‘ 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.