- 12 hours ago
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00At 6.47 a.m., on a Tuesday that would change everything, I was flat on my back in a
00:05crawl space that smelled like mouse droppings and 20 years of broken promises, troubleshooting why the CEO's $15,000 climate
00:12control system was screaming like a jet engine with a death wish.
00:16Some consultant back in 2019 had wired it into the same electrical panel as the server room, and apparently nobody
00:24thought to check the amperage load. Nobody but me, that is.
00:27But I remember everything. Every wire, every breaker, every shortcut some contractor took when we expanded the East Wing in
00:342014.
00:3621 years of keeping this building alive, and at that exact moment, with a voltmeter in one hand and a
00:42maglite clenched between my teeth, I had no idea I had less than 3 hours before HR would call me
00:48into a conference room to tell me I was redundant.
00:51Funny word, redundant. Like a backup generator. You don't really notice it until the power goes out.
00:56Then you remember pretty quick why it was there. My name is Gregory Monroe.
01:00Greg, to anyone who's ever worked alongside me, which used to be just about everyone in this building, I'm 58
01:05years old.
01:06I've been the chief building engineer at this tech company since 2002, back when there were five employees, one fax
01:12machine held together with electrical tape, and dreams bigger than our bank account.
01:17These days they've got 200 employees, Herman Miller chairs that cost more than my truck, and a CEO who thinks
01:24HVAC stands for have a very acceptable coffee.
01:27That morning started like every other morning for the last 21 years.
01:30Me unlocking the building at 647, 23 minutes before anyone else, with the original brass key they gave me back
01:37when this place was above a Thai restaurant, and we couldn't afford real office furniture.
01:42I kept that key on a steel ring with 13 others, each one labeled in my handwriting.
01:47Each one a little piece of this building's history that lived in my head and nowhere else.
01:52The cleaning crew had left somebody's takeout container in the break room sink again.
01:56Someone from marketing had abandoned sushi in the mini-fridge over the weekend.
02:00The kombucha had exploded.
02:02Not technically my job, not in any contract I ever signed.
02:06But guess who scraped fermented tea off the inside of a smart fridge at 7 in the morning?
02:11This guy.
02:12Some days I felt like the load-bearing wall in this building.
02:16Invisible, taken for granted, only noticed when something cracked.
02:19I held everything together while they built floors on top of me, and I did it in silence.
02:25Because that's what you do.
02:26That's what my old man taught me when I was 19, and he handed me his 1952 Craftsman toolbox and
02:31said,
02:31You do the work right, or you don't do it at all.
02:34I kept that toolbox in my truck.
02:36Still had his socket wrenches organized the same way he did.
02:39That toolbox had more value to me than any plaque they never gave me, or any bonus they never thought
02:44to offer.
02:44The CEO thought I was maintenance.
02:46My business card said Chief Building Engineer, but Phil Ashford couldn't tell a circuit breaker from a cappuccino machine.
02:52My inbox had 4,700 unread work orders from people who couldn't change a light bulb without submitting a ticket
02:59in triplicate.
03:00And I handled every single one, because that's the job.
03:04That's always been the job.
03:06It got worse when they brought in Tyler Brooks as the new HR director.
03:10Fresh out of grad school, all teeth and buzzwords.
03:13Kid wore Patagonia vests, bought with venture capital, and talked about cultural fit like he'd invented the concept.
03:20Probably thought union was a type of caramelized onion.
03:23Once asked me where the Ethernet cable went.
03:25I told him the same place his performance review was headed, if he didn't learn how things actually worked around
03:31here.
03:32He didn't laugh.
03:32I didn't go to fancy business schools.
03:35Never wore a suit that cost more than a mortgage payment.
03:38But I knew that building.
03:39Not like a property manager knows a building, but like you know your own truck.
03:43Which pipes moan before a storm.
03:45Which thermostat freaked out when humidity hit 70%.
03:48Where the main electrical panel made a sound like a rattlesnake if you opened it too fast.
03:53I'd kept this company breathing through power surges, pipe bursts, server room floods, and four CEOS worth of terrible decisions.
04:01And they just forgot.
04:03No recognition.
04:04No handwritten thank you notes.
04:05Just once, after I stayed until midnight to restore power during an ice storm that would have cost them $200
04:11,000 in lost server data.
