Posted on 05/06/2016 8:58:54 AM PDT by Vigilanteman
So here is the situation. About a year ago, I was convinced I would lose my job due to a confrontation with the company HR manager (a/k/a "The Commissar") over doing something non-PC which he made into a BFD.
But today, I am still here and he is retiring next week. We are even having a "We're Glad You are Leaving Party." So there is a card we are all being asked to sign with a short message (preferably 6 words or less). I am trying to keep it classy even though a lot of my co-workers are not. I thought about something like "Enjoy your Dacau" which would be subtle but non-confrontational. But I don't know. Here is hoping Freepers might think of something more appropriate.
Let's just say you poured a little sand into the Clinton machine without being caught. The sand causes the machine to slowly break down and she loses. So, now, you need to write something true, but still classy for her campaign's defeat. Any ideas?
“Don’t let the door hit ya where the dog shoulda bit ya” ?
Its business - never burn bridges. If you can’t say anything positive, say nothing at all, just sign your name.
It sounds like someone, somewhere in the company protected you. Do you really want to stir up necessary drama, make things difficult for your protector, and maybe get into trouble?
Simply write “Congratulations!” and sign it. While you write it, you can feel better by THINKING, “Yes, congratulations to me! I survived that jerk!”
If you can get away with not signing it or being absent from said party that day without raising any eyebrows/radar do that if it helps you look yourself in the mirror. If not, just a name sign w/t some platitude.
‘Good luck, thanks for all the fish?’ or ‘enjoy your retirement like I know we all will’ might be a bridge too far.
Freegards
Hot coals of kindness.
He’s lucky he’s retiring. Most HR these days gets farmed out to a third party company. It costs less and the company is not at fault if HR screws up.
Don’t write anything. You never know when that bridge may come in handy or if the guy has been a snake he could rise up and bite you on the arse some day. I am in the aircraft industry. It is a small industry at my ‘level’ and if you burn one bridge you burn them all no matter how big of a jerk someone is.
“Bless your heart”
“I sincerely recommend that you do not commit anything to writing. You have no idea how it may come back to haunt you later. You also don’t know what contacts he has that could damage you in ways you may never trace back. Remember, Perry Mason is dead.
Living well is the best revenge.”
+1 to what you said. Very little (and very short term) potential upside; possibly long-lasting downside.
There was a jerk Dean of Students who threw me out of high school (twice) over nit-picky things. I saw that ass at a reunion. He remembered this, and I told him that I had been thrown out of better places by better people since. He was so stupid that he congratulated me (sincerely!) on that. He dropped dead of a heart attack a few years later. I’m still here. That’s my revenge.
My Fave.
“We will miss you. Unless it is unavoidable.”
There is absolutely nothing to be gained from taking a shot at this time. It’s a downside-only risk.
Cool your head and keep your thoughts on the matter to yourself. That is the best outcome for you.
Could you just skip signing the card at all (assuming that doing so wouldn’t get you a black mark with your employer)?
Best wishes, sign your name.
What’s to say your best wish for this person isn’t a long walk off a short pier?
You get to keep it to yourself and have it mean whatever you want it to mean, they get to look like an ass if they make a negative comment about it because it is an innocuous / well meaning statement on the face of it.
“I hope you get everything that you so well deserve!”
“I sincerely recommend that you do not commit anything to writing. You have no idea how it may come back to haunt you later. You also don’t know what contacts he has that could damage you in ways you may never trace back. Remember, Perry Mason is dead.
Living well is the best revenge.”
Say something nice.
+2
As a former HR manager, I have to agree. Take the high road and be the better person.
As others have suggested, a simple “Best wishes...” will eat away at him/her more successfully than any negative sentiment ever could. They will wonder if that was meant sincerely or sarcastically, and there will be nothing in evidence to tilt the scale in either direction.
As a result, you will be “living rent free” in his/her mind for months afterwards...
Whatever you decide, have a dozen beers first. That usually leads to the best outcome.
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