The End of an Era

Thursday was interesting. Lots of stuff happened. I'll outline.

1. In class, I spent time on my laptop and looked at my emails/twitter/facebook and found out that my cousin is pregnant. This is my cousin who got married in October, so...no time wasted. I was just angry that I found out on FACEBOOK. (Later in the day, which will soon be mentioned, I had to call many family members about something and everyone else (seriously - my parents, my sister, my aunt that doesn't ever talk to anyone in the family) knew that she was pregnant. Everyone just forgot to tell me, I guess.)

2. Thursday was the day that my dad was to find out whether or not he was getting laid off. He works at Anheuser-Busch here in St. Louis. He's been miserable for a long time in his job. And if you live in the United States, you've probably heard about the In-Bev takeover, unless you live under a rock. So things have gotten bad.

And I spent all day Thursday waiting for my dad to call me and tell me what happened. I texted him at 9 AM saying, "good luck, I love you! Call me when you find out" and he texted me back right away and said, "sure thing I will let you know". So, I had my phone out on my desk all day waiting to hear from him.

My classes were over at 2 PM and I went to work at 3. Still hadn't heard anything. Spent all afternoon thinking I would hear from him while at work and I contemplated how to take the phone call without getting in trouble.

But by the end of the evening at work, I still hadn't heard from anyone in my family. So on my way home I called my house, my mom's cell phone and my dad's cell phone repeatedly. Like, stalker-repeatedly. We're talking like ten times each. And no one answered, anywhere. So I drove to my house, figuring that they may be there. No one was home. I drove by my parents' friends houses, looking for their cars. I drove by some of their favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, again, looking for their cars. I called my grandma and grandpa, my nonnie (dad's mom), an aunt and an uncle. No one knew. No one had heard anything. Or they didn't answer.

Nothing. So I became PISSED. Just absolutely miffed. I was so angry that no one was answering their phones, and especially that no one had called me. So I eventually went home, around 8 PM, after buying my favorite pre-made sandwich at Schnucks (local grocery store) and a humidifier for my room (which doesn't work very well, by the way).

Mom eventually called me around 9. "It's over!!!!" she said, sounding super excited. My dad has been working there for 27 years and within the last ten, they've treated him pretty bad - last minute trips across the country, presentations thrown in his lap the day before they're due, etc - so he's been looking for a way out for some time now. He even went to his boss and said, "Hey - if you're looking for someone to lay off, I would take that." No dice, until Thursday...

So after saying "yay!" and all that, I got a little...emotional. I started crying and saying that I was upset that no one told me. As it turns out, dad was laid off around 1 PM. He and the rest of the people that got laid off went directly a bar and proceeded to drink (not AB products, of course). His phone and laptop were taken away immediately (company-issued). He had had to clean out his office a few months ago when no personal belongings were allowed in cubicles/offices anymore, so there was nothing to do there.

So I understand that he couldn't have called me. Oh wait, except that he had gotten an iPhone on Saturday (a week ago today, yes) and I'm pretty sure he has his daughter's cell phone number memorized. That's the other thing - he knew, a week ago, that he was getting laid off. But he told me and my sister that he had a meeting to determine whether or not he was getting laid off. So weird. I don't really know why he did that.

So not only did I find out that 1) dad had lied to me and my sister about "not knowing whether or not he was getting laid off", I also found out that 2) my mom had talked to my sister around 4 PM and told her that dad had gotten the axe. I'm sorry, but WTF?! Seriously. I am sorry about that but that is exactly how I felt. At the risk of sounding like a horrible person, I was so upset that no one told me. Emme didn't think to call me and tell me, or just to call and talk about it. Mom didn't think, "oh, I just talked to one daughter, maybe I should call the other one". And the worst part is that I'm driving around St. Louis for two hours, looking for their cars at their usual haunts. Because that is how much I care, and no one thought to call me.

Anyways - I totally lost it when talking to mom. I started bawling (embarassing) and was all, "I can't believe you didn't think to tell me!" and when I found out that my mom had told my sister approximately five hours before she told me...oh, man - I was livid. So I guess she called my dad right after she got off the phone with me and told him to call me and tell me himself (something that really should have happened, oh, I don't know, seven hours earlier?). So he did and it was awkward because I was still super emotional and felt like crying but I was trying really hard not to. So, that's that story.

3. I found out that one of my friends (who is my age) is pregnant. We went to high school together and weren't very close then, but we've gotten closer since graduation. I could tell she felt really awkward telling me about it...and I've never had a friend tell me that she was pregnant and wasn't super excited about it (let's face it - Lindsay, you were my first), so...I just didn't know what to say, really. She had a little photo album with her sonogram pictures in it. I guess she started dating this guy five months ago, and she is 15 weeks along...so, yeah. I'm excited for her - I think more excited than she is - and understandably so. But it seemed as though she was coming around even in our hour-long conversation, so...maybe things will be okay. So. Two pregnancies in one day. Interesting.

4. And, the one real bright spot - I definitely have a summer job! I'll be working at Wilson's summer camp again, but only for four of the eight weeks (because of the wedding and honeymoon). It's awesome how flexible my boss is about it - because there was really no way around it. So it's great knowing that I have an income until August or so - and then I need to either get a completely new job, or another job in addition to Wilson extended day. I'll figure it out.

Yikes. Sorry so much writing. If you're still reading to the end of this, kudos. And thanks.