Well I went home feeling pretty crushed. That ride on the Ferry was the first time I think I'd ever ridden without keeping an eye out for an opportunity for humor. I was looking through the pictures on my phone, and I realized I started worrying about layoffs quite some time ago. I remembered that I kept telling myself to take pictures in and around the Exchange, seeing places, things and people in an environment that I might well never see again. I remember then snapping photos on the walk from the Exchange to the Ferry, on the ferry, and going home. I wanted to remember exactly how I felt that day, at each moment.
I left that meeting with my severance package. I left that day with some minor agreements worked out. I left a piece of my soul in that building, but I left with dignity intact. I knew that this was a situation that was inevitable.
A number of people thought that I should consider litigation. I was a handicapped person who was cut loose from a cold corporation at a time when I needed it most. Others suggested filing for permanent disability payments. But I figured I'd get back on my feet soon enough and as long as I was physically able to work, then I should be working. I believed things would work out and this episode would just be a chapter in my life story. I had no idea it would become such a major part of the plot.
I went home and, remarkably, slept.
I am sure your system needed the sleep to deal with the stress.
ReplyDeleteJimmy,
ReplyDeleteI never knew that you had went through all this...Please keep writing...I am so sorry about your job...Sometimes we don't understand why things happen, but Jimmy, I have looked back through the early years of my life and I have seen why some things happened the way they did...Let me tell you, it all seemed to fit together like a puzzle once I began looking back and rememebering major milestones in my life. ..It is sort of like "if this hadn't happened, then I wouldn't have met this person, or such" I am pryaing for you my friend.
love,
carlene