Jan 22 2009
A Clean Galley, and a RIF
This morning, my galley is spotless.
An old roommate of mine once mentioned that if she could control no other thing in her world, she could keep her kitchen clean. The chaos level in her personal relationships was high, but her kitchen was always gorgeous. And so today, my galley is spotless. Today, Sun, where I’ve worked for eight years and three months, is laying off 6,000 people, me amongst them.
Dishes, washed.
Thankfully, there were enough whispers on the wind that I think it won’t come as a surprise to most of us. I think most folks have some sort of backup plan, or else they’re going to be smacked hard with the Wet Fish of Denial. Although it’s going to be a bear, financially, I am deeply looking forward to some dedicated mommy time… some time where I am not telling my children “Mommy has a meeting” when they ask me to read to them or play with them. I’m looking forward to focusing in, getting work done on our boat, and putting energy here instead of there.
Stove, scrubbed.
I‘m basically just leaving my LinkedIn profile up all day today. Requests keep coming in, and going out. I don’t want to lose touch with any of these people I’ve worked with, or miss any opportunities for further wage earning. And judging from the speed with which messages are being traded, they feel the same. It’s one of those Joni Mitchell moments, where everyone feels better for having contact, no matter the circumstances.
Counter, wiped down and bleached.
I have been thinking that it was time to do something else with my life for a while now, but my day job was really not bad as they go. Good pay, good benefits, excellent teammates. The rest of the company was sheer madness, and I’m quite sure the drama above my head was unbelievable. But within my team, life was good. So I probably would have stayed forever. It’s like I was a cat at the door, indecisive, and this is the Big Push Through.
Appliances, wiped down.
It would be harder on me were I alone in this. I’m not. 5,999 of my Sun friends and coworkers are being cut today; good, intelligent, talented folks. Friends got cut from O’Reilly and McGraw-Hill last week, and I hear that Microsoft and IBM are cutting people today too. So it’s not like this is a reflection on me. It’s a reflection, and frankly, a condemnation, of the entire system. Endless growth is not possible without violent course-correction. And what makes me laugh is that these cuts are for the benefit of the stockholders; but we’re the stockholders, because I don’t know a single person being laid off who doesn’t have some Sun stock. I have this great fantasy of us all showing up to a board meeting and telling “them” what we really think.
Tea kettle, polished, filled, and centered on the burner.
As I look behind me, at my lovely galley, I realize that really, I’m as well-prepared for whatever comes next as I can possibly be. I don’t exactly know what’s coming next, but I know that Louis Pasteur was right, that “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.” I’ve done as much as I can do, and now, as ever, it’s time to sit back and let the adventure unfold.
