I’ll admit it wasn’t easy to sleep the night of the little black folder round 2. If you read my previous blog you probably understand the painful situation thus far. If you’ve not- I recommend you read it before continuing on into this post. I promise this post will not go anywhere while you are diving into it’s sister post… that sounds dirty. I’ll let that lie right there……

The day after

Unfortunately my body has an internal alarm to wake up at 7 am no matter what, Monday through Friday thanks to the old day job. So you guessed it- 7 am on a Friday, the day after the little black folder, I awoke grasping to straws that this was a bad dream. Alas I walked upstairs to see that little black folder perched on the coach arm where I left it the day before. Not a dream (insert biggest sigh ever here). I watched my sister prep and steam clothes, do her hair – all the things I would be doing if I were getting ready for the work day ahead. I just sat there, watching. She left for the day and I was left in an empty(ish) house. The tears rolled down uncontrollably. I had no where to go for the first day in years. I am a strong person, but even strong people have moments where they feel worthless. This was one of mine. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I cleaned, I did some Scentsy emails and posts, and waiting for someone to come home. I’ve blogged before and I’ve had this page for sometime now- but I never really put it to consistent use. Often we think that what we feel, do, or even say means nothing to anyone else. I found after posting about my job elimination on Facebook that other people cared about this topic. Realistically the day after my job loss- this blog series was born. Maybe it wasn’t so unproductive after all?

The cons of the day after

As any millennial would do- I announced my job loss on social media, specifically my Facebook as this is where I do most of my personal connecting. What I didn’t think about was unsolicited advice. Do not twist this- I do not mind unsolicited advice or offers to help- I appreciate being that important to someone that they feel like they need to offer me assistance. I just ask that you keep in mind that people that go through job eliminations do not have the following things on a drop of a dime:

1. Updated Resumes. We didn’t know we were getting cut. It happened quickly and randomly (to us) and it takes time to add everything we learned, and is typically done after we go through the steps of loss.
2. An Explanation. We get told the same things everyone does: It wasn’t your performance, the position (even though you have to deploy software to over 500 restaurants still and that was my job) is no longer needed. We do not 100% know why (unless you come back 4 months later and then you find out why) – I may have put some personal touches on this one….
3. Previous Job may not fit in your Jobs wheel house. Yes I’m in I.T. but I am a specialized I.T. person. I wasn’t desktop support. I wasn’t base level. The software I used and the software your company uses is probably different in most cases. It doesn’t mean I won’t check out the opportunities and that I’m not grateful that you’re letting me know they exist- but I’m still getting over a loss. I’m not ready to talk about what I “used” to do just yet.

The day after for me- it was grieving. Realizing you’re not going back to a place filled with people you considered friends and you saw more than your family. It also meant trying very hard not to offend people who asked for my resume, asked me what I did at my last place of employment, or wanted to talk when I wasn’t ready to just yet. A Scentsy bath bomb and a night off social media helped. Oh I forgot I watched a lot of YouTube that day. Mindless lifestyle vlogs, beauty product reviews, and food videos can do wonders for the soul.

❤ Thank you for those that reached out, checked on me, cared enough to ask for my resume and offer suggestions. Though I wasn’t quite ready yet the gestures meant the world to me.