Layoffs and Cutbacks and Hope: The New American Dream

After four solid months of selling $20 vacations and raffling off cars, we got the news on a Monday, that we had been laid off. "We" includes the marketing sales team of at least 20 people, 3 of which I had hired.


The job, as bizarre as it may sound, was like a dream to me. We would pitch a tent at a festival, hang up our custom made banner and we would sell more than anyone would believe, including me.


When we got the news, I was adding up the totals from another great sales weekend, planning which bills would get paid first. After hearing "Sorry you've been let go, effective immediately", it's hard to focus and I began staring into space wondering how my car note would get paid and how in the heck I was expected to get my credit back on track.


The next couple of days, I was a nervous wreck, opting not to drive and decided long naps was the best way to cope. I didn't curse anyone out, or lose a sense of my abilities to succeed regardless of the circumstances....for me I was more concerned about how my bills would get paid...and I called on two of my closest friends to help me through the rough days.


So over the weeks that followed, I slept, watched tv, resumed a workout regimen and snagged a few days of work from the tv station. Not too bad for someone who only has three more checks followed by uncertainty ahead of them.
But I never became depressed. After years of working 2 or more jobs at a time, I welcomed the break from corporate obligation and the pleasure of being able to work out, because frankly I had nothing else to do.


I never had the chance to turn into a full blown nervous wreck either...because several jobs have been waiting for me around the corner. An estranged colleague reached out and offered me a job that not only pays great, but it combines my tv skills and my interest in travel. Then, before that job even began, I received another unconventional opportunity, to get paid well to use my car for a 10 week promotional campaign. Not too long after that, my travel sales boss called and told me we are working for a new company....a better company than before. That's the good news.


The bad news is, The creative travel gig and the car maketing gig, although touting great pay, are still pending...meaning they have not begun and I haven't received any of the great checks I am expecting to receive. And as for the travel sales gig, I am sitting in the middle of day 2 with no sales. I finally learned how to sell the $99 packages though, I did pretty good last week. But today, nothing. Yesterday, one. Motivation, zero. I will try again tomorrow, I won't call the weekend a bust. But as far as this Friday night, in this Chicago suburban town west of Harlem avenue is concerned, I am no longer interested in trying to sell to these people. Several have told me they have no money. And you know what, I can relate. I can't buy one either. Not today anyway.


But I am still optimistic, the most money I've ever made in my life is around the corner. Despite 2 weeks of down right ugly paychecks, this might be the best financial year of my life....so I have hope.


I also have hope in the love department too. I finally met someone, who has a nice smile and has serious determination to stay off the layoff block, with two jobs and the desire to get a college degree here in America. He already has a college certificate in his home country, but here, in order to achieve the American Dream, he has to take those classes: Composition One, Statistics, Calculus, Composition Two, over again. And when one of his jobs, cut his 40 hours down to 25, unlike the other men I have dated that had nervous breakdowns and stopped calling me, he just picked up more hours at his other job..and kept calling. It's nice to see, nice to experience. And it was pleasantly unexpected.


You may recall, this isn't the first time I have dated someone from another country. One a student, here to obtain a MBA in International Finance so he can return to his country as a force to be reckoned with. But he completely ended the romance when he got laid off. He didn't feel too much like hott stuff after the layoff.

Another one....the Soccer Coach...quit his job because he could not handle the inner city youth. Now, he is trying to obtain the American Dream, become a citizen, get a job, buy a car, buy a home so he can bring his family here. No time for girls when you are trying to achieve the American Dream. I suppose he realizes how hard it is to to get all those things so many of us take for granted.

So many foreigners are here trying to be like us...but are we that great? We forget to receive blessings when we don't have a job and are quick to stab others in the back when we have one, so we can stay on top.

I am proud to say, I have hired and now myself been fired and as long as you don't look at my bank account....I can honestly say I'm doing pretty good :-)