The big project I've been up-to-my-eyeballs in will be officially over tomorrow. The new tools will be rolled out, and I'll get the kudos for all the great work I've put in. Happy ending...
NOT.
Bright and early this morning, I got a phone call from my colleague in Michigan, who started with some polite small talk but I knew you don't call someone at that hour to conduct polite small talk. The real reason for his call revealed itself soon enough...
"So, you heard about the lay-off's yet? I just heard an hour ago..."
"What lay off, I thought our department isn't affected..."
"I already heard of 2 folks getting sacked, and I heard from my manager that your manager's making the 'phone calls' soon..."
And sure enough, as soon as I hung up, I was greeted by the special ring tone I assigned for my boss on my cell phone. I picked up with a lump in my throat.
As it turned out, I'm safe, along with most everyone on the team. But I did learn that a few of my colleagues who have been with the company forever and have been solid performers got the sack for reasons unknown (one guy thinks it's because he's the oldest one in the group, an unnerving thought). In fact, I just spoke with one of my newly laid-off colleagues yesterday about embarking on a joint project. Oh well, I guess that's one less project to worry about.
It also turns out that there'll be a major re-organization in our department, I'll lose my boss (she's being promoted to headquarters in NJ), and there'll be significant musical-chair movement around the country. I'm sure we'll hear more about the full extent of the casualty by tomorrow after the initial chaos subsides. And I had to work against this gloomy mood and try to rally the team to finish the project and get psyched for tomorrow's roll out. Needless to say, I wasn't met with a lot of enthusiasm.
So, today will be remembered as the Day the Sh*t Hits the Fan.
