things that will mark you as a douchebag for life

by Alison Green on April 30, 2011

Check out this ridiculously arrogant email from a college student to his former boss at the pool where he previously worked. Resentful at only being offered a lifeguard position this summer rather than an assistant manager position, he let loose with a tirade of insults and announced that he has been working in a Very Important Internship and is now poised to “run corporate America.”

You really need to read the whole thing, but gems include:

“This is a highly coveted internship that, due to my business prowess, especially that concerning the analysis of different hypotheticals, financial situations, and if-then relationships hinging on international investments, I was able to easily secure without having to bat even a single eye lash.”

“Returning to the pool for another summer would be like Apple CEO Steve Jobs returning to Foot Locker for summer employment.”

“I understand you are a school teacher and not a professor or employed in a position that requires significant knowledge in any particular field of study, so maybe my criticism is unfair. Nonetheless, I still provided much guidance and support as you learned the ropes of managing at the pooll at the rate of a snail in the Indy 500. Did I ever complain? No. Why? Due to the fact that I am a professional and, given my advanced knowledge of operations at the pool, I wanted to bestow certain bits of my wealth of knowledge upon you.”

It goes on and on.

I can’t decide if I feel sorry for this delusional kid who at some point is going to realize what a d-bag he is, or if I’m just looking forward to hearing about BMW yanking his internship.

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{ 78 comments }

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  1. Melissa*

    Do we know if this is real? I followed the link and read the whole thing, rolling my eyes the whole time. If it’s real, don’t worry ….. Karma’s a bitch. The sad part is that even though one day someone will eventually take him down a notch, or fire him, he will never really “get it” and he will continue to think that he’s “all that”. I feel sorry for the parents, for they have clearly done a crappy job.

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      I was thinking about the parents too — imagine the horror of seeing this from your kid. But, on the other hand, the parents may have something to do with him ending up such an ass.

      Someone in the comments on Deadspin mentioned that they emailed BMW’s internship program about it, and BMW responded, “Thank you very much for notifying us of this issue. It was just brought to our attention earlier today, but be assured that this matter is being investigated fully and appropriate action will be taken. ”

      1. Slaten*

        Yes, and I see that the person that complained to BMW has the intelligence to quote ICE CUBE!! LMAO!!!!

        1. Ask a Manager* Post author

          I actually thought the Ice Cube quote was perfectly suited. Not sure why an Ice Cube quote says anything about anyone’s intelligence; it really just says they’re fluent in pop culture…

      2. Robyn*

        Yes, but you are assuming ‘appropriate action’ is losing his internship or some sort of punishment.

        To BMW an email like that may mean a raise or promotion. Some companies encourage such arrogant douchbaggery.

    2. Anonymous*

      I really don’t think you can blame the parents on this one. By the time you are a college student, you should be thinking and acting independently. So he’s either not really a leader/independent and just faking it because he’s really just a big, spoiled baby still living with his parents and driving THEIR BMW which makes him feel entitled, or he’s a douchebag all on his own.

      2. Artemesia*

        I was involved an intern like this one, who was fired for unbelievable bad judgment; I can’t be explicit as it is so particular, but leave it to say that if he had done this as a lawyer he would have been disbarred or an executive he would have been fired. It was spectacularly jaw droppingly bad and put the schools entire internship program at risk in an entire region.

        He wrote memos protesting being dropped and flunked by the universe and sent down for the semester. These were followed by similarly clueless email demands by his father who thought everyone was being terribly unfair to his boy.

        People don’t become clueless douche bags like the BMW intern without lots of rewards and role models for this sort of thinking and behavior. Yeah. Helicopter parents.

        1. Artemesia*

          words dropped — so
          involved with an intern like this
          and of course stupid typo
          university, not universe

        2. Artemesia*

          Oops
          promise to proofread better

          words dropped — so
          involved with an intern like this
          and of course stupid typo
          university, not universe

      2. Cassandra*

        There’s a huge difference between being arrogant and looking forward to justice. Just so ya know.

