Up in the Air: That Moment of Being Fired

http://www.upintheairmovie.com/
This film captures multiple examples of The Moment of being fired: F**k is used a lot. “This is what I get after years of service! you have a lot of gall!” Anger, sadness, disbelief, pure dumbfounded-ness. Then, the odd one, eerily calm, “I am going to jump off of a bridge.”

This is the line that got me: “I have heard that losing your job is like a death in the family, but I feel like the people I work with are my family and I died.”

Up in the Air: A Film about Firing People

   
Although the take-a-way of this George Clooney film is that it’s worth it to “carry a heavy back pack” of relationship commitments, this film was really about work and That Moment of getting fired. His theory is to stay aloof for successful living, but he clearly was not designed for that isolation. The one time that he decides to have stuff in his backpack, he gets hurt, and with an empty backpack, must find comfort in the skies. We are all supposed to feel better – we may not be that cool, dapper, free guy, but we can recover with the use the contents of our backpack. Do we agree?

Exit Interview By Mail

Really? I was in management for years and at no time did we get feedback from former employees about what it was like to work there. So the HR department gathers this stuff by mail, quarterly?  What a farce - and how fitting, with how you handle other things. Do you really thin that I am going to answer, "What would you do to improve the leadership at Do-Good-Company-Does-Not-Good, if anything?" Because 1) they'd know it was me,  2) they don't deserve to know how they can improve and C) They won't get it anyway. But don't pretend you care to know. And get out of my mailbox!  I still have the envelope, and perhaps, after some vodka...

Pray for the Unemployed

 Here is a rundown of  self-talk while being unemployed at a prayer service for the jobless:

• I am a warm fuzzy recipient of kind smiles and hugs from churchy friends. 
• I am  hopeful that there is a plan for me.
• I am confident that, if we lose our home, that relatives would take me in.
• I am a self-absorbed meek person who should be grateful she has a home.
• I am a hateful schmuck for being so angry and accusatory at That VP and her stupid move to fire me.
• I am a woeful horrible person who should not be so hurtful and should accept her role in the whole thing.
• I am a wandering lamb, so pick me up, Shepherd, and carry me.
• I am tired of being fired, this is no fun.
• I gotta turn this around
• I gotta use this candle as a sign of hope.
• I gotta learn arson techniques and do to her what she did to me.
• I gotta stop thinking that my bitterness is funny. 
• I gotta go home and hug my family.

Morning Coffee Spit-take!

I’m enjoying my morning coffee and muffin when my brain suddenly smacks my forehead from inside out: I dreamt about That VP and That HR Clown! Augh! Was there a hidden message from my sub-conscious? Let's see, I dreamt that I could not trust him, and that I was packing up some boxes – yep, it's That Moment all over again! Why, oh, why, must I re-live That Moment? Do you think, as time goes by, my dream scenarios will be in my favor?

Lunch with Believer

Believer is the lady I used to work for at Do-Good-Company-That-Does-Mediocre who left a few years ago with which I still see from time-to-time. And Believer believed that I was a great employee and cheers me on. Believer is still in contact with The VP and Wandering Director(s), so I was apprehensive on how I'd feel after having coffee with her. Sad? Depressed? Victim? After our java date last week, I found myself energized, and validated, and good. I can do a lot! I have skills! I can re-enter the job market with edge! But it doesn't take another dreary day of job hunting to make that fade away. Now, I gotta get me some "don't-stop-believing" potion!