Have you ever had that deer in the headlight look

I’m sure you’ve all heard of a “Dear John letter”. You know, the kind that starts out, “it’s not you, it’s me, and this relationship needs to end”. This wasn’t a relationship ending in divorce, it was a letter from my employer of 6 years at a job I truly loved with wonderful people and it read something like this: “We are experiencing declining revenues with increased expenses… we need to reduce operating expenses…your position will be eliminated effective today…”

WHAT?? Eliminated? No thank you for all your years of hard work, no here’s to you for everything you do, not even a chance to really say goodbyes; just get your stuff together, hand in your keys, and don’t let the door his you in the a** on your way out.

At this point in my life, starting over yet again gave this “dear John” the “deer in the headlights” look. You know, like when you’re driving down the road and suddenly there’s a deer just standing there, looking right at you, but stunned and unable to move. Even when you honk it still doesn’t know what to do.

Yes, that look.  I was confused, in shock, and disappointed. I planned to retire in only 6 short years, and that had just been ripped away without any warning. I felt like I had just been shot in the heart.

So, what to do now? I don’t have much trust in corporate America, now that I know that at any point, no matter how hard I work, my job can be taken away at the drop of a hat. So I am going to work for the person I know I can trust, me. But doing what?

Well, what is that I enjoyed so much about my old job? I loved the people, my coworkers and the consumers. The consumers are the adults with disabilities that worked in the production areas, they made me smile every day, there are so many good memories that I smile even now. It feels good to smile for a change. So I definitely want to do something that will give me that same good feeling.

What else, did it like about my job? I was responsible for making sure that all of the products that our agency sold was of good quality and sold at a fair price. It gave me great pleasure in satisfying customers and having them return again and again because we did provide high quality products. The consumers who worked for the agency were proud to do a good job, show off their accomplishments and see customers coming back.

That’s it then, I want a job where I can provide good quality products to customers at a fair price. I want customers to want to come back because they know I will do my best to ensure the best quality at the best price. I don’t need to make millions (although it would be nice), as I enjoy a fairly simple life, but I would like to make enough to help the local programs who support the adults with disabilities and make sure they always have a safe environment to work in and can continue to feel pride in the jobs they do. Heck, if I make enough I’d love to start my own non-profit agency and hire all the wonderful co-workers I’ve been with all these years. I have a dream … wait, someone great already started with that line, it is a good one though, and it would be wonderful to see this dream to a reality.

 Here’s to a fresh start in a new Business and hopefully meeting and making many new customers and Friends.

Best Regards to all.
John Champagne