Wednesday, February 25, 2009

AAAAnd she's off!


The Board met today, so my co-worker M and I were waiting all day, hoping we wouldn't have to wait another day to get the news. I kept going downstairs, but they had adjourned so I just ate some of the leftover pesto pasta salad in the executive kitchen.

We got the word right at quitting time. The HR manager came to my desk and asked whether he could have a word.

"Honey, this will be the easiest speech of this kind that you will deliver," I grinned at him.

So he nicely went over the terms of my severance, which were better than I had thought they'd be. And hey, the Stimulus Plan has 70% of COBRA charges covered by the government. I LOVE THIS PRESIDENT.

So I'm going in tomorrow to tie up a very few loose ends; tonight, M and I put all the collected plants in the kitchen with a sign saying, "LAYOFF ORPHANS -- PLEASE GIVE A GOOD HOME." Because it was the end of the day, most everyone had gone, and we walked through the halls with the plants, laughing.

"I think we are hands-down the happiest people ever to be laid off from this place," I said.

We gathered up our things. M had a few bags full of personal belongings; I had one bag and two plants that I'd kept. In other words, we had LOST THEIR JOBS pasted across our foreheads. In the crowded elevator, people averted our eyes.

"HEY M! GUESS WHAT I GAVE UP FOR LENT! MY JOB!" I called out. And we started laughing all over again.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I laid off the clowns.

Anonymous said...

The word verification for the previous comment was "reekass". I thought you'd appreciate it.

JC said...

Given my recent reaction to African food, it's rather apropos.

So were the clowns UK or US? What severance benefits will they get?

peacefulmayhem said...

Well, congratulations. We weren't partying when Josh lost his job, but I am *truly* happy that you are in a spot where it is such a good thing. Enjoy!

JC said...

Thanks!