Magnific

Some people only appreciate what they have lost, and this is also true in the workplace.

In this case, someone’s grandfather worked at a car engine factory in England during the late 1960s or early 1970s.

He was hardworking, experienced, and particularly knowledgeable about a complicated new machine the company had imported from Germany.

Then the company sent several employees to Germany for months to learn how to operate and maintain it, while German technicians came to England to install it.

But somehow, despite not speaking German, the grandfather stayed and ended up learning everything about the machine.

Then after asking for a raise and having it denied, he found a better-paying job and decided to leave.

Guess who was suddenly considered important?

Read the full story below.

Boss wants two weeks notice, company loses thousands

This is my Granddad’s story from the late 60 to early 70s in England, and to note, he was very ill when he told this to me, so this is the story that I managed to hear, so there’s bits missing and not a lot of specifics, so all of this is what I gathered.

Back when my grandad was younger, he used to work in a factory making engines for cars, and despite being a hard worker, he was always disrespected and underappreciated, and he felt it more so with his boss.

Despite this boss holding very little power over a very little area of the factory, this boss would constantly yell and exert his power over everyone.

This would soon backfire.

This story starts when the company buys this machine from Germany, and what I could gather from my Granddad, this machine was like a computerised machine before computers were really a thing.

So instead of one computer doing all of these complex calculations, you have pegs and wires that you have to physically move to work this machine, but he didn’t say what the machine did.

Now obviously this was complex so the company sent a small group of workers to Germany to be taught how the machine worked over three months, and a group of Germans would come to England to build the machine.

But it didn’t go exactly as planned.

My granddad wasn’t one of the people who went to Germany, so he stayed, but instead, he watched the Germans install the machine.

Despite the language barrier, my grandad understood how it worked and how to fix it, pretty much everything he would have learned if he went to Germany with the other workers.

After some time, my grandad got married to my grandma, and realising he needed a house, he went to the bank to talk about mortgages, but the only issue is that he gets £22 a week when he needs £44 a week to get a mortgage, so he asked his boss, who promptly said no.

But the tables turned.

Later on in the week, my grandad spoke to a mate of his who is now living in France, and the friend said:

“I recently lost my driver’s license, so I can’t work for my company anymore, but they need someone to do deliveries for £48 a week between England and France.”

The next day, my grandad went up to his boss and asked “Sir, who do I give this two week notice into?”

And the boss, playing a powerplay leans over my grandad, puffing smoke into his face from his pipe, and says in a low voice “You hand that to me, you understand, I’m the boss here, I’m the most important.”

And my grandad handed it over to him.

The whole vibe shifted soon after that.

Over the course of the two weeks, it was normal, until the last day when the manager came over and said “Mike, I heard you’re leaving today, is that true?”

And my grandad said “Yes, boss asked me to give him my two-week notice”.

The manager went white, asking my grandad if the boss told anyone, listing anyone who had the same or more power than the boss did, even asking if the owner knew.

And my grandad said no each time, with a bigger smile each time, and after everyone else in the factory went up to him asking the exact same questions, he couldn’t hide his excitement.

Who had more power now?

You see, what everyone failed to notice is that while the workers who went to Germany, they where in a country known for big beers and pretty women.

So they learned absolutely nothing in those three months, and anything they did learn was quickly forgotten when they learned my grandad knew how to work and fix the machine.

So because of my grandad leaving, he effectively left with the knowledge as he can’t teach anyone else in his last two weeks (and that’s if everyone else knew he was leaving in those two weeks).

His grandfather moved on.

And the ending happened two months later when my grandad got a call from someone back at the company asked if he wanted his old job back, and my grandad calmly replied:

“No, I do not want my old job back, as I’d effectively be going back in life, especially back to a job that doesn’t pay me well or treat me well.”

And for anyone wondering what happened with the machine, it ran well in those two months, but someone swapped the wires for the motors, as there were two motors, they put the wires into the wrong ones, and that’s why they called my grandad.

It wasn’t his problem anymore.

As they effectively lost thousands for the machine, the installation of the machine and flying all the workers to Germany to basically just go on a bender.

As for the boss and everyone involved, my grandad never bothered learning what happened to them.

But I’d like to imagine there was a fallout and the fires of hell rained down, but this company was one of the more expensive car companies, so in all honesty, it could have been a minor setback.

Bad management is very dangerous. What did Reddit have to say?

Haha!

A similar experience.

Hehe.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a longtime bank customer who walked away after the teller gave them a hard time.

Another reader chimes in.

The company didn’t even realize there was a problem until after the grandfather had already left.

For two months, everything seemed fine. Then when something went wrong with the machine, people were calling the former employee asking if he’d come back.

You never know when you might need someone.

This is why you should treat everyone with respect and dignity.