Why I Got Fired from Apple Computer

Catchy title, eh? Apparently lots of other netizens think so too, because local poet Big Poppa E's auto-biographical short of that very subject has been propagating its way around the internet for the last week or so. It's a hysterical video that showcases E's inaugural -- and HR-action provoking -- performance of one of our favourites, Oh! Canadian FedEx Lady! As an added bonus, it includes footage from an Apple Employee Talent Contest. Yeah, you heard us. Apple employees... performing.

E hosts the video on his own website, but you can also see it here, here, here, here, or here. Even Video.Google has it, here.

As you know, we love Big Poppa E's work (imitation is the highest form of flattery, no?), and we feel you really can't go wrong with any of his videos, but we think it's exciting to see him get a little extra attention. We're wondering...could BPE be the next Internet Phenomenon?

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By Julie Holden in Other on March 21, 2006 6:13 PM 0 Comments

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Jooley Ann

I asked, and he said he never found out what the deal was. He had a solid performance record (call centers are very big on metrics), and was on track to convert from temp to perm. Obviously if his boss asked him to do his poetry at the talent show, he was a well-liked part of the team (heck, just listen to the audience responses on the video...).

He says, "I did the talent show, and two days later they fired me with no explanation.... They told me my services were no longer needed, and when I asked why, they said that I was a temp, therefore they didn't have to tell me why."

In an amusing, instant-karma kind of way, some poor HR person had to pack his cube, which was something of a work of art in its own right....

http://www.brokenword.org/cubicle.html

Theories? I have my own, which is that the veep was pissed when E said, at the end of the poem, that he'd left his stupid, rude, mean American customer on hold for five minutes while he wrote the poem. And, the audience cheered.