Black Friday

No, I am not referring to the Friday after Thanksgiving. Black is how I would describe this past Friday.

I was having a great day at work, that is until I got back from my lunch break. My boss told me he wanted to talk to me about a few things. The way he said it had me thinking "Oh no, what did I do?". Well, I didn't do anything wrong, but I am still going to be without a job very soon. So, now do you see why I have dubbed last Friday as Black? What a bombshell to have dropped right before the holidays!!

I work for a real estate company and the market has not been good. The owners have decided to consolidate two offices into one and go from three office staff down to only one. I was hoping that they would take seniority into account, but they have not. I can understand the reasoning behind consolidating, but not their staffing choices.

I have never been fired or laid off from any job before, so this is pretty hard for me to handle. I have basically come to terms with the situation, until someone asks how I'm doing or talks about how inconvenient it will be for them to drive to the other office. It's at these times that I want to cry or scream. When they talk about the inconvenience, I say "At least you have a job." I know that they work on commission, but they are not losing a steady income that they depend on. They also do not have family of 5 to take care of. I will be able to draw unemployment, but it will not be what I make now. I wanted to be able to spend more time at home with the kids and to be able to have some extra time to craft, but this is not the way I wanted to get that time!

Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho it's off to search for work I go.