Carolla's classy sign off

[SeattleObserver]

Say what you will about Adam Carolla, he really did a nice job today. He let all his people talk on air (who, oddly, were all women) and give little audio resumes to help get them hired elsewhere. I hope somehow it worked. They all seemed like women of character. Not sure how they work with him... ??? Regardless, I thought it was a very classy sign off and I'm surprised that CBS allowed someone a proper sign off. Obviously that's not true in many markets - Steve Slayton here in Seattle and several CBS Portland staffers come to mind.

 

[WKomm]

Well said. And Carolla took advantage of it without being an A**. I've had a bunch of radio gigs and very few allowed any way of saying "see ya." A few went the total opposite. One station that I quit - not fired - actually had a security guard follow me around while I packed up my stuff.

Even that's better than what happened to some Wall Streeters recently. They weren't even allowed in the building. The contents of their desk was packed and shipped to them.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

One station that I quit - not fired - actually had a security guard follow me around while I packed up my stuff.

Even that's better than what happened to some Wall Streeters recently. They weren't even allowed in the building. The contents of their desk was packed and shipped to them.

I think that would be such a tempting situation (where they send you the stuff). I would, in a heartbeat, send a thanks note back to the company for the gesture and ask them where the hell the rest of my condoms are???

There was one place that was shutting down and they owed everyone some $$ in one way or another. They brought in security guards on the last day so people wouldn't try to get what was coming to them. Ooops....that is just throwing down the gauntlet to me. So I packed up a mic. processor (worth about what they owed me) ... and shoved it between a whole pile of newspapers. Walked up to the security guard and went on a completely mental rant about "NO ONE AROUND HERE GIVES A S^^T ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT. ALL THIS PAPER AND NO ONE IS (@*#$# RECYCLING ANYTHING....MAKES ME SICK." The guy could not WAIT for me to get out of his life .... WITH the mic processor in tow.

 

[WKomm]

LittleBB - I believe your story. Making a long tale real short, I was on air one afternoon in a major market when word came down that reps of our new owners were in the bldg. and EVERYONE was being canned. My co-host came into the CR and grabbed a CD player, yanked it free and left. She went on to an LA radio gig, a few movies, even her own psychic line (!) but I lived your staory.

In general, I've found that chains/stations that are run in a heavy-handed manner with nastiness oozing from the top are the ones suffering from theft and vandalism. Stations with solid, fair mgt. seem to have much less of a problem.

 

[TVradioguru]

There was one place that was shutting down and they owed everyone some $$ in one way or another. They brought in security guards on the last day so people wouldn't try to get what was coming to them. Ooops....that is just throwing down the gauntlet to me. So I packed up a mic. processor (worth about what they owed me) ... and shoved it between a whole pile of newspapers. Walked up to the security guard and went on a completely mental rant about "NO ONE AROUND HERE GIVES A S^^T ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT. ALL THIS PAPER AND NO ONE IS (@*#$# RECYCLING ANYTHING....MAKES ME SICK." The guy could not WAIT for me to get out of his life .... WITH the mic processor in tow.

It seems like you have been able to clear your conscience about stealing assets to justify your anger about being RIFed. Your post comes across as you are quite proud of your deception!

Certainly I don't condone cheating any employee out of compensation or reimbursement, but there is usually a legal and ethical recourse, rather than making assumptions that a security guard was brought in to cheat you, then in turn seizing an opportunity to steal fixed assets. Did you ever make an attempt to recover the funds owed to you, then return the microphone processor? I'm willing to bet the answer is no. You were fired, and that's painful sometimes. I submit that you were upset about losing your job and in some small way out to punish your employer.

This has been discussed before, but usually security guards are brought in to PROTECT employees and physical assets during an emotional time. Some employees deal with the loss of their employment better than others.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Thanks, Dr. Phil....but I'm fine with it.

As it turns out, the person who was at the helm has gone on to screw more people and still has a very high profile in the biz today. And last time I saw that person, it was abundantly clear that person ONLY cares about himself.

So I'm still sleeping fine. Sorry to disappoint. (and for what it's worth....I did work with their liquidators to help them find homes for the assets on a legitimate basis. I just didn't bother getting in line with all the creditors).

Hey .... anyone wanna buy a mic processor???

 

[landtuna]

There are enough stories about angry RIF'd radio employees that makes me wonder if there is a certain personality more prone to this management "abuse". Not being accusatory but I've seen similar behavior in other industries (fast food probably being the most obvious example) where the maturity of the "average" employee is less than optimum and management sinks to their level....or worse.

Interestingly, I don't seem to hear as many stories of employee abuse at TV stations as compared to radio. One reason might be that radio personalities tend to be a little more free-wheeling "crazy" than TV on-air staff. I'm not sure but judging from my friends who listen to radio more than I it seems the most popular tend to be the most unstable (whether it is an act or real life).

Thoughts?

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Seems like TV tends to be more of a "team sport". The ego-prone opportunities that are left are usually news related, whereas radio folks are more "out there" on their own, making it easier to call your own shots (good or bad). If a TV type goes astray, it's much more obvious that you're taking others down with you (a GA's shooter, for example, is constant reminder that anything you do affects others). Radio, as you suggest, is more abstract (but definitely SHOULD still be a "team" sport). I also note that the TV people who are usually MUCH MORE recognizable and visible than radio people tend to do a better job keeping the egos in check (seems more RARE that you hear about an anchor that's hard to work with, vs. an air talent of some kind in radio who takes the game wayyyyyy too seriously). There's a certain irony in that observation.

I don't agree with ANY heavy-handed management tactics....and it bit me. I bagged a person who worked at my company and tried to give some latitude by saying he could come in that evening to get stuff when other people weren't around...could go spend the afternoon drinking or whatever to shake off the shock. Was TRYING to treat that person with some respect ... and, to no one's surprise, he came back and took many sensitive files with him to try to start a competitive deal (even though he had a signed no-compete). As much as that sequence made me mad, I still felt better about treating him the way I did ... even though it cost me all kinds of effort to squash and retrieve the damage he did. But still, the thinking is a management team had ample respect for the person/people they hired when the original decision was made...and it's the "right thing" to carry that respect through to the end. Except in rare circumstances where people are just plain too weird .... I still believe that ultimately if there is a human resources breakdown it's still ultimately the management's responsibility for not coaching or communicating better. The exception being that when the whole ship is going down (too many examples lately of this), and I still think it's a fair expectation to approach those challenges as a team. Then issues such as RIF are better understood by all. I'm encouraged by all the unions stepping up to do their part to try to keep the whole company or industry afloat by giving concessions. Too bad the leadership on Wall Street has no concept of that...

 

[KyDXIn]

LittleBB - I believe your story. Making a long tale real short, I was on air one afternoon in a major market when word came down that reps of our new owners were in the bldg. and EVERYONE was being canned. My co-host came into the CR and grabbed a CD player, yanked it free and left. She went on to an LA radio gig, a few movies, even her own psychic line (!) but I lived your staory.

Ok, I've just gotta ask, did you work with Dionne Warwick, or Ms. Cleo??

 

[AQH]

When its your sign-off that generates the biggest buzz about your show, even on this board, that says a lot.

 

[WKomm]

KyDXIn - Funny!!! You're very close ... she wasn't that well known but for years I did see her ad pop up in the Enquirer and other rags like that.

AQH - Good point but the fact is it's pretty rare when ANY of us gets a chance to say "goodbye", let alone handle it with class.