Two things from same firing. My boss found out that I had taken the law school admissions test. I did pretty well on it, but was really taking it for the experience. I was several years out of college and did not even really study for the test. Just trying it out. And actually it was my wife who was planning on going to law school, not me (though I had always wanted to go, it just did not seem to be in the cards after the time that had passed by). So I was taking the test to give her an idea of what it was going to be like if she took it.

Anyway, when the boss found out, he called me into his office. He offered me two options: I could quit and get two weeks severance pay or he would fire me immediately. Now, my having taken the law school admissions test was not the sole cause of the showdown as we had butted heads on a few things. This was just the final straw as far as he was concerned.

I left the office and immediately went to the unemployment office which was just a few blocks away. I explained my options to them and questioned what impact the options might have on my drawing unemployment. They said it would have no impact. Making it an option to quit or get fired just meant that I had been fired, so I could apply for unemployment either way. I called the now former boss and said that I would take the two weeks’ severance and quit. So, I got the severance check and immediately applied for unemployment benefits, which were granted. I am sure that the boss thought that by getting me to quit he was going to save on the unemployment issue, but it did not work out for him.

I also decided to go ahead and send in applications for law school. However, because of the time period, I would not be able to actually begin law school for several months. I was fired after the admissions application period for spring semester and summer semester was not an option for new students, so I would have to wait until fall. I got into law school. But while waiting to start, I did freelance work. To keep the unemployment benefits coming in, I was required to apply for permanent employment. And I did, with every company that I freelanced for while also pointing out that I would be starting law school in x number of months. Therefore, they would not hire me, even if they wanted to, because they knew I would be a short-timer. But it stretched out my unemployment benefits from my previous employer until the benefits were fully exhausted.

That is one aspect of the revenge.

The second aspect of the revenge was that I went to law school, graduated, became a lawyer, and made it a career paying a hell of a lot more than I would have ever made doing the job that I got fired from no matter how long I stayed there. Heck, I think I might have tripled my previous salary or more just in the first year after law school.

So actually, getting fired was perhaps the best thing that could have happened because, as I pointed out, I really had no intention of going to law school when I took the test.