dearest about-to-be-terminated,

when it happens, when they come for you,
they will do so like the mafia,
showing signs of a long friendship or
what they term a family oriented atmosphere---
you’ll be led to a public place if you were
important,
somewhere outside the actual workplace
so that you will not make a scene,
and when your world comes crashing down
you will be unable to show any emotion
whatsoever,
like so many hollywood scenes of firings on the
big screen,
except,
you are not an actor,
and this is not a movie.

if you are lesser than important,
something of a soldier in the common trench,
then you may not even be fired---
you will be “let go,”
and when you are terminated,
those that worked with you won’t even know it until
monday morning,
because they will rid themselves of you on friday just
before the day ends.

on monday,
management will round up all the surviving
wage slaves
and explain to them that you are
“no longer with the company,”
just like they learned in management 101
when they pledged to whore themselves to corporate
in hopes of getting a bigger pile of scraps than you
from the table.

when it happens, they will take as much as they can from you,
any severance pay or vacation time that is supposed to be yours,
will be wrestled to the death & you’ll be denied a
health care cobra,
if you had health care to begin with.

and know that your story is not special,
no matter how bad you think your own circumstance is
regarding your personal termination,
someone out there has been treated worse
and they are in court,
fighting their place of past employment
just to be able to collect unemployment insurance
until they get back on their feet---
your ex-job will do the same if they can---
many have lawyers in their pockets
waiting,
just to do so.

so until the day that it actually happens,
don’t trust anyone,
keep your mouth shut &
watch your back like your life depends on it,
because
it
does---
you’re just another piece of garbage
ready to be dropped into the acid vat---
it’s only a matter of time.

if you aren’t looking for a better job while you are working your current one,
you are asking to be eliminated.