My Wife Fired Me

I apologize for the length of this story. I just couldn't find a natural point to split it in two. Also, I apologize to those of you who want to read a BTB story because this isn't one of those. And it is not a RAAC story. Oh yeah, when I was a newbie to this site, I had no idea what a BTB or RAAC meant. For any newbies just discovering this site, a BTB is a B urn the B itch or B astard story, and a RAAC is a R econciliation a t A ny C ost story.

I also apologize that there is no sex in this story. It is, instead, a story about a man who finds himself in a situation where his wife has become his boss. And the first thing his wife does is create a situation where he is humiliated and disrespected.

My wife became my boss today, and in short order, she fired me.

Well, in reality, my wife didn't actually say I was fired. She told me, in no uncertain terms, that if I didn't accept her decision concerning my job, I would be terminated. However, what she wanted me to do was just too humiliating, so I accepted the termination.

Jenny, my wife of twenty years, and I married shortly after we both started working for Hamett Communications. This was a corporation that owns radio and television stations along with a Cable network, Premium Cable. The cable operation covered 12 states with plans to expand into 10 more.

Jenny was only three days younger than me, and even though we'd never met in school, we attended the same high school. She was about five-foot-six and about a hundred and ten pounds. Jenny had silky brown hair, and soft brown eyes. She was cute, smart, and had a great smile. I had no romantic interest in her initially, but the more we worked together, the more I liked her. I was five-foot ten and a hundred and seventy pounds with sandy colored hair. I never considered myself handsome or ugly; I was just me.

Jenny and I spent our last semester in high school as interns at WJTR-FM in Atlanta. As interns Jenny and I were bounced from one department to another. It was fun, and we both learned a lot. Jenny enjoyed the sales department the most. She enjoyed the freedom to schedule her day and spend time away from the office. I found that I loved working in the production department. The idea of being able to use my creativity and sense of humor just got my juices going. Still, I wasn't allowed to do much. Basically, I was the "go for" for two weeks. Still, I paid close attention to everything happening in that department, learning to operate all the equipment, and the dos and don'ts of writing commercials. It was a fantastic nine weeks, and I learned quite a bit about how a radio station operated.

By the end of the semester, Jenny and I were going steady. We were both eighteen at the time, and we were both passionate about radio. The decision, however, to marry was thrust upon us because of a passion of a different kind; Jenny became pregnant.

It was difficult initially as we struggled to cope on our two meager salaries. We both secured jobs at WJTR, a twenty-thousand-watt FM station serving Metropolitan Atlanta, and its suburbs. Jenny was an associate salesperson, and I was hired as the overnight weekend DJ. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Chad Jamison, and while I hated the hours and only mildly enjoyed being a DJ, I knew it was basically a bullshit job. The job entailed mostly playing music, giving the time and weather, and reading the events on our local community calendar. Of course, I had to intersperse all this with the commercials, IDs, and PSAs. I worked Friday and Saturday from midnight to eight a.m. The hardest part of this job was staying awake but there was one huge benefit, I could use a production studio to practice. But being a part-time DJ didn't bring in nearly enough money. So, I needed to find a second job.

The economy was in a downturn, so finding any work was proving difficult. And I was getting a little desperate, especially with Jenny now stuck at home with our daughter, Tiffany. We'd been existing on handouts from our parents since Tiffany's arrival, and I hated that. Thankfully, I landed a full-time position at a local hardware store. The store was owned by a married couple, John and Helen Mickleson. They were a lovely couple, and they treated me like a son. John also had a woodworking shop in the back of the store where he turned out custom-made furniture. Over the two years I worked there, John taught me a lot about carpentry, electrical, and even a little about plumbing. But my passion remained radio.

WJTR, at that time, was a top-40 station, so we had a limited number of songs we were permitted to play, which made the overnight shift even more boring. Computer automation hadn't become widespread yet, so the station needed DJs on duty twenty-four hours a day. But I knew my weekend job wasn't going to last long. I read Broadcasting Magazine religiously, and I knew it was only a matter of time before WJTR brought computer automation to the station. When they made the conversion, I would be out of a job. So, during my overnight schedule, I worked even harder, refining my production and commercial writing skills.

