St Patty's, Layoffs & Green Bling

Irish or not, you gotta celebrate St Patrick's Day. That's my personal philosophy. And we have a little Irish pub up the street called (appropriately) Harp that is perfect for this particular occasion. It's our own personal spot to go drink green beer, wear green martian stars on our heads and green light up beads around our necks, and punch out a few green jello shooters. Just like they do in Ireland.

Funny thing about St. Patty's Day, last year it took on a new meaning to some great friends of ours, Clark and Patty Korbisch. Or as we call them, the Korbi's. (Nicknames are a sign of true friendship in our house.) See, last year, we arranged to meet up at the pub for corned beef & cabbage, Irish whiskey and all the green bling we could stand. My hub and I arrived on time and promptly found some other friends we hadn't seen in awhile and struck up a chat. Two hours later, still no Korbi's. What? Stood up? Seriously? We were rethinking the nickname already.

But then there they were, strolling in with a look on their faces that I interpreted as either sheepish because they were late and clearly were working up an excuse that would salvage their nickname or there was something that was actually wrong and they needed beer fast. They didn't even care if it was green. This was serious.

Turns out, our pal Clark had been let go that day from a job he'd held for over a decade. Laid off?! On St. Patrick's Day? How...uncouth! I was aghast. But Clark and Patty were acting--strangely--pretty ok with this new revelation. They'd spent the last couple hours explaining to their four children what had happened, reassuring them that the house would still be paid for and no drama, band, xbox live or sports activities would be sacrificed. And then they headed up to see us, where Clark explained that while he was shocked, sure, because he didn't realize this was coming, he was actually somewhat relieved. And this guy was no grocery store clerk (not that I'm knocking the proud scanners of all things food related around the country) but this wasn't someone who could find a replacement job with the snap of a finger. A decade in, this guy had seniority, experience and a handsome paycheck you can't just replace from a want-ad in the newspaper (not that anyone uses newspapers to find jobs anymore anyway--you get my point).

But Clark explained that really, he'd been unhappy with his job and employer for quite sometime but it was the investment he'd made in the job, the paycheck he earned, and the sheer loyalty to his company that made him stay. He told us, unhappy or no, he knew he never would have quit. So being pushed from the nest was actually the best thing that could have happened.

Huh. Laid off, but mysteriously ok with it. It was a new perspective for me but then I thought this is another of those "all things happen for a reason" deals. And I'm a big, big believer in that concept. I'd just never applied it to the loss of a job. But now that a year has passed since that fateful night, and so many thousands of folks have lost their jobs as well, it's a perspective for many to consider. Will life be tough, is it a struggle because jobs are now scarce across the board? Oh yes. I don't mean to make light of any of that. The trucking industry isn't unlike all the rest. But maybe if you find yourself in this position, you'll discover that the ultimate outcome from such a shocking deal will land you in a better position in the long run.

In the last year, Clark got some needed work and some very cool updates done around his house and did indeed land a new job along the way. So this year, we celebrated not just St. Patrick's Day but also Clark's Layoff Anniversary with gusto and green bling. Check us out (us, the Korbi's and another cool friend, Pam):