This is part of a series on our current situation with unemployment and March 2013 generally being kind of rough. To read the whole thing, check out March Madness 2013.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this whole lay-off thing is working out pretty well, so far. I hadn’t realized how ready JC was for a change. He’s a new man. He’s downright happy. He was angry when it happened, but now he seems thrilled. And it’s not just that he gets more time with the kiddies (although that’s nice).
JC probably would have stayed at RST for the rest of his career, getting grumpier and more depressed, if he hadn’t been asked to leave. Now, he’s suddenly dazzled at all the options, at a whole world of possibility.
I’ve been freaking out about this, and the car, and everything else. JC has taken it all in stride. If you had told me even three years ago that JC would be the calm, put-together person in a crisis, I would never have believed you.
When JC texted me to tell me about the layoff, all I could think about was the last time he was unemployed, when we first got married. He was much more unwell than I think I understood at the time. He did a lot of video game playing and moping. I did a lot of yelling (it didn’t help). JC got his job at RST because I twisted someone’s arm to get him an interview–which he did well at. He wound up there by default; he didn’t wake up one morning and think, “What I really want to do in my life is streamline the test lab (and then the release processes) for a language education software company!” It was the job he got, and he did it well, but it was not the job he chose. I had to drag him through the whole process, and I hated that.
What a difference a few years makes. JC’s health is much better. He’s older and wiser. He has two little children to keep fed, clothed, and housed. He has taken the time to figure out what he gets excited about–DevOps, it turns out (DevOps:software developers::stage manager:actors). He’s finding opportunities at companies that are doing work he believes in.
The layoff happened on a Tuesday. On that Thursday, JC went into town to start knocking on doors of businesses he thinks would be good places to work. I was, to put it lightly, gobsmacked.
I haven’t nagged. I haven’t whined or fussed. I’ve just stood in amazement, watching JC polish his resume, refine his LinkedIn page, and reach out through his network.
This is not the man I married. And that’s fine with me. 🙂
PS Post title is the first line of an Emily Dickinson poem.
It’s great to hear the positive side of the coin in what would seem like an overwhelmingly hard situation. So glad JC is energized by the potential in his life and career options right now and doing what he can to seek out a good place for himself. Really proud of your whole family for your positive attitudes despite difficulty. xo