I just had to comfort an upset co-worker...in my apartment, no less!

[NightTrain]

As I posted to the Lounge a couple of days ago, the locally-owned drugstore mini-chain for which I've driven a delivery car since September of 1999 was just sold to Brooks. Just my luck, the store I work out of will be closing soon and I'll be out of a job!

By sheer coincidence, one of the women with whom I've worked during that time is romantically involved with the guy who lives in the apartment next door to me! What are the odds of that?

Anyway, Dawn (my co-worker) just knocked at my door and offered me a beer from the case she and her S.O. had just bought. She said, "With what we've all just been through, I thought you might like a beer."

Not surprisingly, we got to talking about our soon-to-be former jobs. Dawn provided me with the details of her meeting with a corporate suit from Brooks on Friday. Seems the guy had no idea who she was and had been unaware that the soon-to-be former owner of our store had written us all a letter assuring us that there would be jobs for us at Brooks. After the suit called his boss, he advised Dawn (who's a $17-an-hour pharmacy technician) that the best he could do for her would be a job unloading trucks at a store 90 minutes from where she lives! And I'm guessing the job wouldn't pay $17 an hour. Dawn told me that after that meeting, she ran into the nearest bathroom to throw up. And I could tell she was still upset now.

I was able to calm Dawn down somewhat by relating my experiences with having collected unemployment benefits five years ago. I took her to the Connecticut Labor Department's website and pointed out the page dedicated to unemployment benefits. Dawn had assumed that she wouldn't be eligible to collect since she hadn't accepted the job unloading trucks, but I set her straight on that.

I told Dawn that since Brooks offered her a different job than she's been doing for the past seven years, and since she would have to drive an unreasonably long way to get to the job, she had a good chance of being declared eligible for benefits. I told her if worse came to worst and the company contested her claim, she could request a hearing. I also advised Dawn to hold on to her copy of the owner's letter of April 1st and to bring it with her to any hearing she had to attend. That seemed to make Dawn feel better, although she wasn't thrilled over the idea of her unemployment checks being only 50% of what she makes as a pharmacy tech. Can't say I blame her.

As for me, I haven't even heard from Brooks regarding an appointment with the suits for a possible job placement. And since they didn't even know that my boss was a pharmacist, I don't expect to hear from them any time soon.

But you know what? I really don't care. I've been getting tired of that driving job for at least the past two years. And if I never hear from Brooks with a job offer, I can apply for unemployment myself and tell the job counselor just that.

Plus, a staff member at WHUS (my college radio station) is looking for a roommate to share his two-bedroom condo in Coventry (about 20 minutes east of where I live now). While I don't know how much a month this guy will ask me to pay, it's gotta be a lot less than what I'm paying now! Hell, my rent alone is $650 a month.

So even if I have to live on 50% of my current income for a while, I may just get through it OK. I'll keep you updated if you'd like.

P.S. The man who just sold us out to Brooks is now in San Antonio, watching his precious UConn Huskies play in the Final Four! Douche bag.

[solinvictus]

1. Similar experience this time last year

I used to work for CIGNA Healthcare here in Chattanooga as a team manager in an imaging and filming process center. We'd received lots of new business, but due to a variety of factors, it went poorly. We were always several days behind and I kept telling senior management that we needed a 3rd shift to accomodate the volume of work. Last April, senior management came from Connecticut to tell us we were being outsourced to Affiliated Computer Systems, the contractor that renewed Mohammad Atta's pilot license after September 11. ACS said they would interview us, but they wanted to keep us all onboard. At first, it sounded OK until none of the HR personnel from ACS would discuss salary, benefits, or work hours; the three major things you'd expect to know about. They gave us application packets that contained tons of releases and binding arbitration agreements that I refused to sign. I wasn't offered a job, was told to go home, and luckily, was paid by CIGNA for another 6 weeks. I'm in a much better position now, so the same can happen to you as well. I was afraid at first because we had just moved to a more expensive apartment, but it all worked out OK.

[Rowdyboy]

2. You did a very good thing for your co-worker

I'm certain she'd qualify for unemployment and the other suggestions you gave her were on the mark (I worked for the Job Service of Mississippi for 25 years).

Hats off to you, you're a good friend and have the attitude it takes to land on your feet.

[Cursive_Knives512]

3. That's really nice of you to help her out like that

Good luck to the both of you