IN MY SHOES: “We Were All Laid Off At Once”
In a Washington Post op-ed, NYC-based actor and writer Lucas Kavner describes what it’s like when your dotcom is going belly up (The Stiletto feels his pain and bewilderment, having had that unhappy experience not once, not twice but four times in her career):
Three-quarters of the staff, all young editors at a recently launched Web site … Everything was so unexpected and immediate that the general response ranged from wide-eyed smiles and awkward laughs to unchecked tears. …
We went to a nearby bar for some drinks and proper goodbyes. I noticed a chalk sign hawking "Burger and a beer, $7.99. Monday through Friday 12 to 4 p.m." It was 4:05. "Hey, think I could get that burger and a beer deal still?" I asked the bartender hopefully. She'd seen us all come in - confused, bewildered, holding trash bags - so I figured that at the very least she'd take pity. "Yeah, sure," she said. "Just don't tell anyone."
But I did. I told everyone. My co-workers, my friends, my family. It was the highlight of that dark day - the deal of the century: a burger (and fries!) and a delicious premium draft for less than eight bucks, in Manhattan. Two months later (still unemployed, drastically more confused), I can still taste them.
Editorial Note: Kavner’s gmail address is included at the end of the op-ed. The Stiletto hopes that employers who can use an optimistic young man who writes gracefully will contact him – if not with a job, then with freelance writing assignments that will bring him much-needed income.
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