour and 3 beers after I got fired. At this point I called back to the school to ask Zbig if I could get a reference. Notice Mike doing his Zbig impression on the right.

******Well, it's now been 4 days since I was fired. I'm writing all of this from my uncle's place, full of sausage and Warka Strong beer. What do I think of it all? I'm upset, but my overwhelming feeling is that for once in my life, I didn't get bullied even if I was done wrong. The owner of this school talks to people like dirt, and probably has his whole life. When I picked up my paycheque today the head secretary said the boss was fuming, yelling "It's my face. How can he take my picture", the whole time. So for all the times that some big kid stole my cheetos in grade school, for all the times some huge gino cut Suzuka off, and for all the shitty bosses in this world, I have this memory to hold on to.

And what now? Well, I didn't come here to work like a dog and I remember that now. This job was boring, and I remember that too. I'm going to buy an interrail pass this week and take a train to Istanbul and stop everywhere along the way. And when I get back, I'll do whatever I want. I was scared to quit my job and leave my life to come here. But that was just the first step. Now I'm packing a bag and stepping on a train with no plan, a pocket full of money, and I'm going to Turkey to find out what kebabs really taste like. (they come from Turkey, right?)