A sad fate awaited me on Wednesday morning that I did not particularly see coming.
Around 11:00 am, my boss calls me into her office and before we get in together, I ask very matter-of-factly, "I guess that I am next? I'm being laid-off?" And my boss, with a horribly pained look on her face said that yes, I was.
And like that, I became another figure of the national economic recovery. If you think that unemployment is the best barometer, well. . .
I feel that my knowledge of my fate made it easier for my boss to make that lovely conference call between our area manager, the inhuman resources "specialist", my boss and myself.
After all the corporate BS, I was asked if I had any questions.
Any questions?! You're laying me off because of cutbacks and asking me if I had any questions?! I mean, I would have loved to ask what ever happened to first hired, last fired. But my only question was regarding the tax benefits of taking my severance package over time or in a lump sum. The so-called inhuman resource specialist had no idea what I was talking about. And that pretty much summed-up that I decided to take the lump sum payout and be done with this company.
One thing that I was asked if I wanted to do was to work the rest of the week or pack up my things and call Wednesday my last day.
I surprised them and myself and said sure, I will work until Friday. I am sure that the suits, or in this case the pants suits figured that I would just bail. Well, it is not in my nature. The reason that I stayed was to make the transition easier on my co-workers. And I had no beef with my boss at all. She is in the ultimate rock and a hard place. The decision to eliminate my position was not in her hands at all.
The fact is that I worked for a large medical company and the division that I worked for performed medical exams for disability and life insurance applicants. It is but a cog in the big corporate wheel.
I saw my immediate supervisor meet the same fate as I did in March, 2012. He did not handle it so well. He packed his stuff and left very angry at all. One thing I made a mental note not to do that if I met that fate.
And I did meet that fate. Almost seven years I worked for this company. I worked for a competitor for eight years before working for this one. Thus almost 16 years in the same industry.
And what does it feel like now that I am no longer a part of it at all?
There is some liberation for now I feel I can determine my own future rather than staying complacent as so many do.
But I am pushing 50 years old. So there is a little trepidation on my part because I could be an asset for a company for my length of time in work history. Staying in the same industry for about 16 years. But then in this youth-obsessed culture, I may be over-the-hill age wise. That I will see as I begin the job search.
It does seem like a lot of bad things have been happening lately in RVFTLC land. And I will not bore you with those.
But as a Christian, I pray and do believe that God has something different for me on the horizon. I think that is why I wanted to show my co-workers that there is a dignity that one should show when meeting my fate.
One thing is for sure.
A lot more blogging will happen for the foreseeable time being!
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