Hey everybody. As I'm sure most of you know by now, I got laid off on Monday. Megan and I knew it was a possibility and we prepared ourselves for it as best as we could. As you know, she has been working at the balloon store where she buys her balloons for twisting. So it's not as bad as it would be if we were both unemployed in a terrible economy brought on by years of corporate deregulation and an epidemic of predatory lending.
Anyway, let me tell this story chronologically. There are many tangents I could run off on and I want to make sure I at least hit the high points. So I came into work on Monday as usual. I knew that the layoff proposal had been accepted and that layoffs were sure to follow, but nobody knew when. I came in, logged onto my computer, and talked to Nick. He told me that skeletor was out of the library until 1:00 in the afternoon because he had a meeting. I took this as a good sign because the head librarian was also out until Wednesday because she was at a conference.
Not too long after I settled into my desk and got things up and running, we saw the Associate Dean of Libraries and one other official-looking person come into the library. They unlocked the head librarian's office and started setting things up for something, but we didn't know what. Shortly after monving a few things around, the Associate Dean came into the office and asked if I had a minute to talk with her. At that moment I knew I was gone.
I was ushered into the head librarians office where the Associate Dean proceeded to read slowly through the letter that told me exactly what I already knew: there were layoffs in the library system and one of the positions chosen for elimination was mine. After she got done with her deal, I got a talk from an HR rep who told me about rehiring rights (which may or may not be in effect because ASU just announced a hiring freeze that even affects jobs HR has approved). They both told me how sorry they were to let me go, thanked me for my service, and handed me a box.
When I came out of the office holding a box, it confirmed for Nick and Ali the very thing they feared: I was being laid off. I took the box back into the office and began going through my desk. It didn't take me too long to decide that they had picked a crappy box for me. The top didn't fit and the bottom looked like it would fall out. I decided that if I was leaving, I would leave in whatever style I might muster. So I pulled a brand new box from skeletor's stash and loaded my things into it.
At the time, I was trying hard not to think about what was happening. Nick and Ali on the other hand, were blown away. They told me how bad things would be without me and that they'd miss me. Nick told me he was envious of me in a way: I was getting out and getting paid to do it.
It took me a while to load all my stuff into the box and move all my files off the computer. There was a guy I had never seen before who was pacing back and forth, waiting for me to be done. I was afraid that, shame of shames, they would escort me off the premises. When I got all my stuff together, I said my goodbyes to Nick and Ali. I motioned to the guy that I was ready to go. He opened the door for me, told me he was sorry, and let me walk out alone. That was a sad, sad walk across campus.
Before I left, Nick and I took some time to dissect the situation. Skeletor said he was at a meeting at Hayden for half the day, but when someone from Hayden called for him, they were surprised to find that he was supposed to be over there. They didn't know anything about it. As for the head librarian's conference, we looked that up: the conference isn't until May. So basically both of the people who should've been there to give me the bad news intentionally ditched the opportunity. I thought that was classless, gutless, and completely normal thing for them to do. I've gotten used to the idea of them not wanting to deal with me in any way, shape, or form so having them shrug the responsibility of letting me go came as no surprise. I will say one thing: in a way I'm glad skeletor wasn't there. Nick tells me he was smiling when he found out I got pink slipped. I'm glad I wasn't there to provide him any opportunity for schadenfreude.
So where does this all leave me? Well, I'm on administrative leave for the next three months, which means I'm getting paid to not work for skeletor. That's the greatest thing I've ever been paid for in my life. During the next three months I'll have the opportunity to beat the streets and find a new job. It's not a bad deal as far as severance packages go.
I spent most of this week laying around the house and contemplating how lucky I am to have escaped that bad work environment. Megan asked the people at the balloon company if they're still hiring, and they are. I picked up an application yesterday and when she took it in today they decided to hire me sight unseen. They actually wanted me to start today, but the day was already half over and I was looking forward to getting some things done around the house. So tomorrow will be my first day working at the balloon company. They are allowing me to come in a little late on Mondays and Wednesdays so I can take my "Intro to Seminary Teaching" class, and they already know that I'll be looking for other jobs. They're fine with it. So yeah, things definitely aren't as bad as they seem.
All in all I was pretty happy to get laid off. I told myself after the meeting where they announced the layoff that if Megan had a job when it came time to lay people off I would be hoping and praying to be let go. So I am now free of the worst influence in my life and the greatest stressful factor in my life. This week felt like a fantastic vacation in many ways.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how the job hunt goes. I know this post is rambling and the grammar is atrocious, but I've just been banging it out. I needed to write this quickly and still say everything I needed to say. As always, Megan and I will be grateful for your thoughts and prayers. We aren't on 100% stable footing yet, but there's no way but up from here.