March 17th

Hello to all faithful readers. I hope all is well in my old ‘sunburnt’ country.

This Saturday is the 17th of March. Most of you will recognize this date as St Patrick’s Day. Not me. Well, not anymore. Pre 2000 I would’ve. But it never really excited me.

No, to me, nowadays, the 17th of March has a different meaning. Every year for about the week leading up to it, my mind starts to remember why I will never forget that date as long as I live.

For those that know me well, you’ll be starting to guess what I’m talking about. Yes, for me the 17th of March is Finger’s Day. For those that don’t, then this date is the anniversary of my accident where I lost 3 fingers, mashed up a fourth, and basically my entire life changed.

So, basically for the week leading up to the 17th, I usually start to think about my old job, the people there, and what happened, and stuff like that.

I’m still bitter about what happened. Not towards the job, the machine, or anything like that. Just the old boss. Had he been a nicer person, I wouldn’t have a problem. But the way he treated me and others, was unforgivable. Even had I not had my accident, I would still call him the worst boss I’ve ever worked for.

Now, as I usually do, I’m gonna get nasty. But seeing as my mother will read this, I’ll keep it low key. For those that don’t know what happened, or who was the boss, read on…..

Friday March 17th, 2000. I went to work, just before lunch this machine malfunctioned, crushing my hand. When I finally got back to work, all was good. But then after a while the boss started to become his usual self. A complete asshole. I’m surprised more people didn’t punch him in the face. For 2 years I had to put up with his shit. Then fate came my way. The dumb prick decided to ‘let me go’. (4 weeks later he was begging me to come back).

He was so anti social it wasn’t funny. He had no shame in saying stuff that could’ve gotten him into so much trouble had we not been scared of him. Once, our dispatch ordered some parts, they were wrong. I found the invoice ‘lying around’ and on it the boss had written “This is a waste of money, like Mick watz his name that has already cost us lots of money’. I still have that invoice somewhere. The asshole honestly just didn’t have a brain.

Anyways, I found out recently that his company folded, was brought out, and he is now a salesman for the new company. Suck shit to him. Gone from a Manager owner to a salesman. I can’t imagine him getting too many sales.

Now, I’ll probably get into trouble for naming him (Graeme Robinson) and his business (K&G Sheet metal) but I don’t really care. He screwed up my life, so I get to screw up his.

I shouldn’t say that. My life isn’t screwed up. On that day, I thought it was. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to work again. But I did. And I’ve moved on to bigger and better things, hence my employment now over here in Thailand. (Where is my old boss now? That’s right, he’s a salesman. Hee Hee Hee).

All well and good. I’m happy nowadays. I just get a little angry towards the 17th. A little angry not because of what happened. But because of the asshole I wasted 4 years working for. I do, however want to have a chat with him one day. I want to thank him for being the worst boss I ever had, because it has made me a better person today. I know I could never have another ‘nightmare’ job like that. I’ll just quit. So Graeme, thankyou for being the asshole you are.

Cheers, I’m off to get a beer………