‘ This ’ said Wendy , ‘ is the best day of your life , Raymond !’
On that fateful day Monday in October 1966 I went downstairs and cleared my desk as instructed , entrusting important papers to Keith Blumgart , who was later to enjoy a long and fruitful career , up to retirement , with me in Pick ‘ n Pay . Keith was able deliver my precious papers to my home later ...
When I reeled out of the Greatermans building , all I could think about was breaking the news to my ill and stressed wife . With lightning speed I had gone from being the high-flying head of a booming food chain to an unemployed , 35 -year-old father of almost four . I headed for Zoo Lake and walked round and round and round . I thought about my whole life up to that awful day , about the beginnings of our family in South Africa . I thought a lot about my father and his tribulations .
Every time I tried to think forward , nothing came up . All I could see was a grey mist , with Wendy , the children and me milling around in confusion . I had absolutely no idea where I was supposed to go from there – other than home , where I could put it off no longer , to tell my wife I had been fired .
With the mocking thought that I had lost Checkers as my father had lost Ackermans chasing round in my head , I said goodbye to my stunned , tearful staff and left the Greatermans building and the career that had been my life , with no more ceremony that if I had been caught and evicted as a common thief .
Marius Darling , head of insurance giant Sanlam , which would own Checkers at the end of 1985 , subsequently described my dismissal from Greatermans and ‘ the single greatest error in South African business ’. To me , on the afternoon of 6 October 1966 , it merely seemed like the single greatest blow in my life …
It is very interesting that when Ackerman went to Zoo Lake he was trying to think about how his pregnant wife was going to react to the bad news . Her response was the complete opposite of what he expected . This story reminds me of the time when the business I started after leaving MTN did not do well . Whilst I still very much believed in my dream , I was very worried about the impact on my family , especially my wife . I therefore resolved to go back to MTN to ask for my job back . Even though I was very scared , I was nevertheless upbeat that they would take me back because the HR Manager had told me that I would still be welcome . I had therefore assured my wife that things would change for the better once I went back to MTN .
“ My wife ’ s calm reaction gave me some comfort ”
I set up an appointment with my former boss and the HR Executive where I asked them to take me back . They promised to consider my request and come back to me . However , after waiting a bit , I sent an e-mail to follow up , and the response that I received left me very cold . I just did not know how to tell my wife . So I just kept quiet , until one day she read an sms on my cellphone , from my ex-colleague who said she had been given the job . My wife ’ s calm reaction gave me some comfort . She was very understanding of my predicament . My case was however very different from Raymond Ackerman ’ s because I had voluntarily left my job in the first place .
What I like about Ackerman ’ s story is the attitude that he had
after being fired unceremoniously . Instead of spending time fighting Checkers for unfair dismissal , he chose to channel his positive energy towards starting his own business , where he would be able apply his innovative ideas that he had to fight to introduce at Checkers . He channeled his energy towards new opportunities . He took the lemons and made lemonade . Had he not been fired from Checkers , there would not have been Pick ‘ n Pay supermarkets as we currently know them .
No matter what life throws at you , Don ’ t Be Afraid To Try .
Permission to use quotes from “ Hearing The Grasshoppers Jump ” received from the publisher , David Philip Publishers
Bheki Zungu
After all the time Mr Ackerman spent worrying about how his wife
would receive the news of his firing , here is how she responded to the news :
‘ This ’ said Wendy , ‘ is the best day of your life , Raymond !’
Wendy was wonderful when I told her that I had been fired . She immediately jumped out of bed , which she wasn ’ t supposed to do since she was so ill , and flung her arms around me .