  4. Slaten*

    I thought the email was funny as hell. We did get an idea that the kid thought his former boss was the incompetent d-bag. For all any of you know the kid was holding back! LOL…

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      I’d be more willing to think the problem was just the manager if the letter-writer hadn’t shown a complete inability to assess reality correctly (in regard to himself).

      1. mouse*

        I’d be more willing to accept the intern’s opinion if he had expressed a single iota of writing ability. The whole thing was the kind of word salad that looks competent until you start actually parsing some of the sentences word-for-word. It reeks of “trying too hard.” My favorite example:

        “In over half a decade of working at the pool, I can state with much certainty and conviction that I have never encountered a “manager” with such appalling naivety and laughable incompetence until the commencement of your employment the summer prior to the one upcoming.”

        It’s all about that last bit; just say “last summer” like a normal person you idiot.

        1. Dawn*

          This kid has a bad case of verbal diarrhea. Apparently his Business Communications professor wasn’t a fan of teaching his/her students to be concise. Or, the kid skipped that class.

          1. Anonymous*

            It looks to me like he wrote in all out, then sat down and took each and every word/phrase and found a way to say the same thing using (at least) four times as many words.

    2. Esra*

      Even if the kid was holding back about his former boss, the stuff he was saying about the kids at the pool is still pretty disgusting.

  5. EG*

    I hate to take the kids side on this, but from his story, he may have a right to be angry. Last summer, he was an assistant manager, this summer he was to be invited back as a lifeguard. Essentially, the pool demoted him (without explicitly telling him), and thought everything would be okay. If they are doing this, what other things did he have to go through while he was working at the pool. While the letter he sent isn’t what I would have written, I can imagine the circumstances under which it would be justifiable.

    1. fposte*

      I can imagine a circumstance that would make being hurt or frustrated justifiable. I can’t imagine any circumstances ever that would make this letter justifiable. It’s a mistake no matter what happened to elicit it.

      1. Dani*

        So true. This is the kind of e-mail you write to blow off steam and then delete (and even then it seems to be a bit over the top…). The one you send reads “No, not interested in working for you again.” This kid needs to learn a lesson.

    2. Jasmine*

      With an attitude like he has, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a terrible manager last year, and the board had very good reasons for not wanting him in that job again.

    3. Anonymous*

      If his attitude was like THAT the entire time, I can imagine a condescending douchebag WOULD be demoted. I mean she stated that it wasn’t even her decision, it was at the request of the board members. That letter shouldn’t have even been addressed to her. And as a former school teacher, I am GREATLY offended at the fact that he alludes that it takes no expertise to be a great teacher. I’m totally giving him the virtual finger.

    4. Cassandra*

      If the “board” requested he not be invited back as an A.M. they probably had good reason…thinking maybe the attitude behind the email may have had something to do with their decision??

    5. Anonymous J*

      Gee, I wonder if THAT might have been because this letter is not the only occasion on which he acted like a jackass?

      Yathink?

  6. Suzanne Boswell*

    I’d be more impressed with this future CEO if his writing skills weren’t so terrible.

    “As I previously mentioned, though feel it is necessary to do so again for reiteration purposes, I provided guidance and instruction to you as necessary, which was a more than commonplace occurrence last summer.”

    So many mistakes in this sentence, so little time…
    (On the other hand, I will put money down that I’ve made a spelling mistake in this post, because the universe loves to be ironic)

    1. mouse*

      LOL. I should read the rest of the comments before commenting myself. That is exactly that sentence where my eyes started rolling.

  7. Anonymous*

    What do you expect from a student of USC?!?! There is a reason that they are called the ‘cocks!

  8. SSpiffy*

    With his attitude, he was destined to drive a BMW someday, if he keeps his internship he’ll be able to do it for free.

    1. Karen*

      Hear, hear. I hate to stereotype (well, that’s a lie), but this kid has the attitude of a BMW driver down pat.

