May 11: Lost Job, Revenge in Writing, Anger

At the moment, I'm so pissed I can barely think straight.  A few weeks ago, my wife, who has been out of work for over a year and a half, got hired by a local gas station for the afternoon shift, part-time.  The manager, let's call her Judge Moody, made herself appear to be a caring, considerate, family-oriented, understanding woman.  She hired my wife on the spot.  For the last three weeks, Judge Moody has been horrible--critical, unhelpful, petty, stupid, childish, and unapproachable.  Today, she called my wife up and left a message on our answering machine, saying, "You don't need to come into work tonight.  Your services are no longer required."

A lot of authors say you shouldn't use writing as a form or revenge.  At the moment, I sort of agree with Anne Lamott, who basically says there is no better reason to write.  She says you own the bad things in your life--failed marriages, lost jobs, rotten siblings or parents--and, if people didn't want to end up the subject of your novel or poem or memoir, they should have treated you better.  That makes a lot of sense to me, right now.

Of course, I have to be careful.  I don't want to slander or libel anybody.  I don't want any collateral damage.  Judge Moody has a reputation for being difficult.  Whenever my wife told anybody where she'd been hired, the person would nod knowingly, say something like, "Judge Moody runs a tight ship" or "Judge Moody is difficult."  The woman goes through employees like bags of Doritos, chewing them up and shitting them out.  She told my wife that, when she was young, she wanted to be a WAC in the army.  Basically, she wanted to be a drill sergeant.  No big surprise there.  Nothing satisfies this woman, unless it involves ridicule, criticism, or mean-spiritedness.

I will not say anything about the business itself.  I'm not that kind of person.  I believe in supporting local establishments, even if it's part of a multinational corporation.  However, ever since the Gulf oil spill, I can't really understand why people still support this chain of gas stations.  The company basically ruined the shrimping and tourism industry along the Gulf of Mexico, and yet it still made a few billion dollars in profit last year.  But I'm not going to name the place my wife used to work.  That's just not me.

Go to Judge Moody's gas station, support this woman's tiny dictatorship.  I will not think less of you if you do.  After all, vengeance is such an unseemly business.  Just make sure to salute before you leave.  And don't feel guilty at all about all the lives that were ruined in Louisiana.

Saint Marty feels better now that he has that off his chest.

A pretty good likeness of Judge Moody