Holy shit.

My boss called me into his office this morning. Of course, like all good workers I get the initial zap of dread when the boss calls me into his office. "What did I do? Am I being fired or just disciplined?" I knew I hadn't done anything bad, though, and being called to his office isn't that odd a thing. Happens all the time.

(To clarify: I have two bosses, really. My government boss is the one I actually work for and he tells me what to do. My contractor boss - who works for the same company I do - handles the payroll and vacation request type stuff. It was the contractor boss who called me this morning.)

So I get down to his office and the big boss - the boss that my contractor boss answers to - is there, too. Uh-oh. Still, they could be telling me I'm getting a raise, right?

Wrong. They gave me fucking notice.

I'm laid off!

It's a government job, so there's lots of politics, but I think it boiled down to this: there are two contractors in the department I work in. We both do web crap. The department needs a new contractor to do the work of some government employees who have recently left the job, and (and I'm guessing here) there's only enough money for two contractors. The other web guy's been there longer than I have, if nothing else.

The boss and the big boss went to great lengths to assure me that it had nothing to do with me or my performance, it was just a thing that happened. Then they gave me the rest of the day off, which I thought was pretty fucking decent of them. I walked out and didn't say a word to anyone.

I went home and sat. Sonya, who was home sick today, had a good cry. This afternoon I started drinking, which I thought was a great move on my part.

I'm fuckin' stunned, y'all. This kind of thing has never happened to me before.

I don't suppose you're looking to hire an assistant, are you? Your ass won't kiss itself, you know.