prodigal daughter
we're sorry, but you're no longer needed
You've been laid off. Please pack up your things and go.
This picture was my attempt at using my photography to express some of what I went through when I was laid off from my job. I've mentioned this before, but it seemed especially relevant since so many people all over the world lost their jobs and continue to suffer in this terrible recession. I still hope that one day I can say that losing that job was the best thing that ever happened to me because I went on to something better.
I debated posting this next paragraph because I was afraid I'd sound too whiny and self-indulgent, but I have been ashamed (afraid?) to talk about this for so long I decided I needed to get it out of my system once and for all. I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach when my bosses told me they were no longer able to keep me on as an employee as a result of restructuring. I found out later that "restructuring" really boiled down to their desire to replace me with one of the managing partner's buddies, or his kid, or both. Although I'd never received any complaints about my work performance (just the opposite), I was offered no severance package — my boss merely asked me if I "needed a few weeks to clean out my office." Of course I lost my medical benefits along with my job, which was terrifying since only a year earlier I'd undergone a series of expensive tests, including an echocardiogram, because my doctor thought my heart beat too fast. I was so worried about how I was going to pay bills I woke up crying every day for two weeks and couldn’t eat. I lost so much weight none of my clothes fit, not even my belt, and I had to tie my clothes on with a string (which sounds funny now, but wasn't at the time). My boss also, I'll use the word "advised", me not to describe him or the circumstances under which I'd been laid off in any kind of negative light or he told me he wouldn't give me a good recommendation when I applied for jobs in the future. Because he was a powerful and well-connected person, he meant it. I am not a powerful or well-connected person, so his threat only made me feel even more ashamed and afraid. I blamed myself. To be fair, I was eventually given a severance package, but only after my bosses saw how distraught I was at losing my job when I returned to finish cleaning out my office.
we're sorry, but you're no longer needed
You've been laid off. Please pack up your things and go.
This picture was my attempt at using my photography to express some of what I went through when I was laid off from my job. I've mentioned this before, but it seemed especially relevant since so many people all over the world lost their jobs and continue to suffer in this terrible recession. I still hope that one day I can say that losing that job was the best thing that ever happened to me because I went on to something better.
I debated posting this next paragraph because I was afraid I'd sound too whiny and self-indulgent, but I have been ashamed (afraid?) to talk about this for so long I decided I needed to get it out of my system once and for all. I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach when my bosses told me they were no longer able to keep me on as an employee as a result of restructuring. I found out later that "restructuring" really boiled down to their desire to replace me with one of the managing partner's buddies, or his kid, or both. Although I'd never received any complaints about my work performance (just the opposite), I was offered no severance package — my boss merely asked me if I "needed a few weeks to clean out my office." Of course I lost my medical benefits along with my job, which was terrifying since only a year earlier I'd undergone a series of expensive tests, including an echocardiogram, because my doctor thought my heart beat too fast. I was so worried about how I was going to pay bills I woke up crying every day for two weeks and couldn’t eat. I lost so much weight none of my clothes fit, not even my belt, and I had to tie my clothes on with a string (which sounds funny now, but wasn't at the time). My boss also, I'll use the word "advised", me not to describe him or the circumstances under which I'd been laid off in any kind of negative light or he told me he wouldn't give me a good recommendation when I applied for jobs in the future. Because he was a powerful and well-connected person, he meant it. I am not a powerful or well-connected person, so his threat only made me feel even more ashamed and afraid. I blamed myself. To be fair, I was eventually given a severance package, but only after my bosses saw how distraught I was at losing my job when I returned to finish cleaning out my office.