job [in]security

so i headed to Cleveland yesterday to drop off PC for a couple of days with the Grandpeeps while i traveled to CO for the gig. i was talking to the Mother-ma-bob and she handed me a copy of a press release that her employer--the Post Office--had handed out to employees, detailing thousands of impending layoffs and over 100,000 offers of early retirement (but NO ca$h buyouts) for administrative and other staff. rumblings about PO layoffs have been milling about since last fall as the agency slipped deeper and deeper into debt, gas prices soared, and ppl continued to use electronic methods to send correspondence/pay bills, etc, decreasing the PO's revenues by BILLIONS of dollars.

my mother's job is relatively safe...she is 4 years from retirement and has 20+ years with the agency, so will survive this round, though she is *itching* to get bought out so she can chill and enjoy retirement and being a full-time Grandpeep. even still, it is certainly a rude awakening for her as this is the only job she had ever known and has never experienced anything but what the PO is known for--good wages, great benefits, and job security. layoffs? unheard of.

as i was talking to my friend about this tonight, we were exchanging stories about growing up in Post Office families. Her grandparents, mother, and uncle all worked for the PO at some point. along with my mom, two of my aunts and two of my uncles either currently work there or have worked there. the Post Office was one of those places that gave Black folk a slice of the American Dream. if college wasn't your 'thing' or your parents couldn't afford to send you, you could 'get on' with a job down at the PO.....work hard, get paid a nice wage--enough to buy a nice home, nice car, and pay your bills, and ultimately retire comfortably. i've grown up around it...remembering my mom waiting for me as a kid walking home from school and she would 'sneak' and give me a ride in the red/white/blue hatchback that served as her 'company car' to deliver mail on her routes...the childhood friends i made and grew up with--sons & daughters of her 'work friends' who she celebrated with and partied with...now all of us are adults, many are married and/or have our own kids. i remember getting a scholarship from the PO when i went to college and how proud i was of that. i remember (as nerdy as it sounds) always enjoying 'mailing' things...and receiving things in the mail....just going to the PO in general, even though the lines sometimes were sooo long. i still to this day LOVE mailing stuff, and find myself in the PO--long line or not--atleast 3 times a week.

so, as i read the press release, it made me say to myself 'wow' at how things have changed. even now, blue collar jobs are no longer 'safe' and all that our parents/grandparents worked for (including their 401(k)s) can be snatched out from under them in an instant. those of us who did the 'college thing' usually can go out and atleast be in the running for a replacement position if we lose the one we're at...but what about the folks who don't have the formal education and yet have worked somewhere for 20+ years? how do they get back in the job market...or do they? i've often asked my mom if she ever left the PO, what would she like to do? she didn't have an answer for me, and partially it was because, she told me, she had never really even thought about...or, heck, had a need to think about it.

i am sure that i am not alone as i reflect on how things have changed and how things will never be the same in this economy going forward. i am challenged to remain ever grateful for the blessings that i have and the opportunities that have been afforded to me by way of education and life experience. i remain indebted to the hard work of my family members over the years as they toiled to try to make a decent, comfortable life for myself and my cousins. and i am reminded that even those things that seem like they will last forever, most times don't...and we must be prepared.

we have no way to go but up...let's hope that the bottom gets here--and fast--so that we can start to see the upside of this challenging time.