I'm Published

My very good friend Chuma asked me if I would write an article for his online magazine Chuma Spirit Magazine. So I did. I am officially a published writer. (smile)

Check me out

My Contribution

Metro Wednesday

Well anybody that knows me knows that I don't go out to clubs that often anymore. I guess I got burned out on it since I did so much clubbing when I was younger. So I decided to go out to support the In The Meantime Men's Group and their 4th Annual Black Party that was being held in conjunction with Club Metro's regular night. I had been given a free pass to go into the VIP Room. Woo Hoo look at me VIP. LOL It really wasn't all that but it was nice to be invited.

While in the club I noticed that I really hadn't missed much. So I hung out with my Nephew who had to work the catered food there because one of his employees decided not to show. I spent most of my time talking to him and occasionally to a few other people that I knew. With drink in my hand I watched the goings on of the club scene today.

I will say that I did enjoy the stripper that was in the VIP Room. I try to be a little reserved when I'm out so I didn't run up to him like so many of the other older guys were doing like they had never seen a naked man before. They were shameless...but the stripper smiled and did his job and collected their dollars in his very short and very shear boxer briefs. He was tight though I must admit!!! Had everything that anyone with a particular interest would be interested in.

So as the stripper took a break I noticed a tall light-skinned brotha that sort of glided into the VIP room. On second glace I noticed it was not just any light-skinned attractive brotha. It was the one and only Jonathan Plummer. Yep Terri McMillian's ex. I was surprised to see that he is not as big as I thought he was or as tall. He is taller than me, about 6'1". I also envisioned a sizeable muscular ass. That wasn't their either. However, he did not disappoint me as far as looks and his nipples. Yes I'm a nipple lover. His did not disappoint at all. They poked out of his shirt like the soldiers that I hoped they would be...ok ok I know I'm getting carried away. I'll stop.

Anyway, I would have loved to talk to him, but I'm a bit shy at times. I know many wouldn't believe it but I am!! Especially when I'm interested in someone. Anyway Jonathan made my night by turning to me smiling and saying hello. I wanted to run after him and say let's get out of here...but I guess the brotha had other things on his mind. Plus that's just not my style to run after anyone. So Jonathan if you're out there give me a holla! Hey maybe I'll pick his book Balancing Act and get him to come to one of my Book Club meetings. Hmmm maybe I won't tell the other members the correct date of the meeting and it'll be just me and him...LOL

If you google his book google has a preview of about 50 pages of it for your perusal.

A plug for a friend and an opportunity for you

Chuma Spirit Magazine is accepting submissions for its Poem of the Month section. Once a month, the magazine will feature an outstanding poem, along with a bio, contact information, and a picture of the poet who scribed it. When the month is up, the feature will be archived and available to be viewed for indefinite promotion. Please provide the following:

1. A poem not exceeding 800 words.
2. A high resolution picture
3. A bio
4. Contact information, such as any phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses and websites.

Submissions are to be emailed to ChumaSpirit@aol.com with "Poem of the Month Submission" in the subject line. All submissions are to be received no later than October 27th. Announcement of the winner will be made on November 1st and the feature will be posted effective that day.

Subscribe for free to http://www.chumaspiritmagazine.com/ and get daily updates and newsletters informing of the latest postings. As the magazine grows, you will receive information on the following topics: Chuma Wisdom, Quotes, African American History, Music, Fitness, Health and Well-Being, Sexuality, Travel, Books, Finance, Spirituality and Religion, Erotica, Poetry, Interviews, and Links to other Bloggers. We look forward to you visiting http://www.chumaspiritmagazine.com/.

Take a step, you never know what could happen!

A Reminder

I posted a thought in 2005 that I think needs to be revisited. I was speaking to a young friend who has just entered the college environment. He's attending a school that is predominantly white. Although this can be a challenge to your spirit, I think it's a great learning ground for the real world of dealing with white people. As I told him he is experienceing white people "in their raw and immature state....when you get out in to the world it will be more covert...so you need to take the lessons of their immaturity and store that information for your benefit."

Here's the post from 2005 Don't You Know Who I Am.

Why Did I Get Married?

