Her ex-husband, Frank, held a going away party for her at his house, which tells you the kind of post-marital relationship they've had the past few years. The kind I wish I had with my ex-wife, Susan. Oh, well.
At the party were several other people who'd been laid off, most of them former aerospace workers (I live in Melbourne, a town full of engineers and other who work or worked until recently at Kennedy Space Center) who lost their jobs because of the end of the space shuttle program.
One friend, Mike, told me that he had written his resignation letter two months before he got laid off, and read it every day to remind himself why he needed to get out. His company obliged him, by pulling the trigger for him, and he used the separation package to reinvent himself, becoming a yoga instructor and devoting more time to community theater. He was laid
off four years ago, and is still living in the same beachside condo he's rented for the past seven years.
Frank, one of my best friends and our host, was laid off more recently, along with his girlfriend, Maro. They got generous packages from their employer, so things are not so bad, even if they still have to jump through the byzantine, patronizing hoops to get their unemployment benefits. He got laid off from a $90,000 a year job, and now can devote himself full-time to the care and maintenance of his precious Sears Craftsman home he painstakingly restored.The biggest challenge he and his girlfriend have these days is finding something to do. Travel figures deeply in their future.
Christina, another friend with theater ties, told me she's been laid off twice. Once by an investment banker a decade ago that allowed her and her husband to buy the home they live in now, and then again at the same newspaper where I was just laid off. She seems pretty happy, and spends most of her time raising an awesome son.
Rachel, too, is a victim of double-dip job attrition. She was laid off in 2001, and again earlier this year, which prompted her to get a job keeping the books at a non-profit for the homeless, which has its share of dysfunctionality. But her dream was to teach, and when the offer came from Santa Fe, she jumped at it.
Hope abounds. People who were laid off have found promising, thriving second careers doing what they really love. I should be so lucky.
Rachel, too, is a victim of double-dip job attrition. She was laid off in 2001, and again earlier this year, which prompted her to get a job keeping the books at a non-profit for the homeless, which has its share of dysfunctionality. But her dream was to teach, and when the offer came from Santa Fe, she jumped at it.
Hope abounds. People who were laid off have found promising, thriving second careers doing what they really love. I should be so lucky.
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