Distractions

I was hoping for something to think about during this tww besides whether or not I am "feeling pregnant" yet. Well, I kind of got my wish. I am worried about my brother. He, my mother, and I all work for the same company, albeit in very different roles. Yesterday, my brother was laid off. He's been here for seventeen years! I've only been here for just over 2. But apparently, his organization had one of the lowest on-project labor histories, so the higher-ups in a far-off state in middle-America decided that some cuts were necessary. They issued the edict, and left it to the managers to decide who'd get the axe. D's manager is here, in the same facility where D, Mom, and I work. He manages staff in other facilities, too, but the other sites only have one person. Can't cut where there's only one! So, D is gone.

He walked into my office yesterday after receiving the news and looked completely shellshocked. You see, D isn't like a lot of people. When he graduated from college, he went back to the deli job he'd held through high school. I think he was laid off there, too; after a few years he'd become too expensive to keep or something like that. But D would not have left otherwise. He tends to find a comfortable rut and then stay in it. He likes routine. He doesn't like to shake things up. In his wildest imagination, he probably wasn't thinking that his future included working anywhere but here.

He did receive a very generous severance package, so money isn't the real issue. It's the instability. For the first time in 17 years, D doesn't know where he'll be at 3:00 next Thursday, or at 11am on the 19th of some month. And he's kind of alone. I mean, he has our family, and we're a pretty big family by modern standards. But he lives alone and doesn't have a significant other (anyone got any friends they're searching for a special someone for? He's 42, a gemini, and fantastic with kids. He's been a scoutmaster forever and loves to hike and camp and play soccer. Let me know. He's a great guy.) So, at the end of the day, he still has to pay all the bills himself and cook his own dinner and eat it alone.

Ironically, at the same time that D's org is laying people off (they axed someone else this morning... with only 85 employees on-site, losing 2 is a very big deal), I'm working with my supervisor to have my position reclassified, which would result in higher pay and more potential for moving further up the ladder. I started working on this well before D was laid off, but this has me thinking that I should become more vigilant about searching for a new job somewhere else. I never stop job-hunting. D, on the other hand, stopped as soon as he got his first offer 17 years ago.

There we go- I think I just spent a whole 20 minutes NOT thinking about IF and TTC and the TWW. But now my breasts are a little achey, and it's got me wondering...