Short Story
Pink Slip*
artwork by amina
Ken's cell phone rang very early in the morning, even before his alarm went off. "Who on earth would be calling me at this hour" he wondered, as he reached for the phone. People who had his cell number knew better than to wake him up at 6 a.m. on a chilly morning, he thought. Besides, he was not on-call today. "Hi, Ken, hope I did not wake you up!" the voice on the other side said softly. It was Sam, his department head. Ken sat up on the bed. "Oh, no, not at all, Sam. I would have gotten up anyway. My alarm is set to go off in a minute," he lied. Donna cracked open her eyes, and waved her hand at Ken to go take the call in the hallway outside the bedroom. "Ken, listen up, we had to let Jeff go," Sam sounded apologetic on the other side. "What?" Ken almost screamed out loud. Jeff was his closest buddy in the Purchasing Department where both worked. It was no secret that Tribeca Company, where they worked, was trying to keep afloat in these hard times, and memos had been circulating from on top about cutbacks and layoffs. Last week there had been a meeting of the Division heads about the company's future that Ken had attended; afterwards he had pulled Jeff aside to tell him that while there would be some layoffs, their department might be spared. "But Jeff is such a hard-working guy. He received the best performance review last year!" Ken said, knowing deep down that his protest was probably futile. Sam simply responded by saying, "You know it was not my call. Last night Mr. Cox called me and told me that we had to lay off ten staff. And Jeff was picked from my department!" Ken hung up and tiptoed back to his bed. Donna asked in a sleepy tone, "Who called so early, Ken?" "Oh, you wouldn't believe it…," he initially thought of giving her the full story, then changed his mind. Donna was the sort that got shaken by bad economic or financial news. "It's something at work that Sam needs my help with." He closed his eyes, and tried to get some more shut-eye, but his mind kept wandering to how they'd face Jeff later in the morning. He finally got up again. It was 6:30 and the sky was starting to turn red. He took a quick shower, made some coffee and tried to catch up on the latest news and weather forecast on TV, only to turn it off when the Today Show began its coverage of the Nikkei Index. It was past 8:00 o'clock when he reached his office. It was early and the office was almost empty. He first checked at Sam's office on the fifth floor to see if he was in. The door was locked. He then peeped into Jeff's cubicle: the usual files on his desk, his computer on sleep mode and stationery strewn across the desk. Jeff's wife Cindy's photograph was on the desk. Ken hated to imagine how she would take the news of Jeff's layoff. As Ken walked to his own cubicle his thoughts veered towards Donna: how would she react if he had instead gotten the pink slip? He didn't like breaking bad news to Donna, and in the past had often resorted to various ploys during crunch times. When a check bounced last month, he had borrowed from a credit card rather than transfer money from their joint savings account to cover the check. Donna liked eating out and was always signing up for holiday trips with her parents. Ken never said no to her habit of changing furniture pieces every few years. He turned on the computer, his mind drifting to the early morning call and the coming farewell encounter with Jeff. Right after nine o'clock, his phone rang. It was Sam. "I've told Jeff the news, and he is in his office cleaning up his desk. We'll take him out for coffee and I hope you can join us. Brad and Kathy are also coming. We'll meet at the lobby downstairs, okay?" "Sure." They all met in the parking lot and piled into Sam's car. With Sam behind the wheel and his eyes concentrated on the road, there were a few minutes of silence as the car took a right turn on Fifth Avenue. With Jeff's layoff on their minds, the air was heavy with a mix of sadness and empathy for him. Finally, Ken, feeling very uncomfortable in the stuffy environment within the car, as well as from a sense that as Jeff's closest office buddy, he needed to break the ice, said, "So where are we going?" "Good question", said Sam, without taking his eyes off the road or betraying any sign of his own sense of unease. "Shall we try the Dunkin' Donuts?" Ken asked. The coffee shop was at a major intersection two miles down from the office. They all said "yeah" at almost the same time. Except for Jeff, who was staring blankly out of the car window. At Dunkin' Donuts, they sipped coffee and engaged in small talk. The cold winter, and this morning's news of further trouble in the US auto industry came up. Finally, Sam, finding an opportunity to steer the conversation towards the purpose of the trip-to offer some moral