My Time Unemployed, This Time: Part 1. Late Start, and the Way of 
       the Last Day
       Friday Mar 14 10:20:50 2014
       
       [I am also posting this to my MOTD blog, but I figure, may as 
       well increase the content in gopherspace]
       
       (I was going to start this a week ago, and I was going to catch 
       up all in one post, but it hasn't been happening like that, so 
       I'll just part it out into a few posts, and see where it goes)
       
       So, I have been meaning to make a record of this latest unemploy 
       of mine. It--unfortunately--feels like I'm getting a real feel 
       for the progression to finding a new job after being laid off. I 
       feel like I know the pattern, although every time I sort of doubt 
       it will hold *this* time.
       
       I don't know this ending yet, but so far, it feels very similar. 
       It starts like this:
       
       First, you get laid off. It's a crummy day. You may or may not 
       have seen the signs, like other people slowly getting let go 
       around you, or talk of a slowdown in income or traffic for your 
       team's project, or, you know, your project being canceled or 
       something. Maybe you saw the signs and figured you were 
       safe/lucky, or maybe you started tentatively putting out 
       feelers--but too tentatively. Maybe you just went on, oblivious. 
       However you mentally prepared or didn't, *POW*, here's the sit 
       down with your manager and HR, where you aren't ready, and where 
       they try to maintain a little decorum by being icy, icy cold. You 
       will probably follow along (I've laid a couple people off, 
       myself, not fun). It's like an unexpected slap in the face, whap! 
       You don't really respond, so you act like a gentleman (or a lady) 
       and that's what they are really hoping for, instead of the crying 
       or the anger flash that you would do if you were in a movie ("I 
       say!"). You knew right when you sat down, by the setup, with the 
       people, and the big envelope of stuff for you to read over after 
       they've told you about it. There's no plea bargaining or 
       anything, and anyway, how would that even work? So you just 
       listen, maybe don't listen, maybe put yourself in your poor 
       manager's shoes, maybe wonder how the HR person is able to be so 
       nice the rest of her day. So you don't stomp out or anything. You 
       just take your envelope and slink back to your office or desk.
       
       I personally, have been lucky, and at the places I've been let go 
       from, they have each let me collect my things at my leisure, 
       taking as long as I wanted (sort of). However, where I was 
       working where I had to let people go as a manager myself, I had 
       to help them get whatever they needed together ASAP and walk 
       their sad bottoms out the door in "30 minutes or less", telling 
       them to schedule a later time for them to pick up the rest of 
       their stuff from boxes at the front desk. That seemed pretty 
       brutal, but I guess it's just two ways of pulling off the same 
       bandaid. In retrospect, when I've been laid off, each time, I 
       stayed too long before leaving, like as a micro-defiance, like I 
       didn't want to go right when they said to or something.
       
       This last time, I think I at least tried to motivate myself out a 
        *little* faster, but I still dragged it out.