04:13The old VP gave me a half-eaten protein bar and said,
04:17You're a saint, Gary.
04:18My name's Greg.
04:19After a while, I stopped correcting people.
04:21That lease, the one that let us squat and prime downtown real estate for a fraction of market rate.
04:27I negotiated that back in 2002 when we couldn't get a landlord to return our calls.
04:33Company had five employees and couldn't even get approved for a credit card.
04:37The founder, Randy Foster, sat across from me at a diner and said,
04:41Greg, if you don't co-sign this lease, we'll be working out of my garage.
04:45My wife will kill me.
04:46I didn't co-sign it.
04:47I signed the whole thing.
04:48Put the lease in my name.
04:50Use my credit because nobody else could.
04:52Randy promised it was just temporary.
04:54Just until we got on our feet.
04:56Said he'd transfer it to the company once we stabilized.
04:59I trusted him.
05:00We both forgot to follow up on that promise and 21 years later, my name was still on every renewal.
05:06After that first year, it was always me who handled the lease paperwork.
05:09Me who dealt with the property manager.
05:12Me who coordinated the HVAC upgrades, the carpet replacements, the time we had a weird smell in Sweet Bee that
05:19turned out to be a dead squirrel in the insulation.
05:21They never asked about the lease.
05:23Never even thought to check.
05:25I didn't mind at first.
05:26Back then, they felt like family.
05:28But like most families, they eventually forgot who kept the lights on.
05:32You ever walk into a room you've spent two decades maintaining and suddenly realize nobody sees you unless the printer
05:38jams or there's a power outage?
05:40That was me.
05:42Invisible until things broke.
05:43Then suddenly I was everyone's dad and janitor rolled into one, expected to fix everything with a smile and a
05:49can-do attitude.
05:50So I kept showing up.
05:51Quiet.
05:52Competent.
05:53Reliable as sunrise.
05:54That's what you do when you believe in something.
05:56When you think loyalty means something.
05:59When you still believe that doing good work will be enough.
06:02Then came that Monday.
06:03HR sent an all-staff email about strategic realignment opportunities, which in corporate speak is like the mob saying,
06:11Let's go for a ride.
06:12My gut went cold.
06:13I'd seen enough executives cry into their laptops during layoff meetings to know what was coming.
06:18I was next, and I wasn't going to cry.
06:20I'd already started remembering things they'd forgotten they owed me.
06:24The meeting invite came at 4.58pm.
06:27Just as I was replacing a burned-out ballast in the conference room.
06:31Subject line, quick sync with HR.
06:33No context.
06:34No warning.
06:35Just a calendar event dropped onto my day like a turd in a punch bowl.
06:38I showed up the next morning at 9 sharp, wearing my denim work shirt with the company logo I'd been
06:44wearing since 2004,
06:46and my polished work boots.
06:48Those boots had seen four CEOs, one office fire, and a baby shower that ended in a very messy divorce.
06:55They were my armor.
06:57Tyler from HR was already seated in conference room B, smiling like a guidance counselor about to expel a student.
07:03Next to him, some guy from legal I'd never met before.
07:06Slicked hair, expensive shoes, and a folder he kept stroking like it contained nuclear launch codes.
07:12Greg, thanks for coming in.
07:13Tyler chirped.
07:15We wanted to have a restructuring conversation.
07:17That word, restructuring.
07:19I'd heard it before, held other people's hands through it, covered their shifts afterward.
07:23I knew the playbook.
07:24First the smile, then the folder.
07:27Then the apology that wasn't really an apology.
07:29We're going in a new direction, Tyler said.
07:32Modernizing operations.
07:33I stared at him.
07:34That direction wouldn't happen to include me, would it?
07:37Silence.
07:38Then the lawyer slid the folder across the table.
07:41Inside, a generic severance package with more red tape than a crime scene.
07:46Three months pay.
07:47NDA clause.
07:49Health insurance until the end of the quarter.
07:51Real generous.
07:52The letter didn't even get my name right.
07:54Called me Gregory J.
07:55Monroe.
07:5621 years and they couldn't spell the name on the lease.
07:58We're asking for your badge and keys today, the lawyer added.
08:02Monotone.
08:03Also, any company property in your possession.
08:05I took a breath that could have cracked concrete.
