Perception

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how we perceive a situation and how it can be totally different from how another sees it. Or maybe our perception changes with time. I especially have been thinking about this in relation to how my husband and I lost our jobs.

DH worked at the same place for 34 years. He loved manufacturing and had done every job in the place. When the old company was sold out, and a new one came in 4 years ago, he was promoted to plant superintendant and was making more than twice as much money than he had been before. He liked the boss, and got along with everyone there, but he did not join the office clique that went to the bar a couple of times a week. He's a homebody, a good husband, and he came home to spend time with me. He never worried about his job, because he knew he was doing a good job. We'd both grown up believing that hard work brought great rewards.

On January 11th, a meeting was called with 10 employees. My husband and several of our good friends were called in. The boss was joking and making small talk, but when the door was closed he dropped a bomb on them: "Your jobs have been eliminated. Please gather your belongings and leave the premises. Do not speak to anyone on the way out. If you need to come back, you will need to make an appointment." And then the 10 people were escorted off the property as though they'd done something criminal. I worked there too, so when I went into one of the common rooms, my coworkers were buzzing..."What's going on?!" I didn't know what they were talking about and they explained that 3 of the women we'd worked with for years had come in the room crying and had left without saying anything to anyone. So when the plant meeting was called, I went in thinking they are going to tell me my friends were terminated. And oh, they did. But as an added surprise, my husband's name was also on that list. (Nice of them to consider that I was still adrenal insufficient, as they well knew. 20 mg Cortef necessary that day!)There were gasps and crying in the room. We'd all been blind-sided. One co-worker's son was let go. Another's mom was let go. Friends who'd worked there 20, 25 and 28 years were let go. Two were within months of retirement. And never, not once, did anyone say thank you for your years of hard work and faithful service.

Corporate restucturing. What bull. How interesting that people over 50, and anyone with a chronic health condition were terminated.

Right away people were calling us and saying they were so sorry and mentioning that it's funny, but so and so still works there and she is dumb as a rock and lazy. None of the (young cocky) boss' drinking buddies were let go. The week before, the comptroller resigned. He got a party with a cake. He'd worked there less than a year.

The injustice is what made me so angry. Still does.

So this was on a Friday and come Monday I had to go back in there. I worked there every day hating those people and what they'd done to my husband, who at 54 had worked in that place all his life, but was not yet old enough to retire. I worked there 3 months after he was let go, and then I was on the next list of who was terminated. (Wasn't quite as shocking this time around.) And so was my best friend who worked in the office and who the company had moved here just a year earlier. But what a relief for me. And how scary. How were we going to pay 2 mortgages? We needed a new roof and a new furnace. What would happen to us? It didn't help that it was winter in northern Michigan and depressing as can be, either. And the fact that Michigan is in a serious recession (some say depression) didn't bring us much hope, either. The severance we were able to draw was a blessing, though.

Fast forward 4 months. I was offered an opportunity to learn a new skill and be able to work from home eventually. I am learning to sew, and I am really loving it. I know I have a lot to learn, but I feel so fortunate because I am getting this chance to learn a skill without having to commute to a school 40 miles away. And I will be able to work from home, sub-contracting for a local company, with no bosses and no politics! YAY!
My husband has been promised a job with a government agency and is waiting to be called for his interview. The wages will be quite a bit less than what he was making before, but so will the stress. And the insurance will most likely be much, much better.

Now our old boss is telling his buddies about his new job since the plant is closing. There are about 30 people working hourly jobs there who have not been told that their jobs are being eliminated. Just a few months ago, they thought they were the lucky ones. They weren't counting on a dishonest company doing to them what they did to us.

So here the DH and I are, getting on with our lives. We are 6 months out from the nightmare and we have a new perspective. Who do you suppose are the lucky ones?