GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (March 28, 2014) – It was the note seen around the world; a West Michigan gas station worker leaves a note, locks the door, and walks off the job, saying his manager never came to replace him.
We posted the note to FOX17online.com and it has since gone viral.
The author was Joe Blumm. He said it was meant to be a simple note to his manager just letting her know that he was done waiting for her to show up. He never expected that note to create such a buzz, but he’s not surprised that it cost him his job.
Blumm said he spoke with the owner on Friday and was informed that he no longer works at the gas station.
Blumm said his note went viral so quickly that his head started spinning.
“I noticed it was in the top five of their (reddit.com) hot list and I started freaking out a little.”
While he never for asked for the attention he is embracing the 15 minutes of fame it’s affording him.
“I know I struck a chord with a lot of disgruntled, low-paid employees who get the short end of the stick,” he said.
And now that he’s looking for a new job he said, “Hopefully with all the publicity that could be a reality. I would love to have a different job, something a little bit higher paying I would hope.”
He said what happened Thursday morning had been building for a while. He asked his boss to be taken off third shift and after working overnight and then waiting for his manager to relieve him he reached his breaking point when she never showed up.
“I had it,” Blumm said. “I had enough of that unprofessional atmosphere, having to deal with that tardiness and have it come down on me.”
He posted the note, locked up and went home. We spoke with his manager on Thursday who admits she was late that day but argues that he never called her or anyone else at the gas station. He just walked off the job, a move he thought might end up with him losing his job.
“I’ll hope that they can make things work out,” he said. “I just want them to improve themselves.”