08:08Reached into my bag.
08:09Set the badge on the table like a poker chip I was done playing.
08:13Next, the keys.
08:14All 14 of them.
08:15Labeled in my handwriting from 2004.
08:18Back when I stayed late to re-key the entire building myself because the old lock system was
08:23a security nightmare.
08:24You sure?
08:25I asked.
08:26Eyes locked on Tyler.
08:27He blinked.
08:28I'm sorry?
08:28You sure you want these?
08:30I held up the key ring.
08:31Last chance to think it through.
08:33Tyler gave me that HR face.
08:35Sympathetic.
08:36Professional.
08:37Fake as margarine.
08:38It's not personal, Greg.
08:39Sure it isn't.
08:41I stood up, buttoned my work shirt, and picked up that sad little severance folder.
08:45You just fired the only person in this building who knows where the main water shutoff is.
08:50Good luck with that.
08:51I walked out before I could say something that'd feel good for 10 seconds and cost me the next
08:5510 years.
08:56The sun hit my face like a slap.
08:58The sidewalk hummed with people who had no idea they'd just watched a building sign its
09:03own death warrant.
09:04I didn't cry.
09:05Not after 21 years of fixing their mistakes, calming their panicked interns keeping their
09:10precious servers cool.
09:12They wanted to forget me?
09:13Fine.
09:14But they'd forgotten too much.
09:15I didn't drive straight home.
09:16I pulled into a coffee shop parking lot, killed the engine, and sat there for a minute.
09:21Then I called Leo Bishop.
09:23Leo was my neighbor's kid.
09:25Grew up mowing my lawn for 20 bucks and cold lemonade.
09:28Now he's a real estate attorney with a Bluetooth headset permanently attached to his skull and
09:33a nervous twitch when people say the word arbitration.
09:36He picked up on the second ring.
09:38Greg, everything okay?
09:39No, I said, but it's about to be.
09:41You remember that lease we drew up in 2002?
09:44A pause, then a low whistle.
09:45Oh, that lease.
09:47Yep, do they know?
09:48I smiled for the first time that day.
09:50Not a warm smile.
09:51A dangerous one.
09:53They just asked for the keys.
09:54So I think it's time I gave them everything they asked for.
09:57My house smelled like WD-40 in old Clint Eastwood movies.
10:01My way of staying sane, I dropped my bag by the door, kicked off my boots, and walked
10:06straight to the garage where I kept the important things.
10:09Not in a filing cabinet.
10:10In my father's craftsman toolbox, red metal dented to hell, 1952.
10:16Top drawer, under the socket wrenches, the lease.
10:18I spread it out on my workbench like a blueprint.
10:2121 years old, coffee stained, held together with spite and staples.
10:25Original lease agreement.
10:27Seven amendments.
10:28A receipt for the lobby rug I bought in 2003 before the company could afford real furniture.
10:34Even a crayon drawing from Randy's daughter.
10:36Back when the office was one room above that Thai place and smelled like pad thai in desperation.
10:42Page 12.
10:43Section 9b.
10:44Renewal of lease term shall require written notice from lessee no later than 30 days prior
10:50to expiration.
10:51I checked the expiration date.
10:53August 1st.
10:54Today was August 3rd.
10:55Two days late, they hadn't sent an email.
10:57Hadn't made a phone call.
10:58Not even a certified letter to the property manager.
11:01They were so busy celebrating their upcoming IPO and playing musical chairs with executive
11:06titles that they forgot to renew the lease on the building that housed their entire operation.
11:11I sat back in my garage chair.
11:13Cracked open a Coors.
11:15A smile crawled across my face.
11:17The kind you wear when you realize the universe just handed you a winning lottery ticket.
11:21They'd just fired the leaseholder.
11:23And now they were trespassing.
11:25I picked up my phone and started checking.
11:27Insurance policy?
11:28Still in my name.
11:29HVAC service contract?
11:31Renewed last year under my direct email.
11:33Cleaning service?
11:34They only showed up because I Venmo'd the manager every month out of my own pocket.
11:39Utilities?
11:40Routed through a business account I'd opened with the city back in 2005 when the power used
11:46to cut out every time someone microwaved popcorn and printed a document at the same time.
11:51Everything that mattered still ran through me.
