Who here is laid off right now?

[Adam West]

My sympathies go out. I worked for a company for 12 years and witnessed rounds and rounds of layoffs. My job was eliminated but I took a position in another department doing work that I really didn't enjoy.

I was brought up in a blue collar family and was taught old school hard work and loyalty would be reciprocated by company loyalty. The company management didn't care and let people go who had been with the company for two decades or more without a second thought.

I finally left for greener pastures a few years ago and had a string of bad jobs until I landed a great job at a small startup. 3 months into it, I was let go 2 days before Christmas without warning and was one of the most stressful thing that has ever occurred to me.

I turned over every stone and was offered 2 job opportunities within a month. I ended up accepting a position that is only 10 miles from my home compared to 35 miles one way. I am now making significantly more money than I have ever made and in hindsight, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have been with my current employer for 2 1/2 years, love the company and am completely loyal to it.

However, I am always watchful and know that the there are never any certainties about job security so I have always made an effort to keep contacts and networks going in case something happens.

[jimbutsu]

I was laid off a year and a half ago. They gave me a few months notice though, so I had a new job lined up and actually left a few weeks early. I lucked out, the old employer was very honest and gave me plenty of notice and I love the new job too.

How much can you really love it if they make you wear pants?

Oddly, you'd think I'd be at the forefront of a thread about being jobless, but I don't feel like I'm in any danger right now. What is I have noticed is how much the economy is affecting stable employment- incentives drying up, annual raises well below inflation, programs shrinking or going away, more work with less people, etc... all a fact of life in the last year for me. On the other hand, if all the belt tightening means we don't take anyone's livelihood away, I'll be proud to have been part of it.

[Gorn Captain]

A few years ago, I lived in an area near a major town.
Over the years, I got sicker and sicker, with "metal poisoning" (mercury, cadmium,..).
Turns out, I lived in an area which was built over an old landfill.
No threat to public health, they said.
According to the city officials, things were A-OK, as long as you didn't eat any garden-grown fruit or vegetables, and didn't "work the soil".
By then, I had lost 30 pounds, weighing a clean 100 pounds.
I couldn't work anymore, didn't have the strength to work 12 hour days anymore, and the poisoning affected my concentration, too.
I lost my job, the insurance company found a loophole and canceled my insurance so they didn't have to pay a dime.
It kind of cascades on you. You can't work anymore, bills pile up, you no longer have the money to move, you get bogged down.
Friends dump you like a stale donut. You have to sell off parts of your collection to make ends meet.

After several hard years, we managed to move to the country, and I'm glad to say the poisons have "left the building". City officials claim there's no connection between "moving away" and "getting better".
In my old street, 5 households (that I know of) still have the symptoms. That's just one street, mind you.

The down part: some damage is permanent. I'm no longer the man I used to be. Concentrating and working normal days is still not possible. Before, I was a pretty good writer, with two books finished. My third is now taking me forever. I have organized SciFi cons, acted in plays, worked 18 hours days like there was no tomorrow.
That's all gone now.

Yeah, sometimes the **** rains down so hard, you need a hat.
And mine goes off to my fellow laid-off guys and girls.

But one day, we will have our revenge....
Keep on fighting, boys and girls.
I know I am!

And now, please; on to some more uplifting news...