support - asked Jeff, "So have you called your wife?" "Yes. She started crying, but she'll be OK. Next week Cindy's going back to work." Sam and Ken knew that Cindy was on maternity leave. Ken quietly heaved a sigh of relief - at least of one of them would be working. Also, the few weeks that Jeff would be looking for a job, he'd be able to bond with his son. Kathy finally asked, "So what do you plan to do?" "Well…" Jeff took a deep breath and paused. Nobody knew if Jeff had had any time to think about it or was prepared for the question. But then he came back pretty confidently, "I have to update my resume, start networking, go through Craig's List and the Help Wanted newspaper sections." Then he seemed to shift gears: "I am not sure, though, that this is the best time to look for a job." He took a sip of his coffee. "I have a few friends at my old job, and I will give them a call. We'll also save on babysitting expenses, I guess, if I stay home with Jake," he added, finishing on an upbeat note. Ken felt like asking about the severance pay and unemployment insurance, but was not sure if this was the right time to do so. He decided he'd call Jeff later at home and offer support and help. They all drove back to the office and parted with another round of hugs and words of support for Jeff. Ken did not go back to his office but sat down on a bench on the sidewalk and gave Donna a call. When Donna heard about Jeff, she paused for a few seconds, and finally said, "I feel very bad for Cindy. She just had the baby and probably is feeling very anxious just on that account. Now, all this with Jeff! I don't know how I'll handle something like this." "Oh honey, you don't have to worry about us," Ken tried to reassure Donna, knowing that news like this could send her into mild hysteria. Jeff and Ken stayed in touch over the next few months. Jeff told him that he was spending six to eight hours a day searching the Internet for job openings, attending informational interviews and job fairs, and applying for fifteen job openings a week. Ken would call him up every other day and chat about office and job market prospects. Cindy was very supportive, and was trying to get him a job in her office. Jeff was also thinking of taking an online course on Medical Informatics to boost his resume. In late March, the office went through another round of job cuts and a few, including Ken, were assigned to a regime of a three-day work-week. Donna was a little more cranky than usual for a few days after she heard the news of Ken's reassignment. He could hear her spend hours on the phone talking to her parents in Georgia discussing job opportunities in Atlanta where her parent lived. Ken had made up his mind about not moving to Georgia, since he had a brother and two sisters in Connecticut and Massachusetts. If things got worse, he could always count on them for job leads and a support network. A few months went by, and life went on as usual except Ken and Donna were seeing less of each other at home. Ken spent more and more time in the library researching job prospects and attending networking meetings, which he found to be very stimulating. Being with others who had lost their jobs, while Ken still had his, gave him a feeling of self-confidence that he lacked either at work or at home. He heard about and starting warming up to the idea of going into a new job field, and heard from the participants that new federal stimulus money was being offered to those who lost their jobs or wanted to get job training. Ken did not share all these tidbits with Donna since he feared that information overload could lead her to depression. One week, Ken came back from a support group meeting of ex-Wall Streeters and saw Donna awake and packing in the bedroom. He waited for a minute outside the bedroom door, filled with foreboding. Finally he asked, "Where are you off to, Donna? Is everything okay?" "I'm going to Atlanta to see my parents for a few days. I might even check out the job market there. I didn't tell you in advance 'cause I didn't want to alarm you since I know you don't want to move to the South." Ken felt a little lump in his throat. He said, "Hmmm. So you are thinking of moving! But I thought you were okay for now at your job. Have I missed something? You still have the job, right?" "Oh, yes," Donna said without looking up from her suitcase, which was almost packed. "So why are you then giving me the pink slip?" Ken said in a faint attempt to lighten up the mood. "Oh, Ken, don't dramatize this slight change in arrangement. We all need a little break, and maybe this will do us both good." She stood up and reached for the phone to call a cab for the airport. *Pink slip: American colloquialism for the pink-coloured notice of termination of employment.
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