Lay Offs

A couple of days ago I was riding home on the bus, and I heard a woman talking about her brother, who had just gotten laid off. Then I changed buses and heard a guy on his cell phone, saying he had just made it through the second round of layoffs at his job. Then I got home, and Patrick told me he had gotten laid off.

Pat is not too upset about it now. He worked really hard at the current legislative session, trying to get bills through that would help homeless people. Most of what he cared about went down in flames, thanks to our Republican governor's refusal to raise taxes on the rich. There simply was not enough money for education and housing and health care and human services.

Right now Pat is tired. Looking for work does not seem bad, comparing to the session he's just been through.

My job is going to announce layoffs next week. I don't want to get laid off, partly because of the money -- a lot because of the money; but also because it would mean that Pat and I would be spending too much time together. We both need a lot of solitude.