My shift ended at 8am, but from 6am to 8am, we used network programs that came via satellite. So, all I had to do during the network programs was take meter readings every half hour. The rest of the time, I was free to polish my skills. I used the commercials currently playing on the air as my model. I'd just produce a different version of what was already playing. At first, my efforts were miserable. But as time passed, I improved. And when I let my creativity and wit have total reign, I felt I was as good as any of the production staff. Finally, I picked three commercials which I thought were pretty good and took them to the station manager. He loved all three and immediately played them for the sponsors who wanted my version to replace what was on the air.

The station manager wasn't about to offer me a job based on three commercials, so he told me I could work as a fill-in until I proved myself. This created a difficult situation for me as all three of the commercials I had produced replaced ones done by Jason Stills. He was one of the full-time employees in the production department. He and I never got along because when I was a DJ, I complained a few times about his commercials. He would periodically record over the splice in the tape of a cartridge or record on defective cartridges. Those were big no-nos. He was fired a week after my commercials replaced his when he accidentally erased an agency commercial. With Jason gone, I was hired to work in production part-time.

Since I was now working four hours a day at the radio station, I had to cut back my hours at the hardware store. John and Helen were very kind about it, even though John seemed a little disappointed by my decision. They had no children, and I think John had some thoughts of me taking over the store. But as I said, radio was my passion. Still, I maintained a close relationship with John and Helen over the years, even inviting them to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner each year. And that relationship would help me out years later.

I'm sorry I've wandered into the weeds with this story, but I think you can see my passion for radio. Over the twenty years, Jenny pursued her career in sales, and I continued my career in production. But deep down, I always wanted to own a radio station. I even discussed it several times with Jenny, but she had no interest at all. As she put it, "Why would I want to go from the number one station in Atlanta to some Podunk station in the sticks." So, I tucked that ambition into the back of my mind and continued my career at Hamett Communications. And that brings us up to today.

Currently, Jenny is the regional sales manager for radio, and I was the regional production supervisor for radio. Jenny was angling to get the Vice President of radio sales position, and I was confident that would be appointed Vice President of radio production. However, three men, Burt Jones, Simon Sanders, and Todd Wankler, were poised to turn my life upside down.

Burt Jones was the Executive Vice President of radio and Simon Sanders was my boss and the current Vice President of Radio Production. Todd Wankler was a relatively new arrival from our San Francisco sister station KJTW-FM and had been installed as my assistant even though I hadn't asked for one, nor did I want one, especially not Todd.

Todd annoyed me from the very beginning as a "kiss ass." Supposedly, he was the golden boy in San Francisco. Nevertheless, I thought it was telling that the station readily shipped him to Atlanta. He complained bitterly when he first arrived about how shitty the east coast was and how wonderful everything was in California. I eventually found out that he got shipped out because he was the cause of three divorces at the station.

As much as I disliked him, I had to admit Todd was a very good production man when he put his mind to it. However, that was far too infrequent for me. He only wanted to work on the major accounts, so he was constantly fobbing off smaller accounts to other people in production. Since Todd was the assistant production manager, most people didn't dare tell him no. But I was the production manager, and I passed out the work, so I resented what he was doing and put a stop to it.

Todd was a real lady's man. He was six foot two with broad shoulders and wavy black hair. The dress code in the production department was pretty laid back. Collared shirts and slacks were the dress of the day for men. Women could wear slacks or a skirt with a blouse. Todd always wore a suit and tie, which was pretty stupid as he always wound up taking the jacket and tie off sometime during the day. After Todd arrived, I noticed that many of the women started wearing dresses and using more makeup. I finally had to send out a memo on the inappropriate cleavage that was being displayed.

My wife always dressed up, but all the salespeople did. They frequently had to meet with clients from large companies, and a professional look was expected. And nothing my wife wore was ever inappropriate.

