I once got fired for giving my boss the advice to "shred" their drive (it was their last day). Someone overheard this incorrectly and thought that I said "on my last day, that I'd shred all the companies drives".

It was my word against his and company's revenues were down significantly. They put me on non-paid leave and a week later when they "investigated" the matter, they fired me, but by then I had new a job with a much better company.

It was a blessing. I learned more at this new place and earned more too. It was later acquired by Adobe (mental stagnation).

Getting fired NEVER lead to me being outcasted from the local tech community. It instead improved my life.