My, This Sucks

I lost my job this past Thursday.

It was at the end of the day. The owners' nephew pulled me into the office and with a poorly worded speech, accompanied by (what I hope was) a nervous giggle, said that I was going to be laid off Friday. I could, he assured me, finish the hour left of my day.

Seeing as I was salary, I refused that generous offer.

It's not that I didn't see this coming. Things got goofy fast recently.
Lisa had predicted this, saying they'd have me do their dirty work by laying off much of the staff and then can me in the end.

Well by this week there wasn't much of a staff left to lay off - 3rd shift had been gouged (infuriating me, as I believe it to be a safety concern), the day shifts were barren, our most populated department was down to five workers, and an entire department was 'replaced' with the nephew.

This week staff was instructed to train 'visiting' members of the owner's family -'visitors' who will no doubt take their jobs. I equate this training with being forced to teach someone how to properly F your wife.

In the infamous words of one employee, who once welcomed the regime change, "I never thought it could be worse. I thought it'd be all unicorns and rainbows. But this . . man they actually make me miss [the old owners]."

So I made sure my personal effects were out of my desk, I'd taken home some of my business cards as 'souvenirs' and I'd put my resume out there - all long weeks before I was let go.

Let's not sugarcoat this: this sucks. I put in ten years and was kicked to the curb on the eve of the holidays. What savings I had were severely dented by helping my family during and after their recent move, and severance - what severance?

So the future holds . . bills and no paycheck to pay them. Other than that, who knows? It's damn frightening.

I suppose it'd be nice to stay within the industry, but the track record of the X is certainly not something to highlight on a resume. [Then again, I think most of the industry knows of the goings on within the place].

If I was to stay in the biz I would like the luxury of, say, an actual budget that doesn't change on a whim, some coherent marketing strategies, honest ownership, and either a solid physical structure or the actual means of recreating one.

But I think it's time to move on, to try something else for a change. I spent the day Friday sending out resumes and was rewarded with a quick call-back from one place, with an interview scheduled for Wednesday. Wish me luck.

There are positives to this whole deal. A) I don't have to worry about working this weekend and B) when an employee (who hadn't gotten the message about my layoff) called to complain about his schedule I was able to respond with a 'click'.

Seriously tho, I'm relived to be out of there. I HATED having my name all over a place that was falling short on customer service and product quality. I hated having to constantly use the owners wishes as a crutch when I had to explain why we did things - or failed to do things - a certain way, knowing that it made me sound like a weak and excuse ridden fool. And I'm sure this next part would hold true no matter where I'd worked, but I'm happy to be, at least momentarily, relieved of having to be ultimately responsible for everything.

It had become, on its best days, a toxic and unhappy place and it is refreshing to think/hope/pray I will soon work someplace with a different aura.

Better days, folks, better days.