Don’t burn your bridges. That’s the advice most often given to employees when they inform their current employer that their leaving for another company. However, as an HR pro, you’ve probably heard many employees take a torch to those bridges.
In a sense, that’s what outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has done.
At a nationally televised news conference in which he announced his resignation, Fukuda was criticized by a reporter for not having had his heart in his job.
“I can see myself objectively. I’m not like you,” the departing PM said.
And a new hit T-shirt slogan was born.
“I’m not like you,” is appearing on shirts, mugs and even baby clothes.
The shop Club T can’t keep up with orders for the shirts, saying the T is about to become the store’s best-selling ever.
Public opinion on Fukuda’s outburst has been mixed. Some believe he’s justified to let his emotions show now that he’s leaving the high-pressure job. Others say he’s just arrogant.
Whichever way people feel, the T-shirts with his outburst are flying off the shelves. Variants of the phrase are also showing up, such as, “I like my fried eggs with soy sauce. I’m not like you.”
