Ok, so you know that thing you do where..ya know...you get up in the morning and you eat breakfast, then you shower and get dressed and drive? That...uumm....damn...oh yeah! Work! That thing! Ya know where you have this...job thing and it helps you buy yarn and gives you a place to live where you store the yarn? Oh and it pays for the vehicle that takes you to the yarn store? Ooh ooh and it pays for the internet thingy where you get to talk to all your blog friends? That work thing? Yeah....
So Tuesday afternoon we found out they're doing lay offs at work. So like, my last day is December 29th. And remember how I said T and I work at the same place? Yeah so his last day is February 28th. So like, 2 people, married, living in the same house, both getting laid off. And we live in a town where ' job market' is an oxymoron. There isn't one. You can work at the college where they don't hire anyone unless you went there at some point, or retail and I am so not going back to retail. No really. I feel rather strongly on that subject. No retail. Allow me to demonstrate the ability for me to hate retail.
Me: So what the hell are we gonna do now?
T: Ummm.....
Me: Yeah, my thoughts too, dude.
T: Well, we have options, baby. It's not like we don't have job skills.
Me: *glare of hatred* Don't say it.
T: Well, darling, you are good at retail and you have all of that experience.
Me: Looking for sharp object to poke your eyes out with now.
T: Don't be silly, I'm being serious.
Me: I totally told you 5 years ago I wasn't ever going back to retail.
T: I know you don't like it but...
Me: No! Are you deaf? No retail. Don't make me cuss at you. Don't look at me like that, I will cuss you.
T: You're being unreasonable.
Me: Ok, let me explain. Retail + Me = NOT. I won't go back to retail. No. I would rather stand on the edge of a cliff, take a full bottle of arsenic, slit my wrists, drink a bottle of bleach, take an entire bottle of sleeping pills, then shoot myself in the fucking face so that I fall off of said cliff before I go back into retail.
T: You're not right. In the head I mean.
Me: No retail.
T: Well, I gather you feel rather strongly about this.
Me: Just a smidge dear, just a smidge. And you made me cuss you. You were warned.
T: So how bad will the disappointment be when you tell your blog friends you can't make it to Austin.
Me: I'm sorry, were you speaking?
T: We have to save money.
Me: Eat shit, dear, I am so going to Austin. I will eat light or whatever. I really, really need this trip now and if you try and tell me no, it won't be me on said cliff and it will be a different face I shoot. *glare*
T: Well, ok, so you'll have fun in Austin then.
Me: Yep.
So yeah now what? I mean, starting over sucks ass, guys. I've never left a job without another one lined up. We can't just pack up and move, we own our house. We have 5 dogs and a cat. Apartments are kinda out of the question. T's medicine is $1,500 a freaking month without our insurance. Plus, this is kinda putting stress on him and if he relapses due to this shit? I am so gonna sue the pants off these bastards. And dammit, I like my job! I like the people I work with! I make good money for our area. ARRRGGGG!
Tuesday I cried. A lot. Wednesday I was numb. Today I was just really pissed off about it all. I hate corporate politics. We have a guy in our room that is in the middle of adopting a baby. We have a 50 year old woman with cancer. We have a 52 year old supervisor that sold everything after her husband died, packed up and moved here to start over. We have a lot of single moms where I work. Out of 120 people in our location, 66 are being laid off. For where we live, that's flooding the market with people looking for the same types of jobs.
Did I mention how much I hate retail?
Living vicariously through others with grace and elegance. Okay, no, I'm actually trying to find my own life by stalking the shit out of it!
29 comments:
That's funny... I quit my job so that I could go back to retail. I'm totally not kidding here. Go to Montel Williams' website. Check out his medical assistance plan. They can maybe help until things are less strapped.
I'm so sorry honey. I really hate retail, too. Hang in there.
Oh, sweetie. I'm so, so sorry to hear this . . . and I'm not going to try and make you feel better with platitudes or whatnot (because that just doesn't help at all), but at least you did get some advance notice. Every time Hub has been laid off he has gotten no notice at all -- just went in to work and found out that was his last day.
I'm glad Austin is still on -- like you said, you NEED it. Hope you like hugs, 'cause I think you'll be getting a ton of them that day.
Oh. Shit.
That was very useful, wasn't it? I'm so sorry.
Totally with you on the retail thing... I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and I'm glad you'll still be coming to Austin... hugs when you get here!
I'm so sorry to hear that! But I'm glad you're coming to Austin. It'll be a well-deserved break. And if retail makes you miserable--do anything you can not to get back into it. Become a temp before you go into retail.
