THIS.

I was very naive and made the mistake of befriending a female manager. I became her pet, or at least I thought I was at the time. We would go out to eat together every week. Anyway, she assured me that "everything would stay between us" if I had any concerns. Well, I mentioned some things that I felt the partners could do a better job of. Not in a rude way, but I just felt that some improvements could be made and let her know because I trusted her. I also criticized them for cutting out overtime pay, and let her know. Again, I trusted her and felt what I was saying was confidential.

She was the ONLY one I was completely candid with if I had concerns and that was the reason why I was laid off, I'm sure. I had above average performance, they could have canned someone else. I'm positive she passed on what I said up to the partners, even though she was buddy buddy with me and promised "to keep it between us." What a naive idiot I was..

Lesson to be learned: don't trust ANYONE in the office. There is NO SUCH THING as a "trusted manager." Too bad I learned this one the hard way.