Pink Slip

Jay, what an uplifting way to look at the emotional kick in the arse it is to be fired. My boss just told me he has 'been sacked' and he was blindsided. I have my own experience, and it hurt. Makes ya question if you are competent. I'm sending this link to my boss because it's a wonderfully written and cathartic take on screw the boss who has no clue!

When my job at Borders was eliminated, dozens of other people also were released. For hours we packed up our office and books. Years and years of books. I still can't hear the sound of tape guns sealing boxes without remembering that sorrowful day.

You realize in today’s age, they just cannot fire you. If they downsize or outsource your job you can hear in the distance that sound of ‘Ca-ching,’ Not like my day when they say… to-bad…so sad. But my job made me arrogant, as a mechanic we were and are in short supply. The downside of that is, I never heard that money sound because I could always find a job. 😀 👍

Brilliantly done! I have never been fired...I now feel like I've missed out somewhat. May give it a go! You made me laugh out loud. Perfect! 🤍

Excellent piece! I recall being escorted off the premises, like I had been terribly naughty. Made me laugh, and glad to go.

Wise words, light hearted as ever. The worst description I have ever heard about "letting people go" is "help them find happiness elsewhere.' Jees. Smug with veiled threats. 😵‍💫

Dear Jay Kantor, Chatsworth, California 'Senior' Vocal Author - Vocal Author Community - You graced my space with a thoughtful review of one of my latest pieces with such honesty and humor I needed more. I was pleasantly surprised that this well-crafted piece was the first one I selected. It's true that rejection stings, but what I enjoyed the most about your piece was the underlying theme - sometimes, we need a good kick in the @ss to wake up and live out our true purpose. I am thinking about the last time that... "we're going in a different direction came my way." I had mentally checked out just as the team support had done with me. But had it not been for the wake-up call - I'd still be there living someone else's dream instead of my own. I too - have now decided to retire from that way of life and chase my dreams - Your words reminded me - that as large as this world is - we are never really alone. Thanks for being a lighthouse in the sea and a tree top in the forest. Signed, EYHCS From the land of dreams and the universe of hope

I agree that being "let go" from a job can bring feelings of rejection and inadequacy that we want to run away from. I have had two times in my later years when the boss invited me into his office for a.brief chat...not a good feeling. But by time I drove home, I was already thinking about a better job I wanted. It is a live and learn process.

I think the firing or whatever comes at a time when it is time to move on. Better almost always comes after the initial heart thumping. Good points here Jay. No matter how you leave a job, if one is not readily available, you will get that down feeling of loss. Hope you are doing ok.

I was fired many, many times but always from soul crushing jobs I hated that barely paid anything… so I was likely doing the job poorly because I just did not want to do it, but I was raised to never quit. I was raised to obsessively worry about money. I had to unlearn that. Now I would gladly quit a job I didn’t want, but I love what I do.

As promised... You're a good writer, Jay. I don't know that I could ever work for anyone else again and hope I never have to.

Yes, if you have to work for someone, chances are you'll get fired at some time in your life. I knew mine was coming when I applied for my own job. I called the number (not the work number), and the secretary answered. It wasn't long after that, I was called up to see the boss. Even though I hated the job, it hurt to get the sack from it. The bastard beat me to it I suppose. I hated that job. Thanks Jay,

I really enjoyed this piece! I also love the reminder that one and one’s job are separate. The idea of being fired has replaced my old, school-age fear of failing a class, but I love how your piece shows that being fired is not at all the end of the world. Great work, Jay!

Outstanding story on the humor and the pink slip!!! Loving it!!!

😅 "The Doomsday Talk" I like that, J-bud. The only time I was fired still remains a mystery 🤷🏽‍♀️. In Michigan, they passed a law where the employer doesn't have to give a reason. All they told me was today my last day, after the shift was over. It wasn't a huge deal since I was bartending a few nights a week. So, I just picked up more hours there. Still though, I was confused all to hell. Excellent article, Jay. It's definitely a conversation starter. L-bud.

I remember the first time I got fired didn’t get hung up on it- it was my fault just found a new job

Thank goodness I have never been fired before. It would have cried until I died, lol!

From Terrilynn: Jay, this is so relevant to a huge population. I've been there and can say that the hit to one's self esteem can be enormous. - Many among us are way better once we move on -

Dear Jay You did a wonderful job writing this.

A punch in the gut, even though I was lukewarm about the job. An office in a factory where I punched numbers into a calculator all day long and typed faster than the other young woman who out ranked me by a few months. She was in charge and I was disrupting the attention she got. I was to find out by the personnel director, who informed me that I was fired, that I was unable to alphabetize the files, thus the reason for my dismissal. Horse-hockey. Methinks miss boss rearranged the files for me after I left for the day. Nonetheless, it hurt like hell and made me feel like a failure for losing that $2.10 an hour job. Sadly, I had to go back to dancing and making $600. a week again.

When you work in sales, If you're the #1 salesman your territory gets cut in half and your quota gets doubled. You get fired the following year. If you're low man they just tell you to leave. Either way getting fired is normal so you wait until the end of the year and get a job with the competition.

One time - I don't really know if this counts - when I was in college, I had a weekend job at a local small business - when I came in to work o n Saturday (a store in the mall). they were gone - they had moved, I found out, but didn't know where - so I no longer had that job - it was weird.

For me, getting fired has tended to look like the Staff-Parish Relations Committee requesting a change--& that's only happened once & came as no surprise (I requested a change as well). Usually I think it's because I accepted jobs for which few if any were vying. And so it was until almost eight years ago when I crashed severely into near catatonia due to undiagnosed autism, OCD & clinical depression. At that point, my district superintendent said she had no place she could place me as pastor (due to the nature of coping mechanisms & numbing I had developed at a very young age) &, after discovering I was too close to retirement eligibility to ease out of ministry & surrender credentials, gave me a choice of either retiring or being retired. Our bishop at the time seemed more than happy to be rid of me inasmuch as he's a traditionalist who led the charge to make the restrictive language on homosexuality in our Book of Discipline more restrictive & punitive & I'm a progressive who firmly believes that our denomination has been wrong about the issue & in diametric opposition to the gospel & what I consider to be the clear teaching of Paul/scripture on the issue (he stops with Romans 1 while I insist on reading Romans 2, arguing that you can't end a passage when the very next word is "Therefore" & trust that you've understood it). That one continues to hurt in a fairly debilitating way.

Oh yes, I remember the first time. Came as a shock really.

Ah, the lessons we learn growing up. Some sage advice here, J-Bud. I was 16 the first time and had been working for 2 years. It was also the last time.