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Anyway....some us of grew up believing we had special powers. As kids, our minds...imagination, had no limit. I believed I had the special ability of premonition...that sensation absent of any stimulus of something unpleasant was about to go down [the details would be for another post].
I was on my way home from work and had this sensation the building where I worked would be on fire. For some reasons [unknown] I believed it. But the thing about premonition was that there was little to nothing you could do to change it from happening. I got to work the next day and saw the unusual appearance of police-men in the compound. My thoughts went wild, did someone attempt to burn the building...you know, stuffs like that. Stepping in, the only thing unusual was the dull mood...it clouded the atmosphere. Minutes later I realised massive retrenchment was taking place. It was then I realised what the premonition of "fire" in my building meant. It definitely set people's hearts ablaze and no one had an idea who would stay and who would go. The GM locked himself in the board room alone and refused to see anyone. If anyone attempt such...well, police-men were on duty for the day.
The first staff that got his letter was a man I admired. He loved his work, he was so passionate about it that he gave me a speech about it once. The importance of placing love of work over money. He walked into the Admin department with pending documents and told the admin officer that he should contact him whenever his replacement needed assistance. He was the first I saw sign on the acknowledge copy of his sack letter, "Original copy collected by me on Friday, 9th of December 2011." It felt like cementing the date in your heart and literally using one's hands to accept rejection.
The next set of people that got their letters made up a department. From the HOD to the secretaries, they all got the boot. The HOD wasn't around to personally receive her letter. The other person that didn't turn up switched off his phone [as if that would change any thing]. Things became quiet for a while to the point we thought the dust had settled then the GM summoned the admin manager and demanded more people were to leave. One of the staffs that had been sympathising with the ones that got their letters earlier had to be one of the ones consoled this time. At this point the tension increased. For the first time I saw some of the staffs use the toilet...the rate of toilet use was so high that for the first time the floors were dirty. As in, they had to release the tension. People that never used the office toilet to piss used it that day to sh!t.
The fact that no one saw it coming [that's my opinion] put people in the position to rationalise and I began to hear gists of happenings I had no idea was going down. Like 2 months ago a staff decided to retire...just like that. It was unexpected [that was my own opinion]. I heard [no be talk am] the reason a staff was given the letter was because he used to have sex with her. Both of them had their respective spouse, kids...everything to constitute a family but that didn't stop them from having extra-marital affairs. The "couple" were caught serveral times and the woman decided to retire, hoping her action would prevent the termination of their appointments and continuation of their sex romp. Her husband found out and pleaded with the management to get rid of the guy...and now, he had his sack letter.
There weren't the only ones involved in office romance that got letters. I had no idea one was married with kids until that day...damn! She was endowed and the guy that was fucking her? I couldn't blame him. I wrote about this guy once on "How To Annoy Your Boss". He was the one reading how to online. I can't believe I didn't think of that "sleep with a co-worker that your Boss [might] admire". Guess he finally got what wanted.
One lady got a letter and she had to be the biggest shock [to me], luckily, hers was one of promotion to fill up a managerial position. I was happy for her.
I learnt so many things on that day, and one of them was a fact of life- expect the unexpected. As I saw some of the [ex] staffs clear their tables [ASAP] I noticed none had planned on doing so anytime soon [if at all]. Their workplace had been their second home. Take for instance a receptionist that sold top-up/recharge care/credit card [depending on your country]. She had debtors in the office and virtually all her debtors were given the boot including herself. She was on her way out when then phone on her rang and for a moment she paused...then walked out. Virtually all of them said "this is they key to MY office/desk/car" as they signed out.
As for me...I had to see ALL their faces as I recorded the company's *ID cards and other possession they dropped.
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