Career Horror Stories: The Setup
“I overheard my coworker talking about how much he makes. That’s when I realized I was set up. Let me tell you how that went.
“You ever see the movie Blow? The part I want to talk about is in the middle, after Johnny Depp’s character gets out of prison for the first time. He gets locked up when his ex-wife tips off the police, and he ends up doing 3 years in prison. And he misses out on seeing his young daughter’s first few years, except for family visits.
“But after he gets out he gets the idea to go back and make one last deal. And when it’s done, he’ll be able to lock in the money he needs and get out of the game for good and everything will be great. So he calls up some old buddies and the deal comes together really smoothly. Like it’s too good to be true.
“But it’s a setup, of course. The whole time he’s doing the deal, meeting people and shaking hands and smiling and lining up the shipments, he thinks he’s untouchable. But he’s walking right into a trap. And the part that really hurts is this:
Everyone can see it happening but him.
“They’re watching him play right into their hands. So at the perfect time, when they have him exactly where they want him, they can spring the trap and the cops rush in and he ends up in prison again for 20 more years. They got him again. He lets everybody down. And this time, no family visits.
“That’s how I felt when I walked into that last interview for this job, thinking I was just breezing through, doing great. I got the offer, and although the salary wasn’t quite what I had hoped, things were going so well I just assumed the offer was on the higher end of the range. I didn’t want to push my luck so I took it. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, right?
“Thing is, I’m in the parking lot right now and I just overheard another coworker on his phone, talking about his salary with his fiancee. He does the same job as me, and from what I heard, it sounds like I ended up walking away from probably an extra $15,000 a year.
“Was my manager laughing to herself when I accepted that offer? I know, I know. It’s just business, but it really feels like a setup to me.”