I went to see Why Did I Get Married today. I really enjoyed this movie. Of course you know the movie is about relationships. I won't tell you about it in case you haven't seen it yet. I would say that it is worth seeing though. I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD. I will say this, the movie showed good examples of black relationships. I would even venture to say that it not only showed examples of Black heterosexual relationships but I've seen some very similiar gay relationships like the ones shown in this movie. Cudos to Tyler Perry.

I know this question has been asked by a lot of us out there...but Why Am I Not Married?

I can't give one reason for myself. Just because I'm asking this question doesn't mean that I am loosing hope. I am very optimistic that I will find the one for. When I wake in the mornings I will feel joy because he's with me. I know he is out there looking for me too. He's out there for me and he's for you as well. I think I'm getting closer. I can feel it...the universe is just not aligned for it yet.

I posted the picture of Lamman Rucker above who's in the movie because he's the example in the movie of the best man. Ooops did I say too much. Well I wanted to post him cuz he's fine too!

Some New Music

Jitterbuggin in juke joint, Saturday evening, outside Clarksdale, Mississippi. 1939

I was surfing the net yesterday and ran across two singers that I had never heard of and listened to a little bit of their music on CD Baby. Well after listening to almost their entire cd I was sold and bought them right away. Now when you purchase a CD from CD Baby you can purchase the CD in MP3 format. This allows you to download the entire cd right away! Love this site!

Well here are the two artist that I recommend. Any of you who love good music, I know you will enjoy them.

Yolanda Johnson - Violet Flower

One of my favorite tracks on this cd and it seems to be popular with most is Individual. CD Baby puts her in the group of Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, India. I agree!

Russell Taylor - Somewhere In Between

The other artist is Russell Taylor. If your familiar with Rahsaan Patterson, Frank McComb, Eric Roberson and like them, then you'll like Russell as well. How Deep is one of my favorites on his cd.

Let me know what your favorite on their cds is. I'm sure you'll find them on youtube too if you want to see them perform.

Just a Thought

My Soul is naked...but I'm braced for whatever comes my way.

Sophia Home Now Thangs Gwan Change Around Heah

Friday 9/21/07 was the last day for those being laid off at my company. It was a very strange day. It was sort of quiet most of the day. I think most people didn't know what to say exactly. Each person being laid off had an exit interview set for different times. Unlike the notification that they were loosing their jobs occurred.

The 1st appointment was at 8:30am. Turns out it's really not an interview like most employees would receive when they leave our company. In this "interview" they were explained their packages one more time and then asked to turn over their laptops, company credit cards, and badge. The only question asked was "Is there anything that you'd like to say?" From what I understand most people had nothing to say.

The strange thing about all of this is when told they were being laid off, hired security was on the premises. This day none were present. Seems to me this would have been the time to have it since most had plenty of time to think about what was happening to them. It was a very sad day. There was a lot of hugging and some crying. My manager was hiding in her office most of the day and left early for the weekend. What a coward.

All that were left in our area after 2pm was me and the Indians. It's funny because before today I never heard them speaking in their native language so much. The murmur of them and the smell of their un-deodorized bodies buzzed through my head the rest of the afternoon as I tried to concentrate on my work. I only lasted a couple more hours before I called it a day. I walked out in silence, unlike my normal exit for the weekend bidding my co-workers a good weekend. My co-workers of varied length, 7, 8, 10, 13, 18 and 21 years were already gone.

As I drove home I couldn't help but reflect on the day watching in disgust the Indian woman relentlessly gourging more information out of the woman whose job she was taking. Even while other employees from other floors came to bid my co-worker farewell. While watching my co-worker shed tears the indian woman sat there stoic and stedfast in her mission to increase her knowledge a little bit further.

Earlier in the day an hour before my co-workers exit interview, I told her that she need not give this woman any more information. It was insensitive of her to continue to ask for her time on such an emotional day. My co-worker finally told her that she had had enough.

Next week I feel like I'll be starting work at a new company. One with the smell of dried hot funk, emotionless stares, and the sound of an unintelligible language buzzing in my head all day.

Next week things will be changed. Sophia's home now.

Legend Sighting

Last night I went to see Rush Hour 3. Chris Tucker is a fool. It was a fun movie. Well during the movie I consumed way too much popcorn and soda. The effects of the soda began to take effect towards the middle of the movie. I couldn't wait until the end of the film, so I made my way through the darkened theater to the restroom.

