Thursday, May 14, 2009

You Never Know When It Could Happen To You

Yesterday was layoff day at my work. Many of us did not know it was coming and didn’t think it would happen at our place of work. But it did. About 50 people/co-workers/friends are out of work as of yesterday and many of them have worked at the company for a long time.

I think I heard that one of the unfortunate individuals laid off yesterday had worked for the company for around 20 or 30 years. Two friends in my department were laid off and one of them had worked there for 7 years. We didn’t see it coming and we didn’t suspect the day to be any different a day until we noticed the rent-a-cop standing rent-a-guard in the downstairs lobby. And we only thought maybe one person might be getting let go.

It’s definitely eye opening. It’s definitely surreal. It’s definitely frightening. It’s definitely heartbreaking. It’s definitely a situation you never want to experience. It’s definitely not an experience you would ever wish upon anyone else.

I am fortunate enough to have made it through this layoff round and hoping that there will be no further layoffs for my sake and for the sake of all my fellow co-workers and friends and their families. There is so much guilt in my heart right now for still having a job and for feeling so relieved that it wasn’t me…or at least it wasn’t me this time. My one year anniversary of working for this company and loving every minute of it despite the normal and expected ups-and-downs is a reminder of how vulnerable I am and how vulnerable I probably was during the selection process of who to “let go.” I am forever grateful for whoever fought for my employment and I think I know who they are.

I am also grateful that Sparky still has a job (we work for the same company) and his job still seems a lot more secure than mine. Although I am beginning to feel like “you never know”…a feeling that I know many people have felt for awhile now and I never could truly relate to; I could just be as truly empathetic as possible.

And that’s the least we can all do. Always be supportive of one another. Always appreciate those around you. Be empathetic. Be sympathetic. Be understanding. Listen. Appreciate what you have because there is always someone who has less than you. And you never know when it could happen to you.

Keep on Keepin on.

1 comment:

JennavieveM said...

man, that is frightening. My brother and dad are going through this right now at their work too. There plant has cut their employees down by 2/3. They have both managed to keep there jobs by the grace of God!

They have separately talked to me about that guilt and remorse thing. While you are grateful to have a job, you wonder why you, and feel guilty. It's tough.

Just be grateful.