scrambler Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 A German man who survived five days in the Alps in freezing temperatures by eating snow has been fired because he missed work. The 41-year-old hiker found himself stuck on the 2,962-metre-high Zugspitze, one of the Alps' highest peaks, when a sudden snow storm swept in. Speaking from his hospital bed in Reutte, Tyrol, Milnik said: "I'm a bit of an adventurer and definitely an outdoors man. I hate being indoors. On weekends I usually try to get out and about. Employer Schroeder & Uehlken, who dispatched the dismissal letter to the hospital as soon as they found out what happened, rejected criticism they were being unfair. "We hired him as a consultant for a special one-year project and he is already behind deadline. And all because of his foolhardy exploits. We just can't take the risk of having him on this project anymore." Man fired after being stranded on mountain top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWolfe Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Things that seem inopportune often are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 If the guy is hired to do a job, he'd better do it. A bad break for sure, but is it his employer's responsibility to accommodate this guy's personal priorities when they collide with their own goals? Things you risk losing when you climb: Fingers Toes limbs Equipment Wife/Girlfriend Life Job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 What's his name - you know the "Contract With America", Mister-Moral-Majority dipshit whose name escapes me - served his wife with divorce papers while she was in hospital undergoing chemo- and radiation therapy for cancer. There's an Asshole for you. I think that came under the "traditional family values" part of the Contract, didn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrambler Posted November 5, 2003 Author Share Posted November 5, 2003 Was that the Newt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 That's it - Gingritch. Whatta sanctimonious prick that guy was. Wonder what he's doing now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 What's that got to do with the thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Fairweather said: What's that got to do with the thread? Just comparing assholes. If we're going to discuss this asshole employer, it's always useful to have some sort of standard of assholeness against which to rate them. I would argue that Newt's behaviour demonstrated a degree of assholeness at least equivalent to, and perhaps exceeding that of the employer in question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Oh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrambler Posted November 5, 2003 Author Share Posted November 5, 2003 Yeah, I thought the bit about receiving notice while in the hospital is crappy in any case. Newt is a piece of work but I forget why he fell from favor. Could you imagine what it would be like if your employer didn't approve of your weekend climbing activities? I had a former employer who didn't quite understand the lure of climbing but who fortunately didn't intrude on my recreational life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobBob Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 If I may, I'd like to interject a chestbeat for a friend who says he was told by German ski-pals who talked him into it that he was the first Amerikaner to ski down the Zugspitze. His elderly mother found out about it later and told him he was a "fucking idiot." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 I see Newt quite often working as a political analyst on Fox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratboy Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Newt Gingrich is currently on the Defense Policy Board, advisory board to the Pentagon and Department of Defense and chock full of Rumsfeld's and Wolfowitz's neo-conservative buddies. Fellow members include Henry Kissinger, Richard Perle and Dan Quayle. I kid you not. Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Fairweather said: If the guy is hired to do a job, he'd better do it. A bad break for sure, but is it his employer's responsibility to accommodate this guy's personal priorities when they collide with their own goals? Things you risk losing when you climb: Fingers Toes limbs Equipment Wife/Girlfriend Life Job Fairweather, we can always count on you to stick up for the Corporate Giants, while the little guy keeps getting squashed like a bug. Hey, let no man accuse you of being inconsistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 We ought to dump on these assholes: http://www.schroeder-uehlken.de/ Here's their e-mail address: info@schroeder-uehlken.de Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_harpell Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 catbirdseat said: We ought to dump on these assholes: http://www.schroeder-uehlken.de/ Here's their e-mail address: info@schroeder-uehlken.de whatever! the guy is a temp and he comes in a few days late... that is what happens in the real world... now i know why so many of you are jobless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrambler Posted November 5, 2003 Author Share Posted November 5, 2003 I'm not categorizing all employers, just acknowledging that there are assholes out there. I don't know all the circumstances with the guy that was fired, maybe he had legitimate reasons for missing the project deadline. My main objection is the method of firing. Isn't it like kicking a man when he's down or a sick woman in Newt's case? The bottom line (company profits) shouldn't be the only criteria of importance in defining the occupational relationship. There should be a certain measure of dignity, not pity, given to the employee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 You'd think an employer would be concerned with its public image. This particular one didn't count on being pickup by Ananova. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Watch it, I'm sure fairweather is a huge Newt Gingrich fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratboy Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 JoshK said: Watch it, I'm sure fairweather is a huge Newt Gingrich fan. I couldn't possibly care less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gslater Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 scott_harpell said: catbirdseat said: We ought to dump on these assholes: http://www.schroeder-uehlken.de/ Here's their e-mail address: info@schroeder-uehlken.de whatever! the guy is a temp and he comes in a few days late... that is what happens in the real world... now i know why so many of you are jobless. Agreed. Reading the original article provides a bit more detail. It's not the first time for the guy. And besides, he apparently wasn't bright enough to check out the weather, and he apparently neglected to let anyone know when to expect him back. If someone had started a search for him promptly, perhaps he wouldn't have missed work. Sounds like a bit of a flake; not necessarily someone I'd want working for me.... Classic quote from the guy: "I didn't know the weather was due to turn bad and I thought I'd be back in Munich the next day" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Maybe the guy needs to take the Mountaineers Basic Climbing Course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_harpell Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 catbirdseat said: Maybe the guy needs to take the Mountaineers Basic Climbing Course. mabe he needs to learn some responsiblity; for employment and also for his safety in the mountains and also thsoe that are eventually gonna have to risk their lives yanking his frozen corpse off a mountain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhead_Mojo Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 scott_harpell said:mabe he needs to learn some responsiblity; for employment and also for his safety in the mountains and also thsoe that are eventually gonna have to risk their lives yanking his frozen corpse off a mountain. word up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 1) we don't know what happened the 1st time (5 minutes late? car break down? mother in the hospital?) 2) the article is equivocal regarding the weather. it says 'sudden snow storm'. note that it is consistent with not knowing that the weather was going to turn bad. 3) as far as not notifying anyone of his whereabout, it may be something he never does for philosophical reasons or it may be that he decided to go at the last minute in the middle of the night and he lives alone, etc ... 4) the work project may have an unrealistic deadline as is not uncommon or he is behind because he missed 5days of work while stranded. etc ... basically we don't know. a little quick to judge, no? there is one thing that we pretty much know however. he did not have to learn of his dismissal while lying on a hospital bed and facing the prospect of losing digits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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