As I walked through the lobby of the theater something caught my eye it was a tall light skin woman in a fashionably funky outfit. She wore a very short dress, a hoodie vest and steletto heels. She was a beautiful girl so I noticed her first, but she appeared to be towing her date behind her. She wasn't holding his hand but you could certainly tell that she was in control. (That's a perception, I can't say that for sure. It just looked that way.)

So I looked to see if her date was as attractive as she. Well low and behold it was John Legend walking about 10 steps behind her trying to catch up. (Now that I think about it maybe someone stopped him to get an autograph and that's why she was ahead of him. Who knows?)

What a time to leave your camera phone in the car huh?

When I exited from the restroom I saw the woman standing in the concession line alone. I looked around a little but I didn't see where he went. I wanted to get a better look at the brotha. A friend of mine is in love with him and thinks he is so fine. He looks like an alien to me but maybe I'm missing something.

Fag Hag Education

This post is meant to educate women who are friends with Gay men. It'll be short and not preachy but meant to help those women with gay male friends broaden their gay men friends network.

At the party that I went to last night there was a woman that I met who was a fag hag. How do I know? It was all in the way that she spoke to me. She went on and on about how fabulous she was and commented that I looked bored. Mind you I was by no means bored. I was being entertained by one of the finest men at the party and enjoying great conversation and measuring possibilities.

The reason she thought I was bored was because I was sitting alone for some time as I didn't know many people at the party and was relaxing enjoying the music and wonderful weather that we were experiencing. I guess she thought I should be switching around and yelling girl this or girl that.

When I told her that I wasn't bored. She commented that I was dressed nicely and looking fierce, while adding a "Miss Thang" to the end of her sentence directed to me. I contemplated how I would respond to her. I do have a sharp tongue at times. So simply told her that every gay man she meets is not a Miss Thing and she should save that for her close friends that accept that name.

I know I may be being a little overly sensitive about this but I just have a problem with women who think that all gay men will relate to them in the same way that some of their flamboyant friends do. She didn't get it cuz she responded with well honey I just want you to know that I'm fabulous and I know I'm looking fierce. She wasn't and what did that have to do with what we were talking about. Her response reminded me of a line from the movie Jackie's Back when she said, "Because what, thank you, say no more."

All I'm saying is that I think all women are beautiful in their own unique ways. However, you don't have to become a flamboyant Gay-ite to converse with a gay man. We can speak without all the gay slang. Not all of us even use it. Just be careful with your words or you may tend to offend unintentionally and be written off as a fool. So in essence, just be real to who you are and we're still going to love you.

Tears Of A Clown

I came accross this picture and it reminded me of Smokey Robinson's song. I was talking to a guy at a Birthday party that I went to on Saturday. He told me that he lost his lover of 4 years 2 months ago. He was being very strong not to cry and try to enjoy himself. I made him laugh. But I'm wondering how he's doing now that the party is over.

Now if there's a smile on my face

It's only there trying to fool the public

But when it comes down to fooling you

Now honey that's quite a different subject

But don't let my glad expression

Give you the wrong impression

Cos really I'm sad, Oh I'm sadder than sad

Well I'm hurt and I want you so bad

Like a clown I appear to be glad ooh yeah

Well they're some sad things known to man

But ain't too much sadder than'

The tears of a clown when there's noone around

Oh yeah, baby baby, oh yeah baby baby

Now if I appear to be carefree

It's only to camouflage my sadness

And honey to shield my pride I try

To cover this hurt with a show of gladness

But don't let my show convince you

That I've been happy since you

Cos I need to go, oh I need you so

Look I'm hurt and I want you to know

For others I put on a show ...

like Pagliacci didI try to keep my surface hid

Smiling in the crowd I tryBut in a lonely room I cry

The tears of a clownWhen there's noone around, oh yeah, baby baby

Now if there's a smile on my face

Don't let my glad expression

Give you the wrong impression

Don't let this smile I wearMake you think that I don't care

Cos really I'm sad...

A Confusion of Impressions

cuz his voice sounded like ...fuck me like a bitch and until I don't know my own name ...but his body... was like i'm gonna tear the lining outta yo fat ass til you walk in a zigzag.

Why is it so difficult for us to let people reveal who they really are to us? Why must we have impressions about what we see and hear based on past experiences or stereotypes gifted to us by closed minds?

