Eulogy for a Job

Friend of mine got fired here today. If you know him, you'll know who. But I don't want to blab at you before you're meant to know.

I'm generically emotional right now. You know how that is. Unless you're a girl, of course. I'm sure all you ladies have precise words for all your feelings. My emotional state is like meeting a Belgian, you know he's foreign, but from where? My emotional state, then, is high. However, the specifics are murky.

I mean, no job means no place to live. Means a desperate job hunt. Means maybe getting an interim job that will suck. Means having FIRED on your permanent record, having to explain that to everyone from here until forever. Means fighting your identity to say you're more than your job.

The dirty little secret about losing your job. What they don't tell you? Losing your job sucks.

It's hard to know how to react in this situation. What's the right thing to do? Get angry and quit? Act like nothing ever happened? Try to understand everyone's point of view? Ignore the boss's point of view and get snippy? Just hurt for him?

I think it was a customer being a jerk that did it. Complaining to a higher person up the chain. That complainer is the person I'm angry at. The guy who thought they were more important than they were. That their problems were paramount. That they were more important than someone else, and had to bring that guy down to size, man. This is the essence of a world that's broken; everyone thinks they're the protagonist. Everyone thinks they're the star.

I'm going to be missing him here. Every day. I moved aisle last week, and not being able to look over my shoulder and psst at him was one of the hurts. Not being able to anything at him will be worse.