layoff - One Less Dog In The Hunt

September 23, 2021September 6, 2021

Forget the BS

You know, I go back there every now and then. I mean in my thoughts. I don’t really go back there. I avoid it like the plague (sorry, kind of a tough word to use given the times we are in). We do a lot of online shopping these days, not because of Covid; just because we don’t want to waste our time going in.

If you’ve been following this, you know I spent thirty plus years in retail. My first foray was with the Big K, while in college. They were actually a big company then. The largest discounter. It’s humorous now, maybe a little sad in some ways. They really thought they would squash the Big W before it ever got rolling. I remember my old boss telling me about this little retailer that was coming on strong. Based in Arkansas, they were just getting ready to move into the DFW area. “Yeah, we’re going to roll over them and send them back to the small towns,” he claimed. It didn’t happen of course. The Big W went on to crush the Big K and the rest is history.

April 11, 2020April 18, 2020

What’s Next?

Pluck Makes Luck. Good saying. It’s tougher than that when you’re on the other side. With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the economy and jobs, some of you are on the other side. I feel your pain. I spent two years on the other side. There isn’t a person alive that can realistically claim I wasn’t working towards work.

I can’t say why it took so long for a guy with my experience to find a job. I can speculate as to why employers weren’t interested, but they don’t spend a lot of time explaining their reasons. I had an interview where that question was asked. “Why haven’t you been hired in a two year period?” My response was perhaps a little too telling of my frustration. “After this interview, you’ll have a better answer for that than I do. I hope you’ll share that with me.” He didn’t.

Fortunately, I finally found someone to take a chance on me. Maybe it was just a matter of timing. If you believe in divine intervention, then the answer might be that the right job just hadn’t opened yet. If you don’t believe in some kind of greater plan, then it’s just a matter of time, work, and frustration.

January 2, 2020April 11, 2020

Panic Button

So, I got the boot. I think I walked out of that building (escorted of course) in a tunnel. I had a feeling it was coming. We’d been warned there was some corporate restructuring that would impact those in my position. Crazy thing is, they warned us a week before they told us; let us dangle at the end of the hook so to speak. Simple courtesy or even humane treatment would have been to tell us what was happening and then tell us who got the axe. One swift cut, but no, bro.

http://clipart-library.com/clipart/1289443.htm

Anyway, my point isn’t to debate the heartlessness of corporate decision making. I mean to set up the feeling of walking out of a building where I had invested over half my life with no clear understanding of where I was headed. Of course, I had bills, a wife, a kid in college, and I was still at least ten years away from retirement. I was going to need some income, but I had no desire to enter into something I would be wanting out of in six months.

In that week where I dangled, I researched. The number one thing I found was encouragement to stay calm. Don’t Panic. Keep a perspective. Don’t rush into the first job you stumble upon. Therefore, on the trip from the building to my car, with the lump in my throat growing with each step, I forced myself to take deep breaths. I opened the door and dropped my few personal items from my desk into the passenger seat, and I sat… taking deep breaths. I was empty. I was stunned. I was lost. I was questioning, but I wasn’t panicking.

April 22, 2019April 11, 2020

The conversation begins…

So how’d I get here? I began the corporate journey at the age of twenty-two. I hired on for what I thought would be a job to serve until I found something else. I was setting up a store for a growing retailer (no intention of giving free publicity to my former employer. “You gotta pay, Frank. You gotta pay” Cole Younger, The Long Riders). Promotions to hourly supervisor positions eventually transitioned to salaried management. A growing family, stock splits, and stories from managers who were retiring at the age of forty kept me connected. “If I can at least stick with it for seven years until I’m fully vested, then I can do something on my own,” I thought. Thirty-two years and nine months later, I was laid off from my career, with a retirement fund which was sorely lacking (largely due to years of tending to immediate needs rather than the future needs).

When the axe fell, I must admit I had hopes I would find some new vocation with which to support myself and my family. Thirty-three years of corporate grind, dealing with customer complaints, managing people issues, commuting, and following someone else’s direction left me wanting a different way of life. Yet, that need for stability which had kept me connected continued to pull at me. Though I’d always dreamed of going it on my own, I focused my efforts on finding another corporate position where I could use my management experience. Even while I was looking, there were these dreams of a little building where I could do my thing all day long, listen to music if I chose, dress casually, step back with a look of pride at my work, take a long lunch with my wife if I wanted, and basically be the master of my own destiny. But how would I pay the bills?

March 5, 2019February 7, 2021

In the beginning…

First of all, welcome to the first installment of One Less Dog In The Hunt.

Kind of a crazy name for a blog, huh? You’re probably thinking, “What the heck is that about ?”

Well, that’s the name of this place. To be honest (TBH as the kids say), it wasn’t my first choice. I ran through ideas like “off the wheel” or “one less rat in the race,” but those sites were either unavailable or way outta my price range. I’m a bit of a hick anyway, so I started to work on something which would fit my personality, and this is what I stumbled upon. Hopefully it will make a little more sense as we go along.