It's my belief that this is what causes us to dress, speak and act a certain way. A way that makes us feel comfortable in our environment of choice or safety in being non-detectable in who we really are. So what difference does the sound of someone's voice or their physique make? When it really boils down to it; it makes no difference at all. Especially once you get to know a person. You'll see who they really are.

Matt 7:2-5 "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged [if we judge with an evil heart or dark intent, His judgment of us will reflect it; if we judge nobly and honestly, His judgment of us will reflect that, too], and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you [if we use extremes or exaggerations or other unfair means, our judgment will reflect it].

Don't be a "Hupokrites" {hoop-ok-ree-tace'} meaning an actor, stage player, a dissembler, pretender.

You have to search for the truth in those we encounter. How wonderful a world it would be if we all felt free to be who we are without fear.

Oh that man was fine though. He just confused me. So I guess I'll find out who he really is in the near future.

Tell Them It's A Lie!

I know you have heard that there are more black men in jail and prison than in college before.

There are NOT more black men in this nation's jails and prisons than in college...not if you compare like groups. According to the American Council on Education, in 2004, there were 470,000 black men between the ages of 18 to 24 in college. That's the group against which the comparison is made with black men who are in jail and prison.

Those who make this comparison count black men of ALL ages who are incarcerated, not just those who are in the 18 to 24 college age group. If you compare black men of the same age group, you will find that there were more than twice as many black men in college in 2004, than in jails and prisons.

Have you heard that blacks are more violent than whites?

According to the FBI's annual "Crime in the United States" report, whites were approximately 69 percent of all people arrested in the country between 1996 and 2004. Blacks were roughly 29 percent of the people arrested during this time. At the end of this 9 year period, blacks were 43 percent of the 1,948,000 people in this nation's jails and prisons.

The interesting thing about this is that while whites were arrested more than blacks, blacks were convicted more often than whites. So maybe it's not the police that have the problem but the Judicial System. (duh) I wonder how many blacks Clarence Thomas has convicted?

So when you hear someone saying these things about you. Tell them it's a Lie. Ya see any freshman in college can tell you that, one can say whatever they want to say with statistics. If you're smart you'll ask questions and examine the groups to ensure that the results are using like groups.

Daaa Daaa Daaa Dahhhhhh

Ok I just had a birthday on the 11th. I used to throw a party to celebrate. But as the years pass by (faster than a speeding bullet...sigh) I haven't celebrated many in big ways in recent years. I didn't bring this birthday to many people's attention. However, the word seems to get out anyway. I got the normal Happy Birthday wishes. Which were all appreciated.

Thank you very much to all of you who remembered and called, sent a card or an email.

I guess I kept this birthday quite because I wanted to savor the last few years that I have left of this decade silently. Yeah a big one is knocking on my door.

Anyway, like I was saying my birthday was uneventful just like I planned. Sunday things changed. I went to an afternoon fundraiser and then to catch up to some folks after that. I was in the company of a few bloggers (Frederick Smith, Trent Jackson and KennyKing), friends and new acquaintances at The Abbey in West Hollywood, who made me laugh out loud, drink probably more than I should have for a Sunday and enjoy the last of my birthday weekend. I'm writing this blog in appreciation for one of those bloggers in particular.

Kenny King...this was my 1st time meeting Kenny. I have read his blog regularly over the past year and as I told him, I love his blog. (There are other blogs that I love too so don't feel slighted other bloggers,) I like the way he says things, I like the genuineness of his spirit that illuminates from his words and how good I feel after reading his posts. He always makes me smile.

Well I'm here to tell you that he is one of the nicest guys that I've meet in years. It is so wonderful to meet someone whom you have a favorable impression of prior to your meeting and then when you finally do meet, all your thoughts are surpassed. He is a beautiful and kind man. (and I really mean beautiful in every sense of the word!!) I deem Kenny King my Birthday Super-Hero of 2007.

Thank you Kenny for rescuing my uneventful birthday and for reinforcing my thoughts that there are truly nice brothas in the world by just being in your presence.

