Post-job-loss

[resonant]

I love you all. Thanks so much. For some time anyway I've been feeling like my real life was here (with the fiction writing and the community that clusters around it) rather than there; this just makes that official.



My friend Magenta had to pack up my office for me. I spent the entire time dithering, pacing, and putting random things in my briefcase. When I got home, I discovered I had brought half a bank statement (torn in half), a tea strainer full of loose tea, and my two favorite pens, but had left behind my external hard drive, which was my own personal purchase. When I called Magenta to ask her to bring it to me, I discovered that my mouth was numb.

Kidlet, who isn't quite 4 yet, kept looking at me -- my face, my arms, my legs. Finally I figured out that they were thinking "getting fired" had something to do with real fire, and looking for burns.

Yesterday I withdrew some money with my bank card and bought some things with my credit card, and both times I had this subconscious flash of panic: They won't take it! For a moment I felt like I didn't have those cards legitimately. Like I'd lost not my job but my name.

I had lunch today with my best friend, Mac, who still works at my former company. "You get points for being brave enough to lose your job on Friday and call me at work on Monday," she said. "And you get bonus points for driving right up to the door on Tuesday to pick me up."

"Is that unusual?" I asked.

"Well, when Marie got laid off in the last round, she wouldn't even drive past the building for three months," she said.

I'm OK. Now that the shock has worn off, and now that I've clarified exactly how much of this was my fault and how much I can legitimately blame on other people, mostly what I feel is relief: All the things that aren't my problem any more! (And, hey, now I don't have to learn Flash!)

Naturally I'm going to look for another job, though I'm not quite sure what sort of job I want. (As my former editor used to say, "We have no skills but literacy. In a post-industrial world we'd probably serve the society best in the role of meat.")

In the meantime, I'm going to work on stories, and I'm going to do some freelance magazine writing. (My specialties are how-to writing and nonfiction for kids, if anybody has any referrals.)

And I'm going to write a romance novel. Yes, I am. I've been saying for years that I could do it, and last night the spouse said, "Hey. You've got the time. Go for it."

So this is me, going for it.

edited 2020 to retroactively correct the kidlet's gender pronouns

Comments

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Smooches to you, res - and fingers crossed that you find something to be other than, um, 'meat' (right after you finish the novel, that is).

But, like, if you *do* end up as meat? I have some lovely marinade recipes, and...

...okay, let's just turn our minds to more pleasant thoughts, shall we? Sheesh.

{{Hugs}}

-Beth, the demi-ghoul

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

As a Southerner, I demand to be pit-barbecued.

What?

[(Anonymous)]

You don't want to be fajitas, perhaps?

From the land of Tex-Mex,

Taylor Serenil

P.S. More seriously, I once got fired and then had to go in the next day to retrieve some personal belongings I'd left. Way less than fun.

[laurakaye.livejournal.com]

::hugs and snuggles you::

::dispatches Turnbull to provide further hugs and snuggles and cooking and cleaning and childcare::

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

[laughing] Kidlet's going through a "hanging pictures" phase. I'd probably come home and find him taped to the wall. Just hope he'd get around to putting dinner in the oven first!

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

Have you seen that hilarious short story where aliens are looking at earth and they're horrified to find that humans are made of meat? I'm going to try to dig it out and email it. It's good cheering-up material.

On a non-meat-related subject, I hope you can remember that you're still the same talented person you were two weeks ago. I know that feeling of being "cut loose" and it sucks. Good for you for being so brave. Pat yourself on the back for that.

Sounds like you have some excellent plans. Yay! {{{{{hugs}}}}}

[giglet.livejournal.com]

Resilient Resonant.

Kidlet isn't quite 4 yet. She kept looking at me -- my face, my arms, my legs. Finally I figured out that she was thinking "getting fired" had something to do with real fire, and she was looking for burns.
What a sweetheart.

*hug*

[kaneko.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[thermidor.livejournal.com]

I know I'm very tardy with this but I was away from the online world for about 10 days so I'm just now catching up.

{{{res}}}

Best of luck & I'm sorry you had to go through this. It is sucky. I feel sure you'll find something even better soon.

[spring-1970.livejournal.com]

(As my former editor used to say, "We have no skills but literacy. In a post-industrial world we'd probably serve the society best in the role of meat.")

(ggg) As a Sociology major with a History minor, I so understand that statement.

Still sending you good vibes and positive karma.


PS - May I add you as a "friend" on LJ?

PPS - A Southerner, eh? How interesting. Tip: If you ever wanna make cmshaw blush and get all giggly, talk to her in a Southern drawl. (ggg) It's a hoot!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

By all means, add me! I love it when people friend me.

And alas for the effort to make cmshaw blush, I don't have much of an accent left after 20 years in Illinois -- though I'm still unable to pronounce my own last name in a way that Northerners can understand over the phone.

Re:

[spring-1970.livejournal.com]

My grandmother, grand ol' Southern dame that she is, lived in Pennsylvania for over forty years.

She still said things like "y'all" and had a Southern accent on every word, other than my grandfather's name :)