11:53I was the invisible infrastructure.
11:55And they'd just asked me to leave.
11:57I could have warned them.
11:58Could have sent an email with a subject line like,
12:01Hey, you forgot something important.
12:02That's what the old Greg would have done.
12:04The Greg who believed loyalty was a two-way street.
12:07But that Greg got handed a severance package with his name spelled wrong after 21 years of
12:13keeping the lights on.
12:14So I closed the lease folder.
12:16I finished my beer.
12:17And I decided, for the first time in two decades,
12:20to shut up and let them walk off the cliff they'd built for themselves.
12:24I wore my good boots to the meeting with Thomas Weber, the property manager.
12:28Not because I needed to impress anyone, but because they made a solid sound on marble floors.
12:34I wanted to be heard coming.
12:35Thomas looked up from his computer when I walked into his fourth floor office.
12:39He was the kind of guy who had 17 different highlighters on his desk and always smelled
12:43like fresh printer toner.
12:45Greg, he said, surprised.
12:47Didn't expect to see you.
12:48I smiled.
12:49Just here to clarify some things about the lease.
12:51I pulled out my folder and handed him the documentation.
12:55Original lease.
12:56All seven amendments.
12:57Everything pristine.
12:58Right down to that crayon drawing from Randy's kid during our 2009 renewal meeting.
13:03I want to confirm something, I said.
13:05There was no written renewal request submitted by July 1st.
13:08Correct?
13:10He clicked through his computer like it owed him money.
13:12Uh, no, not from the company.
13:14Nothing logged.
13:15I assumed they were going month to month while they worked out a new deal.
13:19I nodded.
13:20Under clause 9b, that converts to month to month tenancy automatically.
13:24Which means either party can terminate with 30 days notice.
13:27Thomas leaned back.
13:28His chair creaked like old knees.
13:30Technically, yes.
13:32I pulled another paper from my bag.
13:34Thick stock.
13:35Official letterhead Leo had drafted up.
13:37I'd like to formally notify you of lease termination.
13:40Effective in 30 days.
13:41His eyebrows shot up.
13:43Wait, you're terminating it?
13:44Yep, as the lessee of record.
13:45I've already lined up a replacement tenant.
13:48They're paying triple the current rate.
13:50The new tenant was a wellness company called Bloom Haven, run by a woman named Morgan Callahan.
13:55I'd met her at a farmer's market last year while buying tomatoes, mentioned the building space casually about six months
14:01back.
14:02She'd been waiting for my call ever since.
14:04Young, loaded with investor money, desperate for downtown space to install their meditation pods and air purification systems.
14:12Thomas ran a hand through his thinning hair.
14:14This is going to be messy.
14:16Messy, I said standing up, is what they handed me after two decades.
14:20I'm just returning the favor.
14:22Back home, I filed the eviction notice through the county portal.
14:25Paid extra to expedite.
14:27The confirmation email hit my inbox with a satisfying ding.
14:30Then, like clockwork, HR emailed me.
14:33Subject, confirmation to return property.
14:35Dear Greg, hope you're doing well.
14:37We're reaching out to confirm you've returned all company property, including documentation, keys, badges, and other physical or digital assets.
14:45Please respond to confirm.
14:47Best, Tyler.
14:48I didn't hesitate.
14:49Clicked reply all because I knew Tyler loved to CC half the company to make himself look busy.
14:54Yes, including the ones you forgot I had.
14:57I hit send and leaned back in my chair.
14:59That night, I couldn't sleep.
15:01Not from guilt.
15:02From something else.
15:03I kept thinking about Randy's daughter.
15:05She'd be in her thirties now.
15:06Probably didn't even remember the crayon drawing in that lease folder.
15:10Didn't remember sitting on my workbench while her dad and I figured out how to keep the lights on with
15:15duct tape and hope.
15:16I wondered if she knew what her father's company had become.
15:19If she'd be proud or ashamed.
15:21Then I remembered something my old man used to say.
15:23Back when he was teaching me how to wire a panel box.
15:27Greg, you do good work because that's who you are.
15:29Not because of who's watching.
15:31I wasn't doing this to them.
15:32I was doing this for the guy I used to be.
15:34The one who believed showing up and doing it right would be enough.