Be Prepared

It's time to get prepared. Corporate America has gotten extremely greedy. Many people have gone to college to get skills that would help them solidify a decent position in corporate America in fields such as Finance, Human Resources or Technology. Well, Corporate America has grown tired of paying you what you are worth. So now with a vengeance these types of jobs are callously being shipped off-shore. India is getting quite a few of these jobs. You will be training these Indians, Coasta Ricans etc., to take over your job. It's scarey to think of all of our personal information being sent to other countries. Is our information secure? (That's a whole blog in itself)

Black people it is time to get prepared for a new direction. It's time to get prepared for a new way of life. It's time to get prepared to see many of your friends and family members looking for jobs. You may have noticed it happening when you call your credit card company or other company's customer service and you can barely understand the Hindi accent on the other line. It's happening more and more.

What are we going to do about it? What can we do about it? Why is the government letting this happen so prevalently? How will Americans survive?

What we've got to do is provide services that people need even after all the corporate type jobs are sent to India and other countries. What we've got to do is stop being those crabs in the bucket fighting each other to get ahead. Instead we need to work togher and create alliances that will be beneficial and profitible for each other. We are a creative culture and I know we can do it. We must first find ways to shed the slavemaster teachings that our brothers and sisters mean us no good. If we do not do this we will face a backwards spiral to a time when things weren't so promising for Black folks. So with that I say...BE PREPARED so we don't loose out.

Footballers Wives

FOOTBALLERS WIVES

This is one of my favorite shows. Footballers Wives. If you haven't seen it you'll have to check out the reruns. It'll remind you of Dynasty with an Brittish accent. Some of the things that happen on this show are soooo far fetched. It's just fun to watch. There is a Black couple on the show that add lots of their own drama as well. The black male on the show is my favorite. His character is my favorite for a few reasons:

* His integrity

* Sense of Black Pride

* The way he wears his clothes

Oh let me stop playin he is PHYNE!! (to me)

The pictures posted are of him. Chucky Venice.

If you don't watch many shows on BBC one thing you'll find is that you don't understand many of the words they use. After awhile of watching you'll understand all the words coming out of their mouths.

Last 3 Movies

Rise Up and Shout, Standing-N-Truth, and On The Downlow were the last movies of the Outfest film festival that I saw today.

Rise Up and Shout - This film was pretty much pegged as a film about Gay Youth and their view of life. It was in documentary form. They filmed the audition process for a show that was being put on by Gay Youth to craft mentorship and a means of showing Gay Youth that they can be fabulous like those of the past. When looking at the ad for the film one would think that you would hear the voices of the diverse young gay community. However, that was not the case. The film focused much attention on 2 white guys (an Opera singing Drag Queen and Ex-Meth addict, prostitute boy with HIV) and 1 asian guy (His parents just didn't like the idea that he was gay). Although there were other young kids in the movie of African decent and 1 latino boy. The film only showed portions of their performance and them queening out in a local store. There were approximately 6 Black kids. Why the filmmaker choose not to tell their stories is probably something that you have already guessed the answer. He was white and even though the intentions of the film might have been to tell a story it's the same story we've always heard. The white side of the story. (We gotta start making our own movies more.)

Standing-N-Truth - EXCELLENT!!!! (Click the link to the left to go to the official website.) See some of what I experienced below. The film will touch you. Although only a short of this film was showing, in December 2007 Tim Daniels will be ready to show you the full length documentary. If you get the chance to see this film...PLEASE DO. You will as I said be touched!
Check out this video: Standing -N- Truth:

On the Downlow - Sigh. I was disappointed. It was waaay too long to discuss 3 different young Black men. 1 a homo-thug who only likes drag queens and fem boys, 1 an exconvict who talked about all the guys he had in prison and ends up going back to jail in the end. Then there's the bi-sexual young boy who begins coming out to a close girlfriend who says she already knew he liked guys and to his father who also says that things had been said about him and I love you anyway you are my son. So much more could have been said with this movie. I'm not sure what the message was supposed to be.

Blueprint

Oh Yeah. I saw the movie Blueprint last night that was playing during the Outfest Film Festival. I enjoyed the movie. It was a little artsy and much of the movie was left to speculatation. A lot happened between these two brothas in one day. It was however refreshing to see these two young men fall for each other without 1st consumating what might end the next day or day after. The brotha Nathan in the film was attractive to me. They could have centered the whole movie around his lips for me and I would have been satisfied.

At the question and answer session following the film it turns out the he Nathan(Damion Lee) is straight. I can still fantasize. LOL. Here's his myspace Truth Resurrected

Ledisi Returns!!!!

