The emotional journey of being laid off during a global pandemic, phase 1

Posted by May 30, 2020 Work , Leave a Comment

Shock
Lol, yeah right. Wait… you are serious? This is happening? I’m getting laid off? THIS IS HAPPENING?!

Sobbing
How could this be happening?! [indecipherable blubber words]

Sucker punch
What the fu….? How could this be happening?! I busted my ass for five fucking years helping to build this company and now I get the today is my last day speech?! Today is my last day and I can’t even say goodbye to people I’ve built relationships with for FIVE years. I don’t even have the time to get all the random shit off of my computer because I’m an idiot and saved stuff on my work computer?! I mean, stored things on my laptop since work has basically been my life and my identity for the last five years, that is! 

Getting laid off is something like this – people try to paint you a poetic picture, but you know it’s a bleak as fuck empty void out there!

Panic
Holy shit, I am so fucked. I am SO fucked. How am I going to find a job in a fucking global pandemic when unemployment is like one million percent?! I am so FUCKED!! 

Joke is on them!
They will totally regret this. Because I am super valuable and a high performer and exceptionally good at my job and they will have a hard time replacing me. 

Reality check
Oh… (the crushing realization that while my life has been dramatically altered, everyone else’s lives will return to normal in about 3 days.)

Equilibrium
It’s fine. Like, it’s going to be fine. I’m fine. It’s fine. Things are totally fine.

More panic
I told my parents I got laid off and it’s basically like I just told them they got laid off, and they are freaking out and that is making me freak the fuck out even more!!

Silver lining
No, no it’s fine. Really, it is. Of course this is all for the best. This is definitely the thing I needed to have happen to push me into something that is even better than this was. Obviously, this is exactly what I actually needed to get unstuck and move on to something that is even better. Like… I’ll probably run that marathon and write that book I’ve always been meaning to write. And just become a fundamentally transformed superhuman.

Panic
Oh my god, idiot, be serious!  I am so FUCKED!! 

FUCK IT ALL!!!!
Maybe I will feel better if I eat ice cream and watch Bad Boys for Life…? 

Downing a pint or two of ice cream in the circumstances is more than acceptable, it’s mandatory.