Another layoff

Past history has taught me that I don't handle unemployment with...well any degree of grace really. Sarah told me once that I was a train wreck when I first moved to California, and while I really wanted to dispute that fact, she pointed out that the first 8 months here were characterized by one meltdown after another. I think the low point was when I was dismissed from a temp job.

I was doing data entry for a title company. My supervisor bore a very odd resemblance to Big Bird, and passed gas with such frequency that I was informed by some of the permanent staff that HR had asked people in the department to stop complaining to them about it. She couldn't control the problem, because her doctor had her on a high fiber diet. The office lighting...well, have you seen Joe vs. the Volcanoe? It was a very similar situation, only to cover up the incessant buzz of the lights they played musak in the office all day. The company owner gave me a pep talk the first day on the job that went something like "if you work really hard, and show us that you're good at data entry, you may have a future with this company as a permanent employee." The whole time he was talking to me I remember trying to decide which eye I should look at, since one of them was lazy, and thinking "heaven help me if it ever comes to that, I've got to find a real job...soon."

I was only there a month or so before the temp agency called me one Friday to let me know that I had been fired. I was meeting Sarah for something at her house and I remember walking in and before I knew it I was crying so hard that I couldn't even talk. I figured that if I couldn't hold down that job, there was no hope, I must be the worst employee ever. The temp agency did call me back on Monday to let me know that I was fired because the company owner had a dispute with the agency, and it was entirely unrelated to my personal performance. Nice to know after I had spent the better part of the weekend listening to one "pull yourself together" speech after another from Sarah.

Last year I got laid off right before Christmas. I may never forget Ricky's reaction when he called to get all the details, and I told him through tears that I had been given three months of severance, and had a good chunk of savings. Let's just say his sympathies kind of hit a wall at that point. Surprisingly, I was significantly more stable the second time around, which in no way implies that I was stable. Fortunately that round of unemployment was brief, lasting a little less than two months.

The current job told me today that I'm getting laid off again, but not until December 31st, and there's a decent incentive to stick it out until then. I was thinking about finding a new job, but I want to be back in school full-time working on a masters by January 1st, so I don't see any reason to jump ship now. In fact, I'm kind of excited about the incentive money they'll give me. It'll get me started on my first semester back in school. This may be the only time that I'm looking forward to a layoff. :)