The Joys of Being Sacked

Published in the Khaleej Times.

Pradeep Sharma, Abu Dhabi (KT Reader)

18 March 2009

Last week I got a call from a friend who had just been fired from his job.

He had joined an elite class of sixty people who had been handpicked by their management to be thrown out of the organization.

Naturally, he was depressed.

The first day, according to him is the toughest, because you are trying to figure out why you had been picked by the corporate butchers to be slaughtered.

The second day is better, because you sleep better - since last night was spent tossing and turning in bed.

The third day, you want to go out and get some fresh air, and you begin to feel better, and since your mind is a whirlpool of plans you barely realize that you haven't called your parents to tell them that you had been fired.

You worry about how they would react to your joblessness.

Now imagine this friend of mine decides to call his parents on the third day and he is figuring out how best to soften the blow.

Should he tell them that he had been fired and quickly mention the fact that he was not alone and 59 others has to go?

Or should he simply lie and say that he fought with his boss and quit?

Or maybe he could just tell them the truth and become the first member in his family for generations to have been given the sack.

After much pondering he decided to tell them the truth.

And their reaction to it is surprisingly different from what he expected. It quickly dawns on him that they have been reading the newspapers too, and they are quite aware that jobs were being lost to the blaze of corporate greed.

Why some of the neighbours too had to endure the crushing news that their near and dear ones were now without jobs. They struck a rather emphatic tone and encouraged my friend to do what suited him best. They also said that they were with him and told him not to panic. It was a conversation that has helped him get over his blues.

It has been over 15 days now and my friend is not going mental searching for a new job. He has decided to take a brief sabbatical from work. He has in fact decided that he doesn't want to do any work for the next six months.

He will use all the money he has accrued in terms of gratuity to fund his travels across the length and breadth of his native country.

There are places he had always wanted to see, but hasn't been able to because of all the work. He spent 10 years hoping that things would change and he could actually live his dream.

I am happy that my friend has decided to live his dream, because it gives me the confidence that I too could ride over the crisis is something similar happened to me.

Don't get me wrong, I am not looking forward to being fired.

It's just that I know it will not be the end of the world for me. I will find reasonable employment once the world regains its sanity and decides to move ahead. It could take six months, or more, but honestly I am ready to take on life.