  9. Mike C.*

    Anyone who takes a dump on someone for being a teacher needs to be smacked. I’m sick of this attitude that someone who is a “professional” and makes more money than someone else is somehow a superior human being. Wealth does not correlate with morality.

  10. Kelly O*

    See, the reason you can tell this kid is arrogant and probably was a total pain as an assistant manager is summed up rather nicely in this little gem – “I understand you are a school teacher and not a professor or employed in a position that requires significant knowledge in any particular field of study” – as if to say by choosing to be a schoolteacher, this woman has absolutely no knowledge other than how to read a Teacher’s Edition.

    If that wasn’t enough, instead of saying “last summer” he says “the summer prior to the one upcoming” – I mean seriously who SAYS that? He uses ten dollar words that are completely unnecessary, excruciatingly long sentences, and spells out who Bill Gates is, but not who Steve Jobs is.

    I certainly hope that one day his uppance comes. (Sorry, I just went to community college, so I guess I don’t know all the good fancy words.)

  11. Kayode*

    I feel sorry for this guy, but it’s normal he was demoted with the attitude he has and is unaware of. However, when (not if) he loses that internship I am worried about the security of this lady. With attitude like that, who knows what he can do.

  12. a.b.*

    The foibles of this young man, as well as those of Alexandra Wallace, Alex Kochno and Tyler Clementi’s roommate (obviously much more serious, I am not diminishing his actions) are hopefully teaching the next generation some well-needed lessons, not only of not showing your ass, but about being a decent human being.

  13. Anonymous*

    Both people are wrong in this situation – the email writer and the manager who sent in his email.

    The Email Writer
    This is something he should have written and then destroyed afterwards. Sometimes getting things onto paper is theraputic, so that’s why I said he could’ve written it, but then he should’ve destroyed it later so as not to have shot himself in the foot. I can see his frustration though. He was an assistant manager at the pool, only to be demoted to a lifeguard without an apparent reason other than the board didn’t want him to be offered the position. However, in what he wrote, he apparently had to teach this person her job, and now he’s demoted. I definitely do not agree with him attacking her for any reason. I would have just inquired further into the lack of the assistant manager offer.

    The Manager
    I honestly believe this person was dead wrong in making this email public. I don’t know what she thinks she is going to get out of it. Sure, the kid wrote some downright nasty things about her to her, but I think she and the business could have just fired him for it and get it over with. We are only getting a part of the story here, and while he was wrong, we are missing crucial details. Meanwhile, if this story is true and BMW is investigating, she might’ve damaged his career for good for one bad judgement call in his life. I think the firing would have been a better decision instead of public humiliating him.

    Two more things:
    I think that the name BMW should have been redacted in the link as well.
    I think that those who are wishing for the internship to BMW in the future to be rescinded aren’t in the right either.

    But like I’ve said – we don’t have the whole story.

    1. Anonymous*

      I don’t think she was wrong in making the email public. It’s not like she included names or anything. And with an attitude like that, do you really think “firing him and getting it over with” would really invoke a different response? He’d still be pissed and send something nasty, saying that he doesn’t give a crap because he’s found something better and was going to quit anyway. And as far as perhaps damaging his reputation, that wouldn’t be HER fault for making it public. Those were his words. If he thinks so highly of himself as a professional, he obviously thinks he is untouchable because of his talents. A person who is in college who thinks that they are going to excel in a corporate environment needs to learn that there are consequences for their actions. In addition, a lot of employers are looking for people who are humble and willing to learn, not a bunch of 20-something know-it-alls. He deserves to have his internship yanked, and he should take it as a lesson learned.

      1. Anonymous*

        While I understand your point of view, I have to respectfully disagree in regards to her publicly releasing the email. I do believe she did not have any necessary reasons to publish this email; the only people I think she should have shown the email to were those on the board in order to find grounds to fire him or rescind the lifeguard position. Yes, those are his words which make him look like a *enter creative term here.* However, while he used quite unprofessional language and tone, she was just as unprofessional for putting it out there on the web. It was none of her business to do such a thing; the email, attitude included, was only their business between them (and essentially the company).

