Tuesday, September 12, 2006

A Kinder, Gentler Pink Slip

The 9/11 anniversary reminded me of one of my all-time favorite lay-off stories. The husband of a friend of a friend was stranded in Washington DC on 9/11. He wanted to get home to San Francisco and was able to rent a car and start wending his way cross country. While he was driving through the Nevada desert, his manager called to lay him off. Couldn't have waited another day, I guess! Good thing this fellow wasn't the type to drive off the Hoover Dam in despair.

Just another case of a stressed out manager who lets their "wanna get this over with" compulsion get in the way of human, humane behavior. (The company was AltaVista, as I recall. Still around but not quite the hotty they once were. Serves them right!)

2 comments:

John Whiteside said...

One of my coworkers was laid off via cell phone while he was in the neonatal intensive care unit with his newborn child and his wife.

The manager in question was later overheard saying, "That one was fun."

I hope there is some karmic retribution for people like that (and I get to see it in action).

Maureen Rogers said...

There's no end to the variations. I worked for a company and the CEO asked his admin to fax a new org chart: she wasn't on it!