Talk about insensitive. Just because I’m made to do unpleasant things involving retrenchment doesn’t mean I like it. Or I secretly relish in the ‘learning experience’ of it all. How could someone think it’s a learning experience to tell another that they no longer have the means to support themselves and their families? To put a roof over their heads, provide meals for the kids, pay the bills so no one needs to freeze in winter?

Then I get a letter (so obviously drafted by a boss with Microsoft WordFail) from the CEO thanking me for the hard work.

I don’t need thanks. I need to know that these people are going to be okay. That they will find their feet quickly. That ultimately, what happened to them turned out to be a blessing in disguise, even though such things never are. It’s been four months and I still haven’t seen a silver lining. What I so desperately hope, what I so desperately wish for, it’s nothing but impossible dreaming.

The letter also states that, for my efforts, I am to purchase an item of my choice and provide a receipt for a reimbursement of up to $100.

They can stick it up their arses if they don’t count a Unicef donation as an ‘item’. If they accept the donation for reimbursement, at least I know the money would have gone to a good cause. I don’t need a physical item to remind me of the guilt, when I live with it every day.

Seems like my entire fucking department has lost its sense of compassion. How can you smile when you are handing out termination paperwork? How can you say, “Glad to do it,” when you know, the situation could have been reversed? I’m not the most tactful person in the world, but I think I can spot a mile away when others behave tactlessly, without regard for the sensitivity of the situation.

My department now belongs to Catbert.