        What was she trying to accomplish by putting it out there?

        Furthermore, while his words can speak for his character, I do believe she owns a share of the fault of his potentially damaged reputation. Reason one has already been discussed, and reason two is now she has shared it with all of the people who can’t/won’t mind their own business. And those people, as we have read, are calling BMW to report it. Let’s say you reported the email to BMW. (This is just for example’s sake.) What business would it be of yours to read the email and call BMW? Do you know the kid? What vendetta do you have against him?

        I still find it quite disconcerting that many are cheering for his dismissal at his internship.

        By the way, I’m in absolutely no way condoning his letter. As I have stated prior, he should not have hit the sent button if he was to sit down and write it (better to get it out in MS Word than in the actual email browser).

        1. Richie Rich*

          You’re perfectly welcome to your own theories about whether the pool manager was morally justified in releasing the kid’s letter. You may even be correct (you’re not), but much as in a car vs. pedestrian accident, sometimes a perfectly just apportioning of blame is cold comfort to the one who got run over.

          What does she have to gain by releasing the email? We can only speculate on how much enjoyment she’s getting from reading threads like this one, but I’m confident it’s more than she had to lose. Now, what did he lose? Credibility. An internship. A foothold in a future career. Evidently his facebook account. Oops!

          The schadenfreude is all the more delightful because the kid was actually driving the bus he threw himself under.

          As a side note, it’s really great to see some of the racists (the kid, Slaten in this thread) getting the air time they need.

          1. Anonymous*

            Basically you’re saying that one mistake and the guy has to suffer for the rest of his working life. You may be right (you’re not).

        2. Anonymous*

          I am a 20-something who has had to learn a lot of hard lessons about office politics and functioning in corporate America. You are absolutely right, he should have not hit the sent button. But once he sent it, it was in HER e-mail box. And him, being this alleged “extremely intelligent” college-educated person, especially in the year 2011, he should know that anything and everything, can, and will end up on the internet. And if you check out the dates on the e-mails, this like, just recently happened. It’s not like this happened 5 years ago and it’s just coming out. It’s not like he’s had all this time to improve himself and completely reform. He was a douchebag like, just last week, and he probably thought that he would never have to use that woman as a reference so why not act like a total jerk. I’m not saying that I think she SHOULD have posted the e-mail, but he sent it to her and you can post all kinds of stuff on the internet, so she had every right to. I think it would have been much more unprofessional of her had she not omitted names and e-mail addresses. I think she was pretty responsible in the way she posted it. I mean, I’ve gotten crazy stuff in my e-mail box and it’s turned into a note on my facebook page….and I have a LOT of friends. I think she has the right to share it with whomever she wants to. He HAS to realize that there are consequences for his actions, and that he is just downright disrespectful. She had every right to post it if she wanted to. And you can’t blame her for everyone who went to blah blah blahing to BMW. If everyone went around blaming other people for their own actions, there would be no accountability for anything. It reminds me of my husband always saying that he did B because I did A, so I “caused” B to happen. People do not realize that DOING NOTHING is always a choice. It’s not her fault that people contacted BMW. And I still hope his internship is revoked.

    2. Anonymous*

      For good or for bad, we now live in a time when things like this can easily be made public. The lines are blurring between public and private actions. Nobody is perfect, and I’ve certainly had my humbling experiences. Though they were never this bad, I would be mortified if my professional mistakes from that age had made headlines.

      That said, making this e-mail public is a service to other people (not just young people), a reminder that all actions have consequences. How we treat people matters, and it’s not enough to kiss up to the people who can get you ahead.

