Corporate Restructuring...

Also known as: You are expendable....we didn't really need you to begin with.

You will have to forgive me and my very, unchipper, dramatically cynical attitude I will undoubtedly spew in this, a very miserable blog. But, hey, that's life, right?

So, yesterday Robbie had a job and today he had that job taken away. Barkley Evergreen & Partners (or make that partner-less) did a bit of house cleaning today and laid off 20 of their employees. Shockingly, (specifically to Robbie and I) Robbie was one of the casualties of the advertising industries never-ending war with the dreaded Bottom Line.

All day I have been fluctuating in and out of the following stages of grief:
Shock, Anger, Acceptance, Anger, Anger, Anger........I think I may be kind of stuck.

What frustrates me the most is that they did this to MY husband. I really love the guy and hate to see him sad, hurt, and scared. Moving to Kansas City was suppose to broaden his career horizons, not completely deflate them after only three years.

Sadly, Robbie and I have sat back for the last few years and watched the tide flow back and forth, up and down, never considering job-loss a possible reality. New interns come in, people get laid-off, accounts come and go, so do the people working on those accounts, a new creative director gains power and all of the people he didn't like find themselves jobless and those that worked for him at "the other place" find themselves new jobs along with the best job assignments.

I think it is safe to say that Robbie now has a good understanding of the Super Cool Advertising Industry and that knowledge has uncovered the Super Un-Cool Truth that the Advertising Industry is rarely secure and rarely faithful to employees with good work ethics and solid skills. It's been a good lesson...he will never wish he hadn't taken the opportunity, but now that it is over, I don't think he will want to work in this kind of environment again.

Robbie is ok. We are going to be ok. The last major trial of our marriage was moving here and we survived a few rough years before that....we will be ok.

I had a moment, right after Robbie told me that he was laid-off where I cried and cried because I had been feeling lately that I had little to pray about. He told me the news and I felt slapped in the face, like, oh crap...Robbie's job, yeah, I should've been praying for THAT!

So, like loser Christians, at the moment of despair we prayed. Not even humbly, just in that sickly, sad tone of "What are we gonna do? Can you fix this too God?" What I find so amazing though is that despite our weak, needy prayers, He always seems to take them into consideration. I am angry and sad for Robbie and for the trouble this presents in our life, but at the same time I have this tiny tingle of hope and possibility deep inside. It comes and goes and in a couple of days it may be a new permanent fixture in our home...I hope, I hope.

Robbie worked hard today on his portfolio & resume and even created an online portfolio. He called the one great contact he has here in the city, outside of Barkley and is meeting him for lunch tomorrow. There are jobs out there, Robbie is just going to have to find the right one.

In the meantime we have our health, right? And it's a damn good thing because our insurance will expire at the end of the month. Tomorrow I will try to find the silver lining.