It took a few minutes for me to realize what happened, and this time, it was completely unexpected. To be very honest, there were no real visible differences in the job I was doing versus my replacement(s), in my opinion; I doubt that anyone else would have noticed without very close inspection. But I had to face the reality of it…I had been fired for the second time in my life by an overly judgmental boss.
Now the only other time I was let go, I saw it coming and could do nothing. It ended with a severance package that covered me for the entire time I was off – before being rehired at the same company with no loss of tenure. In those four months, I also had another job so it was a profitable year. It did cause me to be just shy of thirty years at the same place; but I still say thirty because technically I had vacation pay, severance, insurance…just didn’t have to show up for that window. Anyway….I saw that coming, I never expected to be fired again in my sixties.
But here is how it went down.
I came home from fishing, and found three ladies in my house. I asked them who they were, and what the hell they were doing there. The look of shock was funny to me, but no to them or my wife. She told me to leave them alone.
“What are they doing here!?!?” I asked in the next room.
“Cleaning.”
And with that word, I knew I had been fired as the domestic staff of my own house. No severance, no call not to show up that day; nothing.
I say I didn’t see it coming, but there were signs. Side eyed glances at laundry left out for more than a minute, finger swipes along the not visible to the human eye dust, daily reminders about the bathrooms…an occasional finger scraping something from the stove top or counters. But I thought I had an “in” with management and there were no verbal warnings, no performance improvement plans…nothing. After all I have done for the company.
Just replaced!! Fired without (??) cause.
Damn it.
Hate that it went down that way…..and that I don’t have to worry about it. I meant I am devastated by the loss of employment at the homestead.
Guess I will go fishing instead. Oh well.
They still expect me to cook here…
Didn’t fix dinner tonight. Let’s see how that plays out…
Topwater Moon 