      I must add: I am nearing 40, and have, for the most part, been very impressed by the work ethic and professionalism of our interns (yes, including from USC) and coworkers fresh out of college. One spoiled, delusional apple doesn’t speak for the bunch.

  14. class factotum*

    I was a lifeguard in high school and college. Here is what my “advanced knowledge of operations at the pool” included:

    1. Skimming the dead baby rabbits out of the pool drains
    2. Keeping the chlorine at the right level
    3. Cleaning the bathrooms
    4. Cleaning the poop off the floor of the boys bathroom in the Converse city pool the summer the boys decided it would be funny to poop on the floor and the city would not let us keep the bathroom door locked

    Yep. Complicated job. Needs a lot of training to make sure someone can do it.

    1. Anonymous*

      It sounds like you were more maintenance than lifeguard.

      There obviously is a lot of training that goes into being fully responsible for the safety of everyone in the pool. Not to mention, being able to keep your head on straight in emergencies and then having to deal deal with the psychological consequences that comes with being a first responder.

      Yeah, easy job.

      1. class factotum*

        Of course there is other training. You don’t get to be a lifeguard unless you have taken the class and are certified and licensed. But that has to be done before someone is even hired. I never had a lifeguard job where I got the job before becoming licensed. Licensing first, then the job.

        This guy was talking about being the manager, not about running the lifeguard class. He would not have been the one to train his co-worker on the lifesaving skills. He would have been training her on the Other Duties As Assigned – the cleaning stuff and taking admission fees. And nope, none of that is very complicated.

  15. JC*

    I find the entire motive for writing this email really bizarre. He’s continuing to work at BMW over the summer as an intern, and yet he’s extremely insulted by the fact he didn’t get an assistant manager job at a pool? A job he viciously insults and doesn’t even want? “I was never truly interested in managing this summer” – so then, sir, what’s your problem?

    Oh, right…it’s all about ego with this guy. He can’t stand the fact in his overinflated head that he was offered the position of a lifeguard and not a manager. I bet it nagged at him for weeks before he wrote this letter, fine tuning the perfect words to sling back. It just seems too well polished and thought out to be an off-the-cuff rant.

    The schoolteacher comment made me cringe. Many of my friends were K-12 education majors and their coursework/training was quite intensive. Not to mention that I was mentored by many of my teachers and hold very fond memories of them. So this guy is just an arse for saying such a thing.

    I’m sure, like other posters have said, that the board caught on to his attitude and wanted nothing to do with him in the higher position. (Also, the “my advanced knowledge of operations at a pool” line made me snerk so hard!) I understand this may have been an issue of loyalty to this guy…that he felt betrayed no one offered him the position when he put so much time and effort into the job, but I find his sexist, elitist, and racist undertones incredibly disturbing and disgusting. A corporate douchebage in the making it seems!

    I don’t want this guy’s career to be ruined by this, but I think he deserves some sort of backlash from it. Hopefully he’ll learn some important lessons from this and that BMW will investigate the situation further.

  16. Meaghan*

    Wow! Sure, it’s arrogant and condescending, but I just can’t get over how bad the writing is. “The summer prior to the one upcoming?” Amazing!

  17. Kimberlee*

    It may indeed have been wrong of her to make it public (although with all the names redacted, I don’t think it’s a big deal). But if the people on the Interwebs had not called BMW already, were I her, I would have called them myself. I would never want to inadvertently hire such a d-bag, and I would greatly appreciate someone bringing a professional correspondence like this to my attention (it would be different if it were a personal matter).

  18. Esra*

    I’m surprised so many people feel sorry for this kid. I found his sentiments about the kids at the pools and teachers to be thoroughly repugnant.

  19. Anonymous*

    So is the arrogant kid the douchebag, or is it the alleged adult who is the hiring manager that published the private email?

    While the kid is arrogant and misguided, he’s still a kid. There’s hope for him to change.

    Not so sure about the so-called adult.