Todd was lazy and quick to blame others for his mistakes. His only true interest was trying to charm the female members of the staff, spending a fair amount of time flirting with any good-looking female employee, including my wife. And when I complained to Jenny, she just blew me off and defended Todd. I let the subject drop but kept my eye on my assistant.

When I discovered one day that Todd was changing my production schedule and bumping his favorites to the head of the line, I was furious. We have a lot of commercials that are time sensitive. It could be a one day special, and the commercial had to run the day before. When I discovered we almost missed getting several of these time sensitive spots done, I wanted to know why. After discussing the issue with several of my production people, I learned that Todd had bumped them down on the schedule. However, when I complained to my boss and suggested that Todd be fired, he refused. Simon explained that old man Hamett liked Todd and when the San Francisco station wanted to let him go, he brought him to Atlanta. He told people that Todd reminded him of himself when he was younger.

Knowing that the Hamett family was very religious, I was shocked. "Mr. Hamett screwed married women when he was young?"

"No," Simon said and then chuckled. "At least I pretty sure he never did that. I think he just views Todd as a hard charging young man, working hard to get ahead. In fact, now that I think about it, I doubt the people at KJTR told Mr. Hamett about Todd's involvement with married women. The management out there probably feared if they threw Todd under the bus, Mr. Hamett might toss them under as well."

I was stuck with Todd, and I wasn't happy about it. So, I had a "Sunday come to Jesus" meeting with him. After that, I thought he would toe the mark. But unbeknownst to me, he started doing it again behind my back. But now he was more selective in who he bounced to the head of the production line.

Anyone with a senior position to mine was accorded this special treatment. And Todd included my wife, probably as his way of sticking it to me. I finally caught on to his meddling and was ready to lower the boom on Todd regardless of what Mr. Hamett thought. Todd had blown off a spot which had to start running the following day. And while the spot was for a relatively small company, they were part of a much larger conglomerate that did a lot of business with us. I had to stay late and do the commercials myself. In my mind, he was so going to get fired. But that was when everything turned to shit for me.

As I said, Burt Jones, Simon Sanders, and Todd Wankler turned my world upside down. But the blame for what happened to me doesn't lie with any of those three. What started it all was that Simon died suddenly of a heart attack Sunday night. Everyone was shocked, and the production department descended into chaos for half a day. Simon had left a long list of commercials that needed to be produced, but no one knew all the details of what the sponsors wanted. As his assistant, I stepped in, prepared the details on each sponsor, and got everything back on track. Very quickly the production department began operating efficiently again. After stepping up to ensure the production department didn't miss a beat, I was sure I was a "shoe in" for the Vice President position. But then the second "shoe dropped." On Friday, Burt Jones announced that he was retiring immediately. Simon's death had shaken him, and he decided to spend more time with his family. When his retirement memo was sent out, he announced that he had nominated Jenny to take his place. By Monday, the Executive Committee approved her promotion.

I was thrilled for my wife and felt sure she would do a good job but what happened next was crushing. About two that afternoon, I got a message that Jenny wanted to see me in her office. I was sure that she would announce my promotion to the Vice President's job, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

I walked into my wife's new office, and she and Todd were hugging. They broke apart as soon as they saw me, and Todd quickly left.

"He was just giving me a hug congratulating me on my promotion," Jenny said quickly. I accepted her explanation and gave her a kiss on the cheek, offering my congratulations.

"Chad, sit down," she pointed to a chair in front of her. I quickly took a seat and waited to hear that I was being promoted. Instead, I heard, "I wanted to tell you in person before the memo goes out that I'm appointing Todd Wankler as the new Vice President of Radio Production."

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I screamed as I jumped up.

"Calm down, and sit down, so we can talk about this calmly," my wife was using her soothing voice that she used with our two girls, Tiffany and Tina when they were little.

"Fuck that," I spat out. I was not only angry and hurt by what my wife was doing, but I was now deeply suspicious of her relationship with Todd. "I worked my ass off for that job, and Simon told me, he was going to recommend me for it."