15:38The one who deserved better than a misspelled name and a severance check that couldn't even cover three months of
15:43keeping that building alive.
15:45I owed him this.
15:46The guilt disappeared.
15:47The sleep came easy after that.
15:49Two mornings later, I stood in my garage with a cup of black coffee and the certified letter in my
15:54other hand.
15:55Heavy envelope.
15:56Reel ink signature.
15:58County court stamp.
15:59Plaintiff, Gregory Monroe.
16:01Defendant.
16:02Company occupant.
16:03Suite 201 to 221.
16:05Subject, notice of termination and demand to vacate premises.
16:09My name in bold at the top.
16:10Spelled correctly.
16:12Across town, the same envelope landed at reception around 9.15 a.m.
16:16The property manager had sent it priority mail and emailed a PDF copy for good measure.
16:22Standard procedure.
16:2430-day notice.
16:25Tenant failed to renew.
16:26New occupancy scheduled.
16:28Vacate or respond through legal channels.
16:30Problem was, the receptionist that day was a temp.
16:34Name tag said Amber in Glitter Pen.
16:36She probably thought it was junk mail and tossed it in recycling between expired protein bars and a broken laminator.
16:42Meanwhile, upstairs in the executive suite, the leadership team was busy admiring their own reflections.
16:48IPO talks.
16:50Branding refreshes.
16:52Someone was giving a presentation about disrupting verticals.
16:55Whatever that meant.
16:56Too busy disrupting industries they didn't understand to notice they'd forgotten to renew the lease on the building that housed
17:03their disruption.
17:04At exactly 8.03 a.m.
17:06The following Monday, Tyler strolled into the building like a motivational speaker late to his own seminar.
17:13Oat milk latte in hand.
17:15Patagonia vest zipped up like armor against accountability.
17:18By 8.08, he was standing in front of Phil's office with his jaw hanging like a broken gate.
17:24Fluorescent orange eviction notice.
17:26Laminated.
17:26Zip tied to the door handle.
17:28Notice to vacate property.
17:30Breach of lease terms.
17:3172 hours.
17:32He pulled out his phone, fingers shaking like he'd overdosed on cold brew.
17:36Tried to peel the notice off, but it held fast like judgment.
17:40By 8.30, Phil arrived.
17:42Unshaven.
17:43Bluetooth headset in one ear.
17:44Probably thought he was walking into another crushing it kind of morning.
17:48Instead, he found Tyler pacing, the marketing team rubbernecking,
17:52and a legal document zip tied to his door like a game over screen.
17:56He yanked it off.
17:57Read it.
17:58Blinked.
17:58Read it again.
18:00By 9.02, his phone rang.
18:02Thomas Weber, property manager.
18:04Mr. Ashford, this is to confirm enforcement of lease termination.
18:07We notified you via certified mail and email over two weeks ago.
18:11We received no response.
18:12What?
18:13We never got...
18:14The notice was sent to your registered business address.
18:17Delivered and signed for.
18:18We assumed your silence was intentional.
18:21By 10.20, someone finally figured out who the plaintiff was.
18:24Tyler opened his laptop, pulled up the scanned court documents.
18:27There it was.
18:28Plain as daylight.
18:29Plaintiff.
18:30Gregory Monroe.
18:31Wait, Greg?
18:32Our Greg?
18:33Walt Kruger from Facilities, one of the good ones, nodded from the break room doorway.
18:38Told you something was weird.
18:40The call came at 7.42 p.m.
18:42Emus.
18:43I was organizing socket wrenches in my dad's toolbox because a man needs order somewhere in this world.
18:49The screen lit up with a name I hadn't seen since the Christmas party where he forgot mine.
18:54Ashford Phillip.
18:55CEO.
18:56I let it ring twice.
18:57Three times.
18:58Picked up on the fourth.
19:00Monroe speaking.
19:01He didn't waste time.
19:02What the hell is going on?
19:04You can't do this.
19:05I put him on speaker, poured myself two fingers of whiskey, and leaned against my workbench like I was settling
19:11in for my favorite ball game.
19:13I absolutely can.
19:14And I did.
19:15Read your lease.
19:16You're evicting an entire company.
19:17Do you have any idea what this looks like?
19:19The board's losing it.
19:21We've got press everywhere.
19:22Our investors.
