Curtains
A beautiful Indian Summer morning in upstate New York. So nice, in fact, that I'll swing by Dunkin Donuts on the way to work and get a large ice coffee (milk with six Splendas) and a Boston Cream donut.
I stroll in a few minutes before 9:00 and get myself situated. Still thinking about the lay-offs, I decided over the weekend that I should double my efforts and make myself as visible as possible. I thought I had been doing that before, but perhaps I can do more. I have a few ideas...
Because I'm in a remote office that connects to the main network over a phone line, it takes forever to get my Lotus Note email. (I really hate Lotus Notes -- it makes Outlook look great in comparison.) I get online and start tapping away at my email when I hear a voice behind me, "Hey Steve."
I turn and it's my boss. My boss works in an office 4 hours away. This is an unscheduled visit at 9:30 am on a Monday morning.
Within a microsecond, I know I'm done.
Rhetorically, I ask, "This isn't going to be a good day, huh?"
He replies, "No, it's not."
We move into a side office and the HR lady joins us. She has prepared for me a packet explaining how the whole process works, portable benefits, outplacement service, etc.
I'm listening to her, but all I really hear is a low buzz in my ears and I feel a bit disconnected. I'm actually very calm, but my head is a jumble and I'm suddenly very thirsty. I'm glad I brought my giant-sized ice coffee along.
I get full pay and benefits until the end of the year, and I can choose to continue working, or walk out once I've taken care of critical issues.
My boss asks me if I want to join him on a conference call at 2:00 pm to discuss a new project. Is he nuts? I just get shitcanned and he wants me to start working on a new project? Perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part. I tell him that I'd prefer not to get involved in any new projects and he nods. Now, all that's left is packing some stuff from my office into his car so he can take it with him back to the main office. I'm a goner, but my Scanjet will live on to scan another day.
As I'm helping him take boxes down to his car, I note that this is like a scene from an old western where they make the dead man dig his own grave before they shoot him and he falls in.
We exchange some pleasantries -- he wasn't a bad boss -- and he hits the road. I go back upstairs and say so long to my co-workers.
Now, for the hard part. I have to go home and break the news to my fiance.
It's still a gorgeous day. Bad things always seem to happen on really nice days.
I stroll in a few minutes before 9:00 and get myself situated. Still thinking about the lay-offs, I decided over the weekend that I should double my efforts and make myself as visible as possible. I thought I had been doing that before, but perhaps I can do more. I have a few ideas...
Because I'm in a remote office that connects to the main network over a phone line, it takes forever to get my Lotus Note email. (I really hate Lotus Notes -- it makes Outlook look great in comparison.) I get online and start tapping away at my email when I hear a voice behind me, "Hey Steve."
I turn and it's my boss. My boss works in an office 4 hours away. This is an unscheduled visit at 9:30 am on a Monday morning.
Within a microsecond, I know I'm done.
Rhetorically, I ask, "This isn't going to be a good day, huh?"
He replies, "No, it's not."
We move into a side office and the HR lady joins us. She has prepared for me a packet explaining how the whole process works, portable benefits, outplacement service, etc.
I'm listening to her, but all I really hear is a low buzz in my ears and I feel a bit disconnected. I'm actually very calm, but my head is a jumble and I'm suddenly very thirsty. I'm glad I brought my giant-sized ice coffee along.
I get full pay and benefits until the end of the year, and I can choose to continue working, or walk out once I've taken care of critical issues.
My boss asks me if I want to join him on a conference call at 2:00 pm to discuss a new project. Is he nuts? I just get shitcanned and he wants me to start working on a new project? Perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part. I tell him that I'd prefer not to get involved in any new projects and he nods. Now, all that's left is packing some stuff from my office into his car so he can take it with him back to the main office. I'm a goner, but my Scanjet will live on to scan another day.
As I'm helping him take boxes down to his car, I note that this is like a scene from an old western where they make the dead man dig his own grave before they shoot him and he falls in.
We exchange some pleasantries -- he wasn't a bad boss -- and he hits the road. I go back upstairs and say so long to my co-workers.
Now, for the hard part. I have to go home and break the news to my fiance.
It's still a gorgeous day. Bad things always seem to happen on really nice days.
posted by Steve at 2:00 PM
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