Things have changed. Things have changed very quickly.
I had my surgery. I went back to work. And a week and a half later, I was laid off. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. I wish I could say that I didn't expect it, but I did. However, I expected it about 3 months from now.
This is how it went (because it was honestly kind of bizarre): I came into work at 7:30 am as usual. I hurried to edit the Bridal magazine so that I could get my changes to the designer before the day started. I had noticed that my boss was in when I got there, which was odd because she usually comes in later and stays later. During my editing I saw her come back from her meeting, but she didn't say anything to me -- which was not unusual for that time in the morning -- instead she went into her office and I heard her call her husband and the head of advertising. She murmured some things about having questions about things later and I honestly figured that she was being moved to advertising. So, I rushed downstairs to give my edits to the Bridal magazine designer and when I came back the head of marketing asked me to join him and 4 other members of our small department in an office.
He then told us that he didn't know what was going to happen but that he was asked to take us to a meeting. He told us to 'not burn bridges' and 'to leave all doors open'. He is a nice man. A truly kind man. And I really mean that, he is the best boss I have ever had.
So he led us like lambs to the slaughter. Downstairs to a conference room where the publisher of the paper told us the due to business decisions ... yada yada... thank you for your service.... yada yada... our positions were eliminated effective immediately. I think the most insulting part of it is that it is basically saying, "hey, we don't need you to do the job anymore. We are going to have someone else do it in addition to their job because you are unnecessary."
The most incredible part was that they did it to us as a group. They actually dragged us down there together and told us that we were fired.
So, I am now unemployed. I have a few leads and I think I will be OK but it's really weird. I have a few weeks of severance and a piddly 401k that I won't feel guilty cashing out and then it's on to unemployment. Which is incredibly small.
Funnily enough, through no fault of my own, I actually fit into my smallest jeans yesterday. I haven't done anything to actively reduce my size but as I get into the routine of unemployment I will start using that gym membership for sure,