    Or was this a trick question just to see how many glass-dwelling people would show up with slingshots and rocks? :)

  20. Anonymous*

    Now I get it! The reason our economy collapsed was that all the Wall Street Titans and Industrial Captains of the Universe started out as lifeguards.

  21. Anonymous*

    The internet and related applications–Facebook, Twitter, email, blogs, ect–should come with a Miranda warning: Anything you post can and may be used against you in the court of public opinion.

    This diatribe is why discretion is so very important online, and why I will never have a facebook account.

    1. Anonymous*

      Exactly what I was saying earlier. If you send it to me, it’s MINE. I’m going to post it wherever I want. If he’s such a smarty pants, he should know that anything he says or does or types CAN end up on the internet, especially him being a college student in the year 2011. I can’t imagine he would be a very good sheisty CEO in the corporate world if he can’t keep his mouth shut. Shady people don’t go running it every chance they get. I couldn’t live without my facebook, but trust me, I always choose my words carefully…you never know who’s creepin.

  22. Anonymous*

    My initial thought is either this is a fake letter or it’s a drunk college student sitting with his buddies writing the most outrageous letter they can come up with and sending it before they sober up.

    Either way, I think it was equally outrageous for the manager to post it, yes it is well within her rights, but within one’s rights and within propriety are often different things.

    One of the comments on the original post hit it dead on: on that website, they always praise for “ballsy” behavior, yet they call this one “douchy”. That site’s commenters probably need to make up their minds.

  23. Anonymous*

    I feel sorry for the guy – by the time he’s thirty, he’ll look back on this and cringe.

    It’s the kind of the silly hubris that can only come from an early twentysomething with a vastly over-inflated opinion of themselves coupled with limited social skills and absolutely no life experience of any kind.

    Of course, he should never have sent the email but all the guy is guilty of is immaturity and inexperience, and I can’t understand why so many people want to see his career ruined over it.

    The manager is a completely different story. What on earth she hopes to gain from this beyond an unpleasant slice of schadenfreude is beyond me.

  24. Anonymous*

    What on earth she hopes to gain from this beyond an unpleasant slice of schadenfreude is beyond me.

    Why does everything in life have to be about ‘gain.’ What ever happened to doing things for fun?

  25. Nate*

    We live in a world of instant information – I wouldn’t be surprised if the gears are already in motion for his (sudden) departure.

  26. Anonymous*

    I doubt that forwarding the email to BMW hurt his career. What hurt his career is the attitude behind the email. This arrogant rant can’t be an isolated event. Chances are, this person’s pretentiousness makes friends everywhere he goes and his attitude will cause his career to flame out very early on.

    1. Anonymous*

      I’m with you on this one. People get whats coming sooner or later. If the kid gets what’s coming to him, then it’s his fault, not the pool manager’s.

      BTW, I’m of the opinion that the earlier in life people learn their lessons, the cheaper the tuition. So, even if the manager was in the wrong for publicizing it, if the kid gets his knuckles hit nice and hard now, it’s probably better than putting it off and learning once he has a wife, kid, and a mortgage.

  27. Long Time Admin*

    Oh, thank you so much for my Monday morning laugh! In fact, this will carry me through the entire week, possibly the entire month!

    Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know the outcome of this young person’s life. However, the imagining will more than suffice.

    Thanks again.

  28. Anonymous*

    Imagine how effectively he communicates with peers, customers, vendors, etc. It makes me smile thinking about the joy he must create everywhere he goes.

  29. Karin Dalziel*

    I hate that the original article makes this into a generational thing. (“Meet the workplace prototype for the next 10 years: welcome to Generation ‘I.'”) It’s not. People like this (self entitled pricks) have always and will always exist. The only difference is now we have the internet to make their ill advised correspondence public.

    1. Rachel*

      I agree! I also hate the fact that many commenters on this post have done the same thing, highlighting the fact that he’s “20-something”. Unfortunately, d-bags like this exist at all ages and career levels.

