Employee gets fired with no warning the day their vacation was set to begin, gets a string of frantic messages not even 24 hours later about returning their equipment after they've already left home: 'I cannot get over how insensitive it feels'

Getting fired from a job has a sense of uncertain finality to it, as if the known path you had been following out into the darkness has ended, and all around you is blackness with no certain way forward. Sure, your job wasn't always rewarding, your boss only cared about the money you were making him, and there wasn't really that much room for professional growth and personal development… But at least it was familiar and relatively comfortable. Although you can't see the pathway at the moment, before long you'll find your way.

When a company fires someone abruptly, it's portrayed as if some calculated decision is being made words like "fit" and "timing" get bandied about as if there is some kind of hard evidance supporting them. But the minute they start calling you for lost passwords and processes, and just generally trying to get you to explain your job to them, you have to start wondering why they thought they could get on without you in the first place. 

This worker experienced something like this when they found themselves suddenly fired unceremoniously right as their PTO was set to start. A process that seemed calm and calculated during their dismissal changed rather quickly once they started receiving the frantic messages, not even 24 hours afterward, asking them to return their equipment. It's a bit like that ex calling you late at night, a few days later, to get you to help them move some furniture. 

Here's the thing: if the owner of your ex-employer contacts you trying to schedule an urgent meeting, you really should just ignore it. While you might hope that they've had some revelation that they need you after all, it's more than likely that they'll find one last way to blame you for their problems one last time. 

You'd think that they would have thought about all of this beforehand, and at this point, the (now ex) employee had already left for their vacation they had already planned, so their ex-employer would just have to wait.