ANNIE’S MAILBOX: She’s fired up over getting fired

August 28, 2010 at 10:20a.m.

By Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar

Dear Annie: I just got fired yesterday. In all my 18 years of working, I have never been fired. I was completely blindsided. My boss never addressed any issues she had with me. Yesterday, she called me into her office and simply said, “It’s not working out. I don’t think you’re a good fit.”

I was outraged at her approach and “reason” for firing me. She’s new and has never been in management before. I am the second person she has fired since she became boss six months ago. My question is, should I contact her supervisor and let him know how things went down? I want to express how unfair and unreasonable she was.

Kay

Dear Kay: You certainly have little to lose by registering a complaint with a supervisor, and it could help this woman do a better job. But keep in mind that she may have been hired to thin the ranks, and unless you were indispensable, you were destined to be fired. We wish you the best of luck.

Dear Annie: Our grandparents are in their 80s and have been using more and more mothballs around the house. After a 10-minute visit, we smell like camphor. Any food Grandma sends home with us tastes like chemicals.

Grandma and Grandpa are very involved with their community and attend functions smelling like mothballs. I’m sure they cannot smell it themselves.

Please alert your readers that mothballs can be toxic. Here are some safety tips and alternatives to save your woolens without poisoning yourself:

Air out your clothes in the sun, or run them through a warm clothes dryer before wearing them.

Clean your clothes before storage. Moth larvae rely on perspiration residue for essential vitamins.

Store woolens in airtight containers.

Line closets with cedar.

Use natural repellent sachets made from herbs such as lavender, lemon and santolina instead of mothballs.

Use mothballs only according to the directions.

Concerned Grandchildren

Dear Concerned: Mothballs may contain naphthalene, a chemical associated with anemia, headaches and seizures. Newer mothballs likely contain paradichlorobenzene, which has been linked to kidney and liver disease. If you can smell the mothballs on your grandparents, it means they are overexposed. Make them a gift of some cedar balls or herbal sachets, and insist on replacing the mothballs at your next visit.

Dear Annie: I’d like to respond to “Gargantuan Freak,” whose husband and family members think she’s so huge at 5 feet 9 inches tall and 150 pounds.

I am 22, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weigh 125 pounds. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called names. It’s all about how you carry yourself. Embrace your body. It’s the greatest thing you’ll ever own.

Long-Legged Freak

E-mail your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

Creators Syndicate