“No, I am fine. Both my husband and I have stable jobs, a college education. We’ll be fine.” That was a month ago, when I responded to my mother’s comment, “We are all scared about our jobs. What if you lose yours?” One month ago seems like a year now, but I was wrong. My husband, an employee in the News media ,was laid off from work on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. He was a loyal employee in the editing department who never missed work unless our daughter or I was ill. He performed the job of two people over the weekend only because he made the offer to the station. He never asked for extras, bonuses, or even overtime unless it was given to him.
And yet, WFLA (NBC Tampa, Florida) bosses walked his coworker into Human Resources on Tuesday and laid her off first. Just as my husband watched our President sign the Stimulus Plan, he was contacted and walked over to Human Resources. His hopes broken, his dreams deferred, and his esteem destroyed, he took in all the words that the big guys said. “We are sorry. You’re a great employee. We must do this. You will receive a paycheck twice, and then you will receive a severence package. Thank you for your internship dedication and five years of full-time work, but we must let you go.”
And just like that, his employment ended, his and our four-year-old’s medical benefits timelined to two weeks.
My husband called me from the road to inform me about the lay off, and I didn’t believe him at first since he is always joking. When the reality sunk in, I fell to me knees and trembled with fear. See, we have planned our lives since we first met in 1995, but all of a sudden, fate took over our plans and diminished our hopes in seconds. “What now,” I cired, “What now?”
Our phone continues to ring with advice from our relatives, and as we watch the news about the CEOs who continue to ask for bailout money; I can’t help but curse at the television, “No one is F—–g bailing us out! Some of these greedy jerks have decided to deposit their millions in foreign accounts to avoid paying taxes! We have paid our taxes, paid our bills, lived as productive members of society and yet here we are!” It angers me that Republican leaders continue to say that Government is the problem, that Government should give hand-me-downs. Here is a message to the GOP, who will helps us now if not our Government? Get your face out of your a–s, get over the election loss, and they need to begin working for people like us who have been loyal to this country since our families migrated in the ealry 1980’s. Enough is enough!
I am proud of my husband. He is taking this so well. I am not sure if he is putting on a happy face for us, but while I am devastated; he dances with our little girl. He takes pleasure being with her more often, and he smiles as he washes the dishes. While I am pessimistic, he seems optimistic. And when I feel like punching the wall, he paint-touches the small cracks that have developed. While I drink wine to relax, he drinks water to purify his soul. I am proud of him inspite of everything that has happened. While we being to rehearse for the roles we have to play ahead, we pray that our President helps us get out of this tragedy.
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