A Practice In Redundancy

I was hired at Callaway Golf Ball Company the year it formed, and fired, less than later.



The reason for my sudden departure, from what I considered the best job I had ever had, was an attendance issue ordered down from human resources, (much like a military order; that I learned rather suddenly is impossible to escape at a multi-billion dollar company) delivered in person to me by a manager that was a replacement, working for our golf ball plant, less than four months after he was hired to replace the manager who failed to report to us suspect employees, that we might be terminated if we showed up one or two times late for work.



This experience taught me that entering a workplace without prior knowledge of it's dynamics, lack of interpersonal knowledge, or real communication of it's economic stability leaves the slightly naive employee open only to the tolerance, or intolerance, of it's possibly slightly inept management team.



The day I was fired, (I worked nights, so slept most of the day.) I had a visceral dream about being at work all day, and observing my workmates discussing whom was going to be fired, and, of course, they knew it was me.



I was a complete idiot, of course, and drove the two-hour drive to Carlsbad and took it in the ass like a good little wanna-be soldier.



The dream itself was not the only indication that I was going to be released from my position. After three or four months of working there, I discovered our division of the company was losing mass amounts of money, and, only being the pet project of it's billionaire owner, if there were going to be any layoffs it would be us, and not the more profitable club division of the company.



Now, in a heavy economic recession, Callaway is suing Titalus; attempting to save face, and, once and for all, prove what Eli Callaway had been trying to prove his entire life; that some close confidant had been lying, and cheating, and stealing from him- selling his expensive secrets to a competitor, and profiting off of his losses.



In retrospect, I consider my personal experience with that company chalk full of mostly good experience; lacking only in the basic ethical standards that any young employee given a good opportunity with what he believes is a stable company expects of the management team directing him.



I found out shortly after being laid off that the manager of my shift that had lied and withheld information from my myself, and many other managers, was simply demoted to a normal daytime shift, and, therefore only shamed in front of his fellow employees, and not stripped of his livelihood, retirement, and benefits; like many of us who were terminated, or eventually laid off when it was revealed after Eli's death that the actual corporation he left behind had a huge financial deficit, most of his inheritance went to his family, as it should be, and even the managers and accountants that knew years ago it was near impossible to keep the company afloat, could not themselves afford to be honest with each other, but especially not to little piss-ant, material handlers like me.