Operation Overlord
We’ve known this day was coming. We knew the plans, but not The Plan. It would be ugly. We were well prepared, we knew we would not all survive the day.
As the train brought us in, I looked around. When the smoke clears, will I see these people again? Will I be one of the fallen? One of the survivors? Which is better? Will I survive today, just to fall later? Leaving things to fate scares me, yet comforts me. I might get The Call, yet it’s out of my hands.
It was over before I knew it had begun. Casualties were expected, but never easy. The loss comes hard, very hard. Friends I have grown close to are gone.
The day is spent getting sporadic reports. The cuts are deep. Very deep. The losses are more than expected. Surprising. Frightening. Many tears. Many, many tears.
Walking around, I see the fallen with their few possessions and shattered dreams. The survivors walk around in a daze. Happy to still be here, mourning the loss of those close to us. We hug. More tears. Some laughs. The sense of loss hangs in the air.
Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow we start anew. From the fires comes the phoenix. Time will heal the wounds.
Layoffs… like war, but no parade afterwards.
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4 comments:
Chris, what a sad post. I'm glad you still have a job but sorry you had to go through all of that.
I remember it too well from my time at IBM. Massive layoffs after Sept. 11. I got my bad news in November and spent all of 2002 unemployed. It was horrible.
I hope your friends will okay. Call them often so they know they're not forgotten.
Wow... given the nature of most of your posts I kept waiting for the punch line... Hang in there. I've been downsized twice since 2000 and it's no fun. But as Michele said, call them, it may be uncomfortable but it would mean a lot to them. Hang in there!
Michele: Thanks. It's an ugly time in (what's left of) Bush's America. Brighter days lay ahead! I'll definitely keep in touch with my former coworkers--there are plans in place that should the economic situation turn around we will hire them back.
Christopher: Trust me, I kept thinking of punchlines, but I felt it was in really bad taste... which has never stopped me before.
As I'm describing it to people today: War is over and I get my office to myself again! (not that funny... still working on it).
Yep, you've described it perfectly. Fortunately (I guess), I'm one of the survivors, at the moment.
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