No Coke

Anita Firebaugh, freelance journalist: “I was fired because my boss started charging us 50 cents for soft drinks (he used to provide them free). I started bringing in my own Diet Cokes, which he drank. I finally asked him for 50 cents, since he was drinking my Coke. That was the end of that.”

Bad to Worst

Lora Katz, retired Roanoke architect: “I was working for AECOM in a job that I loved in a place that was tough to live in, D.C.” She received an offer from a large firm in Roanoke to lead its office, but “the economy tanked in 2008, so construction was slow.” She was tasked to bring in work and it became “the worst year of my life. I am no salesperson [and a] board member called every few days to ask for a list of sales calls that I had made.” She was unhappy, going through menopause and developed “a bad temper. I became a terrible boss and lost money for the company. [She was fired, but] that bad day ended up changing my life for the better. … I started my own firm, first with a friend and later on my own. I then worked for many years with clients that I liked, controlling my destiny.”

Rejected

Eric Fitzpatrick, visual artist: “being self-employed these many years, I have avoided being fired, but before I made it in art, I was painting billboards for Creative Displays on Patterson Avenue and applied for their designer spot. I was turned down. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. As the country song goes, ‘Thank God for unanswered prayers.’”

Submitted