"Well, Simon is obviously not here, and I have to do what I think is best," Tiffany was still trying to use her soothing voice, but it had a quiver in it. Her eyes betrayed, she did not expect my reaction.

"How can you fucking pick Todd over me?" I demanded.

"Chad, please sit down," Jenny was desperately trying to calm me down. I remained standing, glaring at her. Realizing the situation wasn't going to get any better, she hurried on with her explanation. "Todd is as good at production work as you, and he prioritizes better than you do. Also, I don't want anyone to think that you are getting any special consideration."

"JENNY, THAT'S FUCKING HORSE SHIT!" I all but yelled and then offered sarcastically. "He's as good at production work? Please tell me how many Mercury Awards he has won? Oh, that's right NONE. I've won four. And your comment about prioritizing is total crap. You just like him because he's good looking and always bounces your spots to the top of the production schedule."

"Chad, lower your voice and sit down," my wife demanded, but I was too furious to even think straight. I was lashing out at my wife for her actions, and I wasn't about to stop.

"And your comment that you don't want to appear to be playing favorites is more horse shit," I hissed at her. "Everyone in production knows that Simon was going to nominate me to replace him. Now they're going to think that Todd slept with you to get the job."

"How dare you!" Jenny yelled as she jumped to her feet. We glared at each other before Jenny sat back down and ended the discussion. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Chad, but my decision stands."

At this point, I knew arguing with my wife was a waste of time. She had figuratively put her back against the wall. I had seen this many times over our married lives. Once she made up her mind, Jenny rarely ever changed it, and when she did change her mind, it was because there was incontrovertible proof that she was wrong. But even then, she never admitted being wrong and would pretend it had never been an issue. This time, it was obvious that she wasn't going to change her mind, and I couldn't shake the suspicion that she had gotten too close to Todd.

"We can discuss this more at home tonight," she sought to end the meeting.

"No, this discussion isn't over," I said through gritted teeth. "I refuse to work for that asshole."

"You will work for Todd if you want to keep a job here," Jenny was getting angry now.

"Well, that settles it then," I said as I started out of her office. "I'll clean out my office."

"Look, Chad, I know that you're upset, so I'm going to give you a few days to get over your bruised ego. Take some time and calm down. Once you've had a chance to think about it, you'll see that I'm right.

"Fuck you, Jenny. I'm not going to change my mind in a few days. I wouldn't change it in a few hundred years. So, I'm going to leave you and your boyfriend to do whatever," I said as I left her office and headed back to mine. I think she yelled that he wasn't her boyfriend, but I wasn't listening. I headed straight to my office, packed my stuff, and left. The people in the production department were stunned. I didn't say anything to anyone as I left.

At home, I pulled out a glass and made myself a stiff rum and coke. Then I sat in my den, fuming over what my supposedly loving wife had done. As I stared out the window, I knew two things. I would never work for Todd, and Jenny would never back down from her decision, especially now that I had challenged her. I still loved my wife deeply even though I was mad as hell at her right now and unsure about her faithfulness. But what I needed was a new job, so I started preparing a resume. I only got as far as typing my name and address at the top of the page before I stopped. I was too agitated to continue and knew I needed something to help me calm down. I pulled out my files of radio stations for sale and started going through them one by one again.

Despite the fact that Jenny had no interest in owning a radio station, I never lost that desire. It was like a hobby for me. I kept track of every radio station that came up for sale in the markets I was interested in: Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. And if a station caught my eye, I'd inquire and get all the details. Sometimes, if a station was near a larger market, I would hire a broadcast engineer to see if the station could be moved closer. Nothing ever panned out from those searches. Still, I continued looking.

After four hours of going through my old files of stations for sale and two more rum and cokes, I remembered I had recently gotten information on three stations that had just come on the market. I pulled those three files from the cubby hole where I had left them two days ago. Ideally, I wanted to buy an FM station because of all the people who listened to the radio; only 25% listened to AM stations.