Thursday, October 30, 2008

I got the AXE!

If you read that, and thought about body wash, body spray, or anything else that promises to increase your chances with the ladies, I hate to disappoint. This blog isn't about smelling good (although I do use AXE brand body wash because it smells oh so good.) Nor does this blog pertain to anything related to a weapon of war, or halloween, or any of that. Let's start at the beginning...

So today I'm at work, my fingers dashing around the keyboard like brokers on wallstreet, just working up a storm. It was a good day, money-wise, because the projects I completed were high-dollar accounts. The day was winding down and my boss walks by informing everyone that we have a meeting at 4:45 - just fifteen minutes before work would end for the day.

"What a weird time for a meeting," I thought.

I figured it was going to be one of those all-too-familiar HR meetings where they go over the logistics of treating your cubicle-neighbor with respect, or perhaps the one where they ask you what a "hostile work environment" means to you. I thought they were going to chastise us for bieng too loud, flinging playing cards around like ninja-stars, or throwing paper airplanes as far as we could over the endless rows of cubicles (extra points when you hear an "Ouch!") These were all typical pastimes of the flash team. They could have disciplined us for any number of things.

But instead, they just layed us all off.

Now, in your mind, after reading the previous paragraph, you might be tempted to think that perhaps we were fired for being a bunch of goofballs. I assure you this is not the case - we were no more crazy than the other departments. We were, however, much more fun. Anyway, the reason for which we were layed off is because apparently the company wants to go to all outsourced flash developers. Ya know what, though? I can't blame them. I was making damn good money doing damn good work. And now, they have the priviledge of paying crappy money for crappy work. Why pay good for the good stuff when you can buy crap at half the price? In these tough times, I guess the company had to make a change.

So, I'm not really sad about all of this. I'm a little angry that they didn't give us more heads up. If I were to quit I'd respectfully give two weeks notice. Is it too much to expect the company to reciprocate my generosity? I mean, I'm not in dire straits or anything. In fact, I'm well prepared (financially speaking) for such an occurrance, and I have some really amazing freelancing plans for the very near future. I look forward to being able to get my portfolio website off the ground and develop some personal goals that I've had for quite some time.

The two weeks notice, though, would have been nice for my coworker, "D", who lives paycheck to paycheck and has child support to pay on top of that. Another coworker, "G-Man", has a wife and a little boy to feed. "Master Shak" was just involved in a major car accident and will lose his insurance after the end of the month (tomorrow). You can see that life will be messy for them as they look for a new job and try to figure out how to make ends meet. Throw a poor economy on the pile and you've got a geniune quagmire of worry.

I am quite mad, though, that I won't get to dress up as the joker for work tomorrow. *sigh* I really talked it up, too. People were excited, ya know?

Oh well. The tale of Barry the flash developer who worked at a web design company in an old bowling alley with no windows now comes to a close. (Yeah, entirely devoid of natural light. Some would hiss when they walked out into the sun. *shudder*)

Good night. : )

-Barry

10 comments:

  1. is that even legal? you should sue. if i was already an attorney, i'd help you sue.

    not cool.

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  2. been there, done that, but for different reasons. it sucks. but you'll bounce back. you're smart. ;)

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear you were laid off. It only brings up painful memories of the time Peter was laid off two years ago (it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise). I am relieved to hear that you are well prepared, and I know you will find success either by your own merits or through a more appreciative company.

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  4. Sorry about the job! Freelancing, does that include wedding photography?

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  5. Oh man, that blows. Well you'll have a freelancing opportunity in January. :D

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  6. that sucks, you are smart enough and super talented .. you'll find something else.

    atleast you got the harley :)

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  7. I thought you were a flash developer Barry not a member of the Wu Tang Clan. With names like "D", "G-Man, and "Master Shak" you made me think otherwise. My only question is, "who laces the beets and who drops the flow?"

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  8. oh man. heritage never ceases to amaze me with their antics.

    reminds me of when i got the axe. if you want any freelancing links, let me know. i've got all kinds of connections. :)

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  9. Hey Barry! I don't know if it helps, but it wasn't just flash. The writing department lost 2 people, and we were already down 5 from how big we were a few months ago. It's true about the outsourcing though. They probably would have laid us all off if they could outsource it all. All writing is outsourced now, but they kept the few of us to continue to edit. It would be way too expensive to outsource the editing.

    I am glad you are prepared though! I was really excited to see you dressed up as Joker at work, too, but instead I went to work on Halloween and found out you were gone. Obviously more painful for you than me.

    I hope your next job has windows!

    At least you got a motorcycle out of them, right?

    Sad story. One of the guys in my cubicle row who was laid off was on vacation in Hawaii. What a nice surprise to come home to . . .

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