My boss and I have had a number of political discussions over the years. He is a staunch Republican and screamed about government's involvement in any aspect of his life, until yesterday.
You see, yesterday he was terminated. Because of the bad economy our management decided that it was only prudent to cut short the careers of a number of employess who have been at our company for many years. In my boss's case, it was 19 years.
When he began with our company it was truely in the dark ages of computing. He brought fresh ideas and expertese in systems that our company wanted to purchase. So for 19 years he put his sweat and blood into helping our company stay on the cusp of the technology curve.
Today, we are on the cutting edge of computer technology, with a shop that is 10 times larger than it was when he was hired. There were a number of other people involved, but a lot of the credit goes to him.
How did our corportation repay this debt? A company meeting of our IT staff was called for 2:00pm on Thursday, The email for this meeting hit my mail box at 10:30am.
When my boss got back from lunch at 1:00pm, his boss and an HR person were waiting for him in his office. He was informed that he was terminated and was to leave the building immediately. He could come back on the weekend and get his personal stuff. He said, "&^&)&)^&%$%$$", I'll get my stuff now and leave, which he did. The rest of the company was informed at the 2:00pm meeting of the layoffs.
Believe it or not, from a corporate security standpoint, I understand the need to do it way they did it, but from a personal standpoint, I can't. We currently have two other employees who are retiring (forced attrition) at the end of this month. We will throw parties and speak about their long and valued careers with this company.
What gets me more than anything else is that my boss's career was no less valued, but because of the manner of termination, there will be no parties, or pats on the back. They showed total disrespect for his many years of loyal service.
With all this said, when I talked to him after the termination, he talked about the fact that he could draw unemployment for 50 weeks instead of 27 and also that 2/3rds of his Corbra would be paid for 1 year by the fed.
Since he was just fired, I didn't feel it was appropriate to have a political discussion with him, but I thought to myself, "I hope this Republican can connect the dots and understand exactly who he should thank for these enhanced benifits".
I pray for the best for this man: my boss and friend, and his family. But one thing is for sure, without Barack (or some other Democrat) in office, his future would be far less certain. It seems Republicans dislike Democratic ideals until THEY need them. It's just that they never remember who to thank with their vote.