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Apple employee gets fired for hilarious standup/poetry routine


I love the 'six degrees of everything' effect of the world wide web. I especially love it on a Sunday morning that is the second day of my spring break, as I have the time to check out this hilarious video of a standup/poetry routing from a talent show on the Apple Campus (thanks to TUAW commenter Mike). While the routine is a riot, what (apparently) came out of it is not: the employee says Apple's VP, who was hosting the event, fired him for it.

I have embedded the video from Google Video in this post, and you'll need Flash to view it. I'd recommend actually going to the post at Google Video and downloading it while you can, before Apple legal attempts to obliterate it from the 'net.

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I love the 'six degrees of everything' effect of the world wide web. I especially love it on a Sunday morning that is the second day of my...
 

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honeybunny

i'm still trying to figure out what was so offensive about his poetry. i'm american and i wasn't the least bit offended with his comments about us being rude, because hey, some of us are. i thought it was pretty damn funny and it's obvious that the VP, as well as many of the commenters here, lack a sense of humor.

no one "deserves" to get fired over a piece of semi-non fiction poetry. i bet 2:1 most of it was elaborated. aren't we all guilty of doing that?

March 21 2006 at 11:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PeterO

ChrisM70: Well said. And, the real size of an iceberg is below the surface. Here, there's an unhealthy ratio between what we know; and, what is assumed.

There are my 2 cents...

March 21 2006 at 10:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ChrisM70

Has anyone taken into consideration that if he was creative enough to write a poem, that it is possible that the whole thing was MADE UP?

Unless there was complaints about his ability in the past, it doesn't seem like it was that much of a big deal.

March 21 2006 at 12:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MrBlank

#19 Ron: It's "you're" not "your."

March 20 2006 at 11:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Kaye

I have owned service-oriented companies in the past. Believe me, it's easier to get good employees than it is good customers. While I personally detest Apple as a company for their arrogance toward customers (especially the dispposable iPod situation), still I agree that a guy such as this standup comic has no place at Apple.

Also, blogs are public, not private. What a person says in private is one thing. What they say in a blog is the equivalent of broadcasting it on ABC.

March 20 2006 at 11:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ronn

I'm a customer service manager. Forgetting the other claims in his poem, I bet there was a complaint from at least one customer about being on hold an inordinate amount of time. He orchestrated his own firing. And I bet he wasn't too surprised, nor upset about it.

March 20 2006 at 1:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ian

If it were up to me, I would have fired him too. His poem was painful.

March 20 2006 at 12:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dimebag

You know, every nationality has their share of Jack@sses It just so happens this Canadian Jack@ss fielded some calls from some American Jack@sses. I found the irony to be the most humerous part of his act. If he could only use his powers for good and not evil, he may have a promising career. I'm quite fond of our Canadian neighbors so I won't hold this guys/some Tuaws readers comments agianst the entire country.

March 20 2006 at 12:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jehan

Good lord, Exidor. Way to be emo. I doubt he puts people on hold so he can go to the Talent Show. I'm pretty sure he logs off the phone.

Oh, apologies. I forgot. Phone support people are supposed to be focused on being on the phone in case you call, 24/7.

It's attitudes like yours that made (and continue to make, for those poor bastards who still do it) giving phone support hell. It's a shame that the guy got canned, despite his inoffensive relaxation methods. And even if he talked trash about the callers on his blog, if he didn't refer to them by name or problem, in my book, it's cool. But that's why my book isn't the Apple Employee Handbook. And I'm willing to bet that you and I, Exidor, write very differently.

March 20 2006 at 12:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
C

Looks like a 3rd-rate impression of a Kids in The Hall routine. It was funny at points, but I think he was trying too hard to be Bruce McCulloch.

March 20 2006 at 11:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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