As of today, this morning at 8:00 a.m., my employment with the local grocery store was terminated by my manager, in a short interview in her office downstairs.
Logically, my brain is telling me that I just need to get out there and keep giving out my resume, filling out applications, bugging people for interviews. That there are plenty of well-paying summer jobs available and I’ll be fine–I know I will. I’ll be able to pay off half my tuition and my books for next year, I can still go to school. Logically.
My heart has different ideas. My stomach, too, apparently. I cried and cried in my bedroom after I managed to walk home in a daze, and I still feel queasy and nauseous and horrible whenever I think about. I have to find a summer job now, and I have no idea what I’ll do if I can’t find out.
I had real friends at that job. It was good-paying, the people were really nice and sweet and thoughtful, it was easy to get to, it was great. It was really outstanding.
And now all I have a nice reference letter and eight hundred dollars to my name.
I still feel like crying. I’m sorry, I had to get this out. Feel free to skip it if you want.
Oh, dear! I never, ever do this, but lots of hugs to one of my favorite posters and best wishes.
There are lots of part-time temporary positions for the summer. Try local nurseries, (plants) they’re always booming. Or sports teams, if you have any. Any kind of summer-oriented acitivty is probably hiring.
I know you probably do not want to here it right now but this could be a good thing. In my case one of the best things that ever happened to me was getting fired. I was lazy and scared to look for a better job. Getting fired led to a much better job, more money and more friends.
Good luck, Hope you feel better soon and that you find a GREAT job.
Oh, dear . . . I suggest you spend several days in bed feeling really sorry for yourself, curled up under the covers—you’ll need to do it eventually, so get it out of the way.
Thursday will be 2 years to the day when I got laid off from my last job, where I was the sole breadwinner for a faily of 3. It hurt, a lot, and that first month sitting on my butt was hell. I had true clinical depression over it.
The depression lifted when I had my first true job interview. Didn’t get the job, but just going to see them broke the gloom. In September, I got an interview for a dream employer, and I got the job which I hold now.
Kytheria, I won’t claim that our situations are similar, save for losing the job, but you’ll find something else. Let yourself mourn it for a couple of days, but then get off your ass, make up some resumes, and start pounding the street. Maybe you’ll wind up better off from the situation; I did.
Been there. I had to take a semester of minimum credits, which was all I could afford out-of-pocket and still keep my financial aid prospects active. But I got through and back on track and I have my degree.
Been there too. Went through a year of miscellaneous crap jobs until I decided to look for a semi-Real Job in my major – and that’s where I met my husband. (He was there as a Last Resort also. Go figure.)
So whine and feel sorry for yourself for a few days until you get it out of your system. Have some ice cream or whatever. And then go open that next door.
Kytheria, I feel for you. Two years ago, I got laid off from my fantastic computer programming job. I was quite depressed, and sending out resume after resume without much to show for it was even worse.
But things pick up. I found a summer job as a supermarket check-out clerk to tide my family over for a while. And you know what, it felt good to be working at something rather than spinning my wheels.
By summer’s end, my old company’s business had picked up to the point where they could re-hire me on a part-time basis. By the end of the year, they were able to take me back full-time. And I’m still there now.
So…keep your chin up. Keep busy doing something, anything. And eventually, things will get better.
I’ve been there, and it well and truly sucks. I heard about a month and a half before I got laid off that they were abolishing my position. I don’t think a single day passed that I didn’t cry at least once from then to when I found out I was getting a new job.
But my new job was a lot better, and paid a great deal more. I hope the same thing happens to you.
Kytheireia, that really sucks. I’ve been laid off, and it’s not a good feeling (although my boss was nuts, so I was strangely relieved to be out of that job, and I ended up finding a better job). Things will work out okay. So take Eve’s very good advice, take a little time to decompress, and then get out there and find something better. And let me know if you need me to send chocolate.
Kythereia, warmest wishes for a speedy recovery. A foam-fleck’d goddess such as yourself should have no trouble getting something new and worthwhile.
Getting the old heave-ho is a major blow to the ego, no matter what the reason, so yeah - indulge yourself, chill for a little while and regroup. The season is still young, and you seem like you have everything going for you!
I did a double-take when I saw this thread. I couldn’t believe that anyone would let our dear Kytheria go. I’m sorry it happened. Sending you good-luck vibes!
It’s natural to feel bad as you do right now. But I always like to think that when one door closes, another door opens. I hope that you can see that too, and that you will be looking back on this one day as just another learning experience. The fact that you got a nice reference letter tells me that your termination was just business and not something to take personally. Keep your spirits up!
Hard to believe your employer had to let you go. The Payless where I buy a lot of my groceries is always short of clerks and baggers, and the checkout lines are interminably long as a result. I’m sure you won’t have to move away from Canada to find another job, but I’m equally certain I utter a sentiment shared by many Dopers when I say that I’d welcome you to my neck of the woods if you would ever feel the urge to relocate…
