Easy come, easy go
Thu Jan 06, 2005 20:38 (UTC -5)For those not in the know, I have a part-time office job on Fridays for a company that makes and sells suits. I was told before Christmas that the office would be reopening this week. I usually call my boss, Mr. Rose, around Wednesday to confirm that I can get a ride to work. Good guy, my boss. His family used to live next door. That connection, plus this blog and a lucky coincidence, is how I got this job in the first place. His daughter, who’s a little older than me, works in the office too.
But when I called my boss this week, his answering machine message said that everyone was out of town for the week. This wasn’t unusual in itself and had happened before. They have their business meetings and conferences and such to go to. So I called his cell phone and left a message, and he called me back and left a message, and I called him back just now.
He confirmed that I wouldn’t need to come in tomorrow and told me to call him back for “the scoop.” I didn’t know about this scoop of which he was speaking, so I called. He explained in the nicest way possible that, well, “three of the guys just moved to another office, and Elaine, who you mostly worked under — wait, you know she quit, right? Oh, I didn’t tell you? Well, yeah, it was just before Christmas. So anyway, we won’t be needing you right now, but we’ll be ready to call you when we need your expertise, etc., etc….”
We all know what that means. I got fired.
Of course, I didn’t really get fired, because that would mean I did something to deserve this. I didn’t. It just happened. And that was pretty much how it first hit me. All I thought at first was no more job. I finished up being polite to my boss (“Thank you,” “Happy New Year”) and hung up. Then, as I was calling my grandmother to tell her I didn’t need a ride to work tomorrow or ever again, it hit me hard.
No more job = no more money. I’m now poor!, I thought. And I still have to do my taxes! Rage was the next emotion. How could they do this to me? Things seemed to be going so well. I had just gone to the office Christmas party and was looking forward to the next one. I had asked for polo shirts for Christmas expressly for the purpose of wearing them to work. Now I have at least three of them, and what am I going to do? Wear them to school? I think I can still exchange them for store credit — the ones I didn’t wear yet, anyway.
It only seems reasonable at this point to think of other career options. I never really liked what I did there anyway. I managed contacts, checked to see if fabrics were in stock, hung up ties, and other things that everyone else was too busy to do. Elaine’s computer was infested with spyware and other junk like that, and she was about as computer literate as a sock (sorry, it was the first inanimate object that came to mind). She was nice, but I seem to have been hired for mainly that reason: my understanding of computers.
I never really toyed with the idea of making web sites for other people until my friend Chad said that he likes to offer his services for small businesses with lousy web sites. He says they’re usually glad and willing to pay him $100 to redesign their site. It’s certainly something to think about, if only because probably everyone in my family would suggest it as an option. I’ll consider it.
Semi-random thought: maybe I could get away with writing “October 2003 – January 2005″ on my as-yet-unwritten resume. They probably officially killed me off before the end of the year, but I didn’t find out about it till this year. Putting January 2005 as the end date makes it sound longer than if I put December 2004.
I wonder if old Mr. Rose — or, shall I say, Steve — dismissed his daughter too.
I could have used the verb “had” in the opening sentence of this post, but then you wouldn’t have needed a reason to read all this.
It’s the end of an era for music recording. Slashdot is reporting that Quantegy Professional Media, the world’s last manufacturer of professional-quality reel-to-reel analog audio tape, has closed its manufacturing plant without notice. A local news story details the reactions of the 250-some workers when they came back after their holiday break to find “No Trespassing” signs. It also reviews the long history of the company, including the embarrassing incident during World War II that led to its creation.
And when very large chain stores move out of small towns, causing hundreds to lose their jobs, what becomes of the enormous buildings that are left behind? Big Box Reuse shows that some of them are put to good use as libraries, churches, schools, and even apartment complexes.