19:23I cut him off.
19:24Phil, let me stop you right there.
19:26You fired the person who held the keys.
19:28All of them.
19:29Building legal operational.
19:30You didn't even ask who signed the lease.
19:32We assumed that's the problem.
19:34You assumed.
19:35About everything.
19:36About me.
19:37About what I was worth.
19:38About what would happen if you threw me away like a used air filter.
19:42Silence on the other end.
19:43Heavy breathing.
19:44You blindsided us, he finally said.
19:46Number.
19:47I responded to being blindsided.
19:49Difference is, I came prepared.
19:50This doesn't just come back on you.
19:52The board is going to, they'll do what they always do.
19:55Protect themselves.
19:56Maybe throw you under the bus if they're hungry enough.
19:59But they won't call me.
20:00Because I have the paperwork and Bloomhaven already wired the first two months rent.
20:05That shut him up.
20:06Just to clarify, I continued.
20:08I didn't sell the company out.
20:09I just stopped carrying it on my back.
20:11The line went quiet.
20:13Then disconnected.
20:14By Friday morning, the company was in full panic mode.
20:17Throwing money at every commercial landlord within 10 miles.
20:20Too little.
20:21Too late.
20:22Monday morning hit like a falling piano.
20:24Down on 6th Street, they were wheeling Herman Miller chairs and half-empty Keurig pods into
20:29a rented U-Haul with one missing taillight.
20:31Tyler wore sunglasses the size of dinner plates.
20:34Someone had taped printer paper to the truck.
20:37Strategic relocation.
20:38Then came the moment.
20:40Phil, tan sweet.
20:41Sweat stained.
20:42Completely lost it.
20:43A folding chair flew from his hands and smacked the side of the U-Haul with a hollow clang.
20:47Someone posted the video within minutes.
20:49Three hours later, it hit every tech blog in the region.
20:52I drove by at 3.47pm.
20:54Not to gloat, but to see it finished.
20:57The U-Haul was pulling away.
20:59One taillight still busted.
21:00The building stood empty for the first time since 2002.
21:04Through the glass doors, I could see Bloomhaven's crew already measuring for their meditation
21:08pods.
21:09Morgan Callahan waved from the lobby.
21:11I rolled down my window.
21:13All yours, I said.
21:14You built something solid here, Greg.
21:16We'll honor that.
21:17I nodded.
21:18Didn't need her to honor it.
21:19I just needed them to remember that foundations matter.
21:23That the people who know where the pipes run and the wires go aren't interchangeable parts.
21:28I drove home the long way, past the diner where Randy and I signed that first lease 23 years ago.
21:33It's a Starbucks now.
21:35Everything changes.
21:36Everything except the lesson I learned too late.
21:39Loyalty without reciprocity is just free labor with a smile.
21:43Walt called me two days later.
21:45Said he'd quit.
21:46Couldn't stomach working for people who'd throw away two decades of a man's life over
21:50a misspelled severance letter.
21:52What are you going to do now?
21:53He asked.
21:54I looked at my father's toolbox.
21:55At the phone that hadn't stopped ringing with calls from other building managers who'd
21:59heard what happened and wanted someone who actually knew what a load-bearing wall was.
22:04Same thing I've always done.
22:05I said.
22:06The work.
22:07Just for people who remember to say thank you.
22:09Three months later, I was consulting for four downtown buildings, making double what I made
22:14before, setting my own hours.
22:16Every contract I signed, I made sure my name was spelled right.
22:19That evening, I stood in my garage with a cup of black coffee and looked at the wall.
22:23Next to my dad's photo and my first paycheck from 1981, I mounted a small brass hook.
22:29I pulled the original office key from 2002 out of my pocket, hung it there like a trophy.
22:34Not as a reminder of what I lost, but as proof of what I built.
22:38And what I took back.
22:39They thought I was obsolete.
22:41I just changed employers.
22:4221 years they took for granted.
22:4421 years I showed up, fixed things, kept the wheels turning while they built their dreams
22:50on top of my back.
22:51They wanted me redundant.
22:52I reminded them I was foundational.
22:54They forgot I was the load-bearing wall.
22:57And when a load-bearing wall walks away, the whole building comes down.
23:01Turns out, competence never retires.
23:03It just finds better clients.
Comments