      1. Anonymous*

        The only reason why I previously highlighted the fact that he is “20-something” is because at his age how could he possibly be this cocky? Yes, he will grow up and be a bigger, cockier, jerk…there are indeed jerks at every level and age. But it’s different to be a jerk at 20-something with apparently a background in pool management and being a 40-something jerk with much more job experience. At 40 I might have a poor attitude but if I’ve accomplished enough by the to be cocky then I might be a little more justified than some little jerk just entering the professional workforce.

    2. Anonymous*

      Totally agree. Unnecessary stereotyping that ignores that assholes like this always have and always will exist.

  30. Jenna*

    Ooof. Dummy. He pulled a major d-bag move and invoked BMW’s name. The repercussions of embarrassing the company you work for are very real. That’s common sense, Office Politics 101. If he’s dense enough to not know this by the time he’s in college (and at the most “prestigious” international business program in the country even!), then it’s a lesson he will be (and should be) learning the hard way.

    I can only imagine the laughs that his future employers and co-workers at BMW are having at the over-inflated ego of this intern and his vast misunderstanding of where he is on the corporate ladder. This attitude (and email confirming it) is a sure-fire way to guarantee you’re the coffee fetching, photocopy making errand boy through the entirety of your Very Competitive Internship.

  31. Sean*

    Here’s my question…if the BMW internship is so great, then why would anyone waste their time with such vitriol. Just say thanks but no thanks and maybe even offer to refer someone who needs a summer job?

  32. Tina*

    I am a 20 something year old and while it’s not my place to decide who is right and who is wrong in this situation, here is my 2 cents:

    1. Because of deuche-bags like this one, I am looked at as the “arrogant 20 something know it all”. I don’t appreciate it because I work hard, work a lot and try really hard to keep my head down and listen to those who can teach me.

    2. If the guy is 10th as intelligent as he claims, he should have known that anything ANYTHING once in writing can and most likely will bite you in the behind..eventually

    3. Yes, the email should absolutely get back to BMW and they can decide what to do with it – there is a chance they will be OK with the attitude…it might be a helpful sales-tool..WHO KNOWS?

    And yes, I am happy that he will most likely lose his internship because these are the people I will end up having to work with, be on the same team with and eventually be measured on “team effort”

    1. Jamie*

      This guy can’t change how people look at you. I have a couple of guys at work who are 20-21 and they are smart, talented, and have really great work ethics.

      I know some people in their forties who could have written that letter…it’s not an age thing, imo. A jerk at 20 will just be an older jerk at 40. A good employee at 20 is someone you want to keep around to be a great employee at 40.

      It would be very shortsighted of anyone to paint an entire demographic with the same brush because one guy had a second helping of hubris for breakfast.

      And count me in on people who really hate being measured on team effort when people like the letter writer are in the mix.

  33. Lisa*

    I feel sorry for the kid, assuming (charitably) he will one day grow up and want to crawl inside his own guts and die every time he remembers this incredibly embarrassing moment. I also hope this does not lead to a cyber bullying incident, as some of the original commenters have apparently identified him.

    However, I do hope he learns from this–and if so, although that cringing every time he thinks of it will HURT, this pool manager will have given him a priceless life lesson that apparently an expensive business degree could not buy. If he does one day end up a CEO, hopefully he’ll remember this and treat his subordinates with courtesy. Or he’ll realize he’s not cut out for management and go do some hard work to build character.

  34. dd*

    I love it. The woman posts this intending to harm the kid and instead clearly shows her ineptitude at management. #1) Don’t demote, fire. #2) Don’t show your boss that people can get to you, and #3) Don’t bother retaliating against someone who is no longer there, go do the job you were hired to do.

    The board should cut her loose tomorrow.

  35. Lisa*

    I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed that this incredibly pompous twit misspelled the word “pool”.

    “…maybe my criticism is unfair. Nonetheless, I still provided much guidance and support as you learned the ropes of managing at the pooll at the rate of a snail in the Indy 500.”

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