WATCH YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE TURN INTO HARDENED EXPIERENCE - Independent Observer/Participant Irvine Company Employee Review

Before you decide to delve into my anonymous rant about this evil corporation and there infinite growth paradigm, know that I only write this to potentially save a few more good spirits from wasting years being underpaid and overworked. Below will give you realest “Irvine Experience” imaginable! Imagine you are the only gate agent for a huge airline and the last flight to Denver is only half full. Corporate decides to cancel the flight, leaving dozens of passengers stranded. As they all stand in a line stewing, you are on the phone with corporate asking why, or shall I say, attempting to reach corporate so you can give these client’s an honest answer why a flight would be cancelled when weather clearly isn’t a factor. The clients/passengers/residents begin to get more frustrated as you can’t give them an answer. Corporate continues to duck your phone calls and stay in “meetings” or “behind closed doors” and you eventually have to give these folks a response. You couldn’t possibly tell them the truth, “that it’s more profitable for you guys to fly on the flight the following morning, as that one is also half full.” So you start to spin, speaking of a potential Bigfoot sighting at Denver International or that you heard “it’s not safe to fly at night on a full moon”. Replace cancelled flight with “emergent repair” and replace Bigfoot with “must be the California drought”, now add the minimum wage of most major cities, now repeat. Solve = Resident Services Rep, Irvine Corporation. If you can just hang in there for a few years Irvine Company will make you an assistant manager, well actually not yet. First you must work a few more years with all of the responsibilities of a manager, but still have the title and be compensated as a leasing consultant, etc. The key here is DON’T complain about your increased responsibility and poverty-level comp. Be patient, continue pouring your heart and soul into this position. At this point, Irvine Corp will usually hire the next assistant manager externally, as you are way too valuable to be removed from your current role. Don’t you worry, the next one is going to be yours but remember don’t complain. You’ve now been with Irvine Corp for twelve years, you’re a manager, and have a few complexes under your belt. You’re still grossly underpaid but hey, you’re a manager! You sit back in your office, in a meeting of course, and watch youthful innocence slowly be corrupted into hardened experience. You justify watching the new hires transform from light beings to darkness entities by thinking, "Hey, it’s part of the process. I was once there too”. And then your phone rings and a young lady from corporate asks you to take a trip to Irvine to meet with your VP. Your thoughts race, “we’ve never been more profitable even through this recession! What would they want to see me for? Perhaps a promotion? Did all the hard work pay off???” It turns out, you were so effective, that they believe they can merge your pod with the pod down the street, and one manager can handle both. It turns out Tim, an external hire, has his degree. You unfortunately were forced to drop out of college so you could focus on your role as resident services rep years earlier and just haven't had the time to get back to school with the amount of work required by Irvine company. Even though you have been with Irvine company eight years longer than Tim, senior management explains to you how important that degree is. Perplexed by what Tim's B.A. in Theater has to do with property management, you plea your case one more time, rambling about all of the sacrifices you have made, how profitable your pod was, and that you hit your numbers consistently. Senior management politely explains that the decision has already been made and there is nothing that can be done at this point, Irvine Corp is going to have to let you go. Senior management then slides a document across table asking you to sign it and it's then explained to you that the CEO himself authorized you three months of pay and you don't even have to show up! They forget to add that when you signed that document you waived all rights to sue Irvine Corp, it was a Friday, so it probably just slipped their mind. You are still in shock from the dismissal so you quickly sign the form and get on your way. Years of being thrown to the wolves have made you resilient and your a manager! Everything should be okay! You get a little down as you think about your upcoming 40th birthday party and the potential damper it could put on the event. You were just two weeks shy of being 40 and celebrating your 13th year with Irvine company! Turns out, you were also two weeks shy of being protected by the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA). Your years of sacrifice, failed relationships, and overall commitment won't be forgotten though! You'll have key chains, coffee cups, and mints to last a lifetime. You are a manager with nearly 13 years of experience! You'll land on your feet! Sadly, all of Irvine Co's competitors are also business criminals, so getting that management job is proving to be a little more difficult than previously expected. They really love your qualifications, however, they just can't justify paying that salary for a manager with your experience. You explain that they don't have to pay that high of a salary, just let you get your foot in the door and prove yourself. A year goes by and you're now working at your local grocery store. You've got to have benefits for the family you know! In walks Tim from your Irvine days. You ring up his 1/5th of Jack Daniels and two liter of coke asking him, how's it going? Turns out Tim's POD got merged with the east county pod and he lost his job a month ago. You guys get to talking and he invites you to his 40th birthday party later that evening.