The Agora

It started off bad even before my car hit the freeway on ramp. It's possible that you can't be too old for children, but you can be too old to share your bed with a toddler (yes, I'm one of those parents--and yes, I think parents who don't thuggish barbarians whose knuckles drag in the earth when I'm not looking). My back hurt, my legs hurt and I was already late for work and it was just 7:30.

I used to like Fridays, but since a new manager was brought in nearly a year ago, Friday has just been eight crappy hours preceding two days of dreading Monday. Since rumors had been swirling about lay-offs, this Friday was worse than most.

In the morning, I keep an eye the managers office door--always know where your enemy is--and this day she was unusually late. By 8:30 I began to hope that she was sick. Ten minutes later, when my bosses boss announced a quick, ad hoc meeting next to my cubicle, I sensed something was up.

Yep, she was gone. Fired. Asked to leave and not come back. The layer-offer was laid off. HA!

Oh, happy day!

(During my most recent review, she said to me, "I'm motivated by money, and I'm sure you are too." A statement that was simultaneously pathetic, disturbing, disgusting, and relavatory of the crushing dehumanization of capitalism. Not to mention saddening coming from an intelligent, educated and well-rounded woman, and deeply, deeply insulting.)

Schadenfreude must be a sin, because it feels so good.

Office upheaval notwithstanding, I still had an apartment complex to insure title on, so I spent most of the rest of the day chasing down deeds, tax maps and ordinances and didn't make it back to the office until 4:30.

A surprising number of people were unusually happy to see me. Touching, but weird. Then they tell me than seven people were laid off, all but one were friends and all but two from my own department. One of them was from my own commercial team.

So now, Monday is looking bleak again, but now because of empty desks and missing voices.
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