The same band of survivors have supported one another, figuring out this thing that has happened. With nothing really to lose at this point some convention has been tossed aside.
Food proliferates on the tiny file cabinet at the end of one of the cubical rows. Food has also taken over an empty desk. Eight are left in the quality department.
The department is feeding itself mainly as an anecdote to boredom, frustration and an attempt to still find a way to do what is left of our jobs. We provide a service to the people we work for, primarily the agents. We want them to succeed, but we also want to protect the consumers they speak with and it is a fine line.
The day before the announcement, the Employee Community Council held a heart healthy potluck. There were a number of healthy dishes and salads and crudites. The ECC has tried had to help us keep up good spirits. It's difficult. Many people have a hard time feeling anything positive toward the Orange.
As an afterthought some people are being offered work from home jobs including three of our band. We don't understand why this wasn't offered before the announcement. We tag the upper management - not our immediate manager who has been witty and funny and so very understanding through all this. But, those people in Minnesota who made this without seemingly getting all the information they needed ahead of time. Compared to them we are just minions and so I suspect we will never quite know the how and the why of this decision and all the decisions that seemed to come as afterthoughts.
The potato bar was so successful another themed potluck was held. This time it was a potato bar. Again, loads of food.
This week is a hot dog bar. Hot dogs, brats, chopped onions, sauerkraut, chips, and who knows what else. It will be reminiscent of opening day, a couple weeks early.
We are six ladies and two gentlemen. This is our way of building community past the job, past the calls, past the frustrations of trying to work with people who see us as "the enemy" and not assistors.
Right now, food is our comfort. Now, it isn't ice cream or mac cheese or a number of other personal comfort foods but it is filling a need within us.
Depression is rearing its ugly head. We have to be careful that the shock to our system we took doesn't make us gain weight. The comfort food we are turning to could be a lot worse, but it could also be a lot better. It can certainly be calorie-laden.
Z will be gone for a week, off to London, England. In three weeks, R will be off for the Jersey shore to spend time with family. A few days after her I'll be MIA. C and R may be left alone those final days, depending on how the work from home project goes for Z, S and M.
Every day it seems we die just a little bit. We miss our friends. Some of the people onsite we worked with have found us on Facebook and so we'll use that to maintain important relationships. For now, food comforts us as we absorb our losses and continue to uncover other impacts of this decision.
Every day we are together, what remains of us, we are grateful. Maybe we can find new comfort foods - ones that are healthier for us and remind us of the special bond we have formed during this time. I hope so. When I have a brat, I want it to remind me of K and R and C and S and M and Z and R, and of course, D who managed to get out of Dodge before it got too sad.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to find out how long Nathan's hot dogs have to cook in a crock-pot to be considered "cooked."
Peace and love to you all.