Day Club Initiation - Paul Dozier - Where's My Bailout?

December 11, 2008 is a date that has been etched on my memory, along with all those other dates of infamy. We had been forewarned it was the day my department would contribute its share of the 5,300 investment banking jobs that needed to be cut. If I could last through the day, I could count myself a survivor, for that round anyway. A colleague and I had joked about making ourselves scarce. Hey, if you’re never at your desk, how are they gonna tap you on the shoulder? I smirked about that as I left my desk to grab breakfast down in the cafeteria, which I rarely did.

When I got back to my desk and settled into my chair, there was something on my screen that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was one unread email, in bold, a new one, sitting atop all the other emails I had already opened. It was from our admin, who sits right next to me…..who was staring intently at her screen. It said, ‘Call so-and-so (my boss, who’s based in Sao Paolo) at such and such number…. it wasn’t his number. Somewhere in my brain, an alarm went off.

I picked up the phone and called…..it rang for a few seconds…probably the time it took my boss, whom I still consider a friend, to step into an empty office and close the door. He picked up and asked me to walk down to the reception area of our floor where an HR representative was waiting for me. More alarms in my head. Got up and started the long walk, like a lamb to the slaughter. The HR rep was clearly nervous. She took me into another glass office; together we called my boss. He informed me that the firm was no longer in need of my services. And all the sudden I’m short of breath and sweating and a little dizzy….and I start wondering, well, should I tell everyone out loud when I get back to my desk or do I let them surmise from my filling a box with personal effects that I will no longer be with them?

Back to my desk. Avoided eye contact. Everyone else’s eyes were glued to their screens anyway. Did they already know? Were they avoiding eye contact? I couldn’t tell. Told my closest colleagues as discreetly as possible. Started packing my stuff, sending out all the requisite mass emails. Got a call from a colleague in Mexico City. She got let go too. Then, the department head, also a friend, called me into his office, offered his apologies, condolences, support.

Walked back to my desk. People finally started coming by my desk bearing hugs, tears, business cards, righteous indignation and the like. Soon enough, my collea…..er, former colleagues and I were all laughing about how good it would be for me to be surfing while they were still hard at work. They knew me so well. Weird how a lay-off can trigger a huge outpouring of love and support to the point of making one feel good about the whole thing. It’s like the last day of school before summer vacation.

By 11:30am, I was gone. For anyone not familiar to the ways of Wall Street, two hours is ample time to say your goodbyes, clean your desk and walk out the door. There’s too much at stake to risk a disgruntled former employee stealing sensitive information or sending out disparaging emails. Not that I would do anything like that. I actually have nothing bad to say about my former employer or my former colleagues. The layoff was nothing personal. It’s business. As much of a cop-out as this may seem to the Day Club, I don’t hold grudges toward my former place of employ, nor any of my former colleagues….not even the people who had to let me go. In fact, I miss ‘em. And I knew the risks, which are significant, going in. It’s business.

It’s now been over four months since that day of infamy. Not knowing when the next paycheck will come nor from whence it will proceed is no bueno. But unemployment does have certain perks, like more free time for surfing…. and working a temp production assistant job on an iPhone commercial….and getting a picture with Ice-T when they filmed an episode of ‘Law and Order: SVU’ in my neighborhood….and attending Obama’s inauguration….and sitting in on Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearings as Secretary of State….the list goes on. Maybe getting laid-off wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.