Member-only story
Hitting the rock bottom
A supporting hand is all one needs in deep shit
The other day, I received a message on my mobile. This was a message from one of my old friends.
‘Hi, how are you’? The message said.
Hello! I am good, I replied. I thought he messaged to connect for a general chit chat or something usual.
‘What is a convenient time to talk to you?’ He messaged and since I was free to talk at that moment, I immediately called him.
The phone rang multiple times and just as I was about to disconnect, he picked up the call. His voice sounded heavy and unusal. After a usual minute of general conversation, he said ‘Listen, I have been laid off’. There was an eerie silence at both ends. A pause; pause of disbelief at my end; pause of distress at his end.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After a few seconds, while I was still absorbing the news, I spontaneously burst out with ‘WHAT? WHY? HOW? WHEN?
He started explaining how some roles in his organization were declared redundant and how it came as a rude shock to him. It happened almost 15 days earlier and he mentioned how he had been trying to swallow the bitter pill that was shoved into his mouth.
