Sadly, Not an April Fool's Joke

So.

I was laid off today.

In the nicest way. Actually, they closed all regional offices today, closed one sister company yesterday, and are cutting 70% of the rest of my company and the other sisters and parent company tomorrow thruout the week.

So, yeah. Wish I could say this was an April Fool's Day joke, but its not.

On the upside, awesome severance, vacation cashout, recommendations and referrals all around.

I think I might apply to go to Japan to teach English as a second language. They seem to pay enough to where I could probably keep my house & truck in the States with a minor subsidy from me provided my renters stay in the house.

lots to think about. So, I turned in my blackberry, my laptop, my keys, etc., but not before sending to all my peeps in the various offices (including the executive branch - Manging Director and all the VPs) who I have built long and rewarding and respected professional relationships with over the last 3.5 years:


Hi everyone -
We all know what today means for a lot of us in the regional offices - it means goodbye. As sad a fact as that is, it is also true that life changes: sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst, and the inevitable truth at the end is that most change is good. If change was not thrust upon us, some would never change (I'm sure some great writer has a poignant quote for this thought, but I cannot for the life of me remember it offhand).

What I can remember, though, is a quote I hung on my desk in the first month I began working for [My Company] in 2004, and have with me now:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle

In essence, you are who you are, whereever you are. It has been a great run, and a pleasure to know and work with each of you - I wish each of you all the best in every endeavor!

For those of you who do not have it, my contact information is this:
mack@email
555.555.5555 - cell

Keep in touch.
Thanks again,

I was like, what are they going to do? FIRE ME? (one girl said, SEND ME BACK TO NAM?). However, I was humbled by the heartfelt email responses I received from across America - people called me crying (they too, were losing their jobs this week). It makes me realize that we are so much more than "just" what we do everyday.

I'm seriously going to miss them big time, but I joined LinkedIn.com, and linked just about everybody, so hopefully I wont lose them over time.

I dont feel sad right now, just kind of tired, and happy that the deed is done.

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