reunion

Something is kicking my ass. Earlier this week, John complained of a sore throat, headache, and fatigue, to which I may not have been appropriately sympathetic. When I felt that first bit of throat scratchiness yesterday, while preparing for dinner guests, I wasn’t surprised. But I did ignore the irritation because I was expecting lots of people at my house and there was cleaning and cooking to be done. The minute the last guest left—at 11:45—the full-fledged sick set in. Aargh! I have an interview next week. I don’t need to feel crappy.

Last night was a lot of fun. My former coworkers came over to grill and commiserate about having been laid off.

Katey, who was on maternity leave when she lost her job, brought Calvin, who is a deliciously chubby and bald six-month-old. Leon brought his spouse, Chris, who was friendly and absolutely engaged with everyone at the party. Leon is busy applying for all the same jobs I am, whether he’s qualified or not. I keep thinking I’ll run into him in on the interview circuit. Ginny, who had only been at the company for four months before she was laid off, brought her husband, whom I’d never before met. They’re a cute but funny couple. Both committed vegetarians, they’re converting to vegans as a summer project. Jeff left the company long ago, but we were friends before Homeplans (the Mac circle) and I thought he’d enjoy seeing former coworkers. He attended with family. His wife tried to put a positive spin on being laid off, how it forces you to change, which I found unnecessary and a little hurtful. As I’ve said before, I liked my job and hadn’t been at it long. I wasn’t a lifer, but was skill-building. Plus, it’s an impossible job market—not the best time to be unemployed. Aargh. I know she was trying to cheer us up, but geez, I wanted to say, “You’ve clearly never lost a job.” Bruce, my former boss, came solo. He’s currently doing my job on a hush-hush part-time basis. Rat fink. And, Eric, who has never received his due here (I wouldn’t even know where to start—let’s just say he was a corporate liability), also attended. Unemployment hasn’t altered him a bit.

Some folks have had interviews, though none have found jobs. The market certainly isn’t helping, and the season almost makes it too nice to work! But, I think it’s safe to say that most of us thought we would have jobs by now. We all compared notes on any interviewing we’d done, as well as filing for unemployment. We gossiped about the new, stripped-down version of the company. We dished on former coworkers and directors who weren't in attendance. And, we shared tips on the best daytime television.