I'm so sorry. That's just terrible.
Um, if retail is out, I suppose that eliminates the possibility of selling yourself for sex/medical research/target practice? Damn, and those jobs pay so well, too.
(Of course you have my sympathies and hugs, but I thought some humor might cheer you up. For a nanosec.)
That completely and totally sucks!
I am with you on the retail.
I will be sending happy thoughts your way.
This sux. I have nothing more to add other than to give my support and hugs to you. But if you need help cussing out the corporate poopheads, I can help. (And with stronger words than "poophead".)
You are the second knitblogger in a week who's losing their jobs.
That sucks. ((STALKER))
That just blows.
Are they going to compensate you in some way? I got laid off a year and a half ago and got a nice severance.
I know you don't want to hear this, but everything happens for a reason.
I'm bummed for you really...Try an employment agency and soon-Monster dot com too. For what it's worth, and I don't remember where I saw this: We often meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it. I'm sending any and all the good karma I may have your way.
Crappity-Crap!!
Not sure what kind of work you do, cuz i'm new here...try "eLance.com" ??
Look into writing a book, you're hilarious!! Or magazine articles??
I hate retail too, so i totally understand. I've been unemployed since last October 18th, we moved to MD, live with Deb's parents, i'm running out of yarn and i'm still unemployed.
Wait. That last bit wasn't helpful. Scratch that!
~Suz~
Retail is better than homeless, I hear. (Says the woman who waited tables in between engineering gigs. NOT. FUN.)
Also, I see little blurbs on a lot of the drug companies' ads that say they offer assistance for people who need their drugs but can't afford them.
I get the frustration though (except about the liking the job part). When I started working here, there were about 40 people in my department. Now there are 5.
Anyway, good luck. Something will come up.
Oh, honey, I am so sorry.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya'll. *hugs*
I'm thinking that you and I should probably sit at opposite ends of the table at Opal Divine's or we'll pull everyone into our black hole.
Your lunch is on me that day, btw.
we went through denver's big computer job ...flop.
at the time we could not even find retail jobs...and we had retail experience. hope you find something outside of retail!
thank g-d for stock options, that is what we lived off of while we waited.
Oh, I can't tell you how bad I feel for you! Not telling you what to do (yes, I am!) but please try all the options that everyone has listed here. There's some good ideas. Sending good karma and prayers your way! I'm so glad you're still going to Austin!
I have no idea what to say except, "well, shit".
Oh dear. Totally bummer news for you and yours. I sincerely hope that something wonderful comes your way very soon.
Shit bugger bum
yes I'm with Rabbitch on this one : not at all helpful I know but what else is there to say? You don't want or need platitudes.
That just sucks! My husband just got laid off from his software job last month - they gave him about 5 days notice, then all of two weeks severance. I'll say it again, that sucks!
It sucks that this is happening. And I realize you hate retail. But 52 years of life have taught me sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what you don't like. When things happened here, I went to work as a supermarket cashier/stockperson. I hated it when I did it before but it was still better than the alternatives. As for medical...Most states medicaid plans will accept adults who have previous conditions. And as someone else suggested, check with the companies that produce your prescriptions, they sometimes have programs for those in need. Sorry if you don't like my answers regarding retail but they come from someone who's been there had to do that and would do it again if it kept a roof over our heads. ...As would my husband who is currently working a job way out of his career field until he finds one that is.
Well, ain't that a kick in the head??? I don't think retail could be worse that waitressing, which was what I did for EIGHT years, thru high school and college. Have a wine cooler (or six), what else can you do today? Good luck, and yeah this really sucks.
I am a pharmacist and hand out the following website (well...the phone number for seniors) to patients who need assistance for prescriptions: https://www.pparx.org/Intro.php. It's kinda like the master list to all the prescription assistance plans out there. You start by listing the meds and then the program spits out a list of the FREE patient assistance programs. Hope it helps.
holy crap.
i hope you have enough yarn saved for emergencies? if not, i could fly you some stash.
that's all the help i have. if you lived here, i'd get you a jobby thing.
kisses.
I am so with you on the Retail. I completely understand. I didn't refer to it as Retail Hell for nuthin!
Hang in there!
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sending good thoughts your way and hope that the unemployment line doesn't stay long for long. (I've been there 4 times since I moved to NYC 6 years ago and it doesn't get any easier)
Oh, ugh, I'm so sorry, that just sucks, there is nothing more to say about it, well actually there is but I'm at work and I try to act like I don't cuss here.
I'll be thinking of you guys and hoping you can find something outside of retail.
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