'Gizza job' phonebox man got the sack
AN UNEMPLOYED man who sat on top of a telephone box for six hours pleading for work was sacked after walking out of his last job.
Daniel Bird, 21, attracted the attention of hundreds of passers-by while clutching a sign in Hull city centre saying: "Save me from the dole! Gizza job. I am literally choosing between food and bills."
However, Mr Bird, who was wearing sunglasses and a smart suit for his phonebox stunt, failed to mention he was sacked from his last job.
Bosses at Mecca Bingo took pity on him and gave him a job last year after council litter inspectors handed him a £75 fine for illegally putting up 200 posters around the city centre pleading for work.
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But he was sacked from the Anlaby Road venue, which even paid the fine, two months ago for swearing at a colleague and walking out midway through his shift.
Confronted with the facts, Mr Bird – who previously said he had received 300 job rejections in a year – said: "Some people were really horrible to me.
"I must have got on with only two out of 30 people there. I was shouted at."
Despite his dismissal, Mr Bird, of Boulevard, west Hull, insists he is an attractive prospect for a future employer willing to give him a second chance.
He said: "I want to move on now. That was in the past. I didn't enjoy Mecca. I was not happy there.
"I am a team player, my time-keeping is very good and I have great customer service skills."
Mr Bird, who was at pains to point out he was always polite to the mainly elderly clientele, said he was dismissed on June 29 after almost a year in his £6.15-an-hour job.
He said: "I got home to find a letter had been hand-delivered.
"I was told to keep away until a disciplinary meeting. I felt they didn't want me there."
Mr Bird said he lashed out after being badly affected by the death of his grandmother.
Asked if he appealed against the decision, Mr Bird, who helped behind the bar and completed basic clerical duties, admitted he failed to turn up for the hearing.
He said an independent training provider had offered him a place on a course the same day, so he went on that instead. "I didn't ever want to go back to Mecca Bingo," he said.
In a statement, a Mecca Bingo spokesman said: "We never comment about any individual member of staff, past or present.
"However, we can confirm Mr Bird did work for us but does not now.
"We have a very low staff turnover rate and have lots of people across the country who have happily worked for us for many years."
Mr Bird said he was asked to get down from the telephone box in Queens Gardens, city centre, by police but refused.
"I was threatened with being arrested but I was not doing anything wrong so they couldn't do anything," he said.
Speaking to the Mail after he was fined for his littering offence last year, Mr Bird said: "I am not some kind of criminal. I am just someone who is trying really hard to find a job.
"You see posters all over the city for missing cats and dogs."
Comments
by janeburgess1
Sunday, November 11 2012, 1:38PM
“I now work with Mr Bird...and he works hard..well done mate xx”
by francis31
Wednesday, September 19 2012, 12:26AM
“The hull daily mail is turning into the sun front page news dont make me laugh my advice to mr bird is sue the mail big deal he walked out of his job you the editor is a bully!!!”
by thesnooper
Wednesday, September 19 2012, 12:14AM
“if that job got so bad for him he didnt feel like getting up in a morning then he was best out of it, im sure some people on here have left a job because they didnt like it.
why make life more misserable then it has to be.
sometimes peoples face's just dont fit and they end up with a hard time, its just life
how many more people on jsa have done something to get attention in order to get a job, none
i hope he gets a job he likes, he obviously wants to work”
by Dropthebird
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 11:55PM
“Mecca bingo are terrible employers. The management team hate anyone with ambition and don't like it if you have a life outside the world of Mecca. The place has a bully culture from the top down to the front of house.
However when I worked for them, I put up, shut up and found another job before leaving. Jobs are hard to come by and you don't just throw them away.”
by Kexys
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 11:37PM
“I've known Danny for a while now, and he is a genuinely nice guy who gets on with everyone. I can't believe some of the comments on this article, they're disgusting. It's easy to hide behind internet anonymity and say things like you have said, but none of you would be brave enough to do what he did. So he left his job because he went through a rough time, it happens to the best of us, do you honestly think that that warrants him being punished for the rest of his employable life? Of course it doesn't!
Seriously people, get down from your high horse and learn some respect for other people. I don't know who some of you think you are.”
by HCAFCscarb
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 10:47PM
“beverleybard.
i take it you hate your Job and you dare not walk away from it..
i feel sorry for you, maybe you have a load of debts ?”
by pedelrebel
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 7:45PM
“If he sat on that phone box much longer somebody else will get a job. A surgeon to remove his hemroids. ouch.”
by smoothkettle
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 7:21PM
“I have just noticed this is the front page story of the rag. I would like someone from the HDM tell me how this story is in the interest of the people of Hull. By putting this guy on the front page of the paper you have harmed any chance of him getting a job. As a result the taxpayer will be paying his way, rent and council tax. Walking out of one job after a year dose not warrant plastering him all over the front page declaring he was sacked. This wont help him, the tax payer or the job centre advisor who has to find him work. Walk out your job mid shift and you deserve to loose your job, you don't deserve to loose your chance of finding another.”
by SPBlakeney
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 6:58PM
“Sadly Mr Bird, being stuck in a confined space,daily,with people you'd normally choose to cross the street to avoid and with whom you have nothing in common,is the usual definition of 'work'. Welcome to the real world. If we left jobs because we disliked colleagues none of us would be able to pay the bills.”
by Troy_Rudeface
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 6:46PM
“There are quite a few unemployable freaks in Hull called Daniel!”