By Philip Mathias
Those that know me know I have a heart of gold and a strong passion for the environment, especially those critters that aren’t charismatic megafauna. Animals that have huge ecological impacts and provide free services so you can have cheaper drinking water and beautiful places to recreate. Animals that naturally control mosquitoes. Animals so unique they only live in a few acres of the world.
I mainly worked with native freshwater mussels for over 17 years, sacrificing my family during many of those years so they would be protected. I made a second family of my own in this community.
I’ve learned to be empathetic, charismatic, and compassionate.
I worked so hard to get where I am and was hired based on my merits alone. I’m a national expert on animals most of you have never heard of: the Green Floater, Dwarf Wedgemussel, Bog Buck Moth, Clubshell, Rayed Bean, Salamander Mussel, Snuffbox, Longsolid, and the Northern Riffleshell to name a few. Most of those filter your water for free and provide other ecological services. After years of work, I finally landed my dream job working with these species.
One month and one day later, I showed up to work with a gallon and a half of buffalo chicken dip for everyone at lunch. Declared the day Forget your Health Friday as a sarcastic moral booster. I sent an email letting everyone know where the AED was due to the six blocks of cream cheese I used to make it. And as we were eating lunch, feeding the fish, and telling silly stories I found out my fate.
I was fired because I was hired.
Let that sink in.
I was fired because I was hired.
No performance reasons, no budget reasons, no explanation besides I was a probationary employee, i.e. a new employee.
Seventeen years I worked to get here. I’ve dedicated my life to this. I’ve surveyed for mussels in 18 different states and three countries, some for work, some for school, some for pleasure. And now I’m gone because our leaders need to make America great by firing and displacing American workers. Public servants.
I swore an oath to the Constitution, the same oath our military swears. I repeat — the same oath our military swears to protect and defend the Constitution. And I was able to do that for one month and one day.
Humility. I’m a fairly private person and I share my skeletons only with a select few. I try not to judge or confront anyone politically. We all have our reasons. As a human and your friend this is what your President did, and yes, if you are a U.S. citizen he’s your President, like it or hate it. This is the man that was entrusted to protect America and allegedly “make it great,” yet he displaced 200,000 public servants who swore the same oath as me. A city’s worth of people, all now eligible for unemployment — a socialist program. There is no forethought with this administration.
I’ve worked every business day of my life for 20 years, minus a few gaps between jobs and the births of my children. I’ve volunteered for many organizations and educated our youth about the importance of my work.
One month and day. This is who was fired:
I am a father.
I am a mentor.
I am an expert.
I am a malacologist.
I am a biologist.
I am a taxpayer.
I am a homeowner.
I am a friend.
I am a jokester.
I’m a published author.
I’m a researcher.
I wrote a commercially available book.
I’m a smiler.
I’m sarcastic.
I’m educated.
I’m handy.
I’m resourceful.
I put my cart back at the grocery store.
I’m a pet owner to two rescued dogs and a stray cat.
I will give you the shirt off my back or cook you a meal.
I’ll lend you a tool or a hand at a moment’s notice.
I’ll give you a ride.
I’m selfless.
I was a public servant.
Only twice have I cried at work. Once was yesterday, and the other time was 16 years ago when my mom called to tell me she had terminal brain cancer. That’s how much this job meant to me.
I’m okay and already have job offers, but some of us are not okay. Check on your people whether they were affected or not. Some of us are silent and hurting.
Thank you to all who have reached out already. I felt so loved at my office, and at home, but some may not be the same.
If you’re okay with me and the other 199,999 people who lost their job just for being hired, please unfriend me and try sleeping well at night.
Please share. People need to know the state of their country.
This was originally posted by Philip Mathias on Feb. 15, 2025.