Ledisi's new cd (Lost & Found) comes out August 28, 2007. I have been waiting and waiting. I love her! The 1st time I saw her perform was on New Years Eve several years ago. She was the opening act for Rachelle Ferrell. Man you should have seen the crowd rushing to the table in the lobby after the show was over, hoping that she had a cd out there for sale. Unfortunately, she only had flyers at the time and you could only purchase her cd from her website. That night I got home and ordered it right away. I was not disappointed by her New Years Eve performance and when the CD arrived I was even more elated by what I soon heard.

Enjoy this clip of her from PBS's tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. I love good music!! In my next life I'm going to be a singer I just know it. I guess I'll have to start practicing remembering all the words to songs instead of mumbling through those I don't know. LOL

Tuesday, 9:00am Answers

It took less than 15 minutes for 20 people to get confirmation on what many felt in their guts. On Monday 2 meetings were scheduled for Tuesday. One meeting was scheduled with our Director (8:30am) and the other with our Manager (8:45am). 16 employees marched together to the 3rd floor almost in unison. 4 employees (including myself) waited at our desks our desks. I don't remember what I actually did during the 15 minute wait after the others departure. Maybe I was in a Zombie like trance clicking keys on my keyboard with gibberish exploding on the screen.

8:44am: It was time to go. I moved deliberately to arrive at the 3rd floor by 8:45am. As I walked down the corridor towards the conference room I noticed a brother walking past the scheduled room towards me. He was in a suit so I assumed that he was possibly interviewing, since we have had a business casual attire for about 5 years now. I spoke but didn't think much of his presence. Once the 4 of us arrived to the conference room all sat quietly awaiting our manager to speak. The conference room we were in is big enough to hold 50 people. When my manager began to speak it almost seemed that her voice echoed even though she spoke just in a manner that was barely audible. The other employees looked pensive as was I.

Then she said it..."The new organization of our group will consist of those at this table." She then begain to say a whole bunch of other things that I really don't think any of us heard. Then she paused and asked if there were any questions? I don't think that any of us thought we heard right. I asked so you are saying that the rest of our group is being laid off? I know it was a dumb question but I just had to hear it again to be sure. I guess I was hoping that she was going to tell me that the rest of the group would be working in another area. That wasn't the case. Then she said oh yeah and Jennifer (who was in this room) will be taking position in Switzerland. There really wasn't much more to ask or say after that. There were soft congratulations spoken to Jennifer from the other 2 co-workers. I said nothing (I already knew about that even though I manager didn't allow Jennifer to say anything about it for the past year). Jennifer replied with a mumbled thank you, looking like she was about to burst into tears. Then we quietly went back to our desks.

The 8:30am Room: I don't know what was said...but what I heard was that they all knew their fate as soon as they walked into the room and saw a stack of manilla envelopes on the table. How callus I thought. The longevity in that room ranged from 6-19 years. Once they left the conference room they were then instructed to meet with an HR representative on the 7th floor to go over their packages privately.

I didn't know anyone from my group would be on the 7th floor as I went to speak with a co-worker in Community Affairs. As I walked down the corridor to her office on my right I saw a co-worker who had just been informed. On Sept 21st you will no longer be an employee here in the HR interviewing rooms meeting with an HR Rep who reviewed their package with them.

It was as if I was walking through death row. I felt horrible seeing their backs through the slim windows on the sides of each small rooms door. After each co-worker completed thier review they left the building for the rest of the day.

It was like a ghost town. I got back to my desk and saw I had a meeting request from my manager in 15minutes. The subject of the meeting was "Discussion". Just like the other employees who asked who was scheduled in which meeting. I asked 2 of the remaining co-workers if they had been scheduled as well. When they said no...my heart sank a little. Had there been a mistake and I was supposed to be in the 8:3oam Room?

It turns out that I had to sign a document that stated that I agreed to stay in the department and accept the position. I felt guilty thinking about my co-workers and almost didn't know how to ask my next question. Thank goodness my manager saw my discomfort and was able to finish my question for me.

"Why were you saved?" she said.

"Well yeah."

"Because you have the skills that will be necessary for the future of this organization. We will act as liasons between the business areas of the company and the organization that we will outsource the other activities to. Translation: People in India will be doing the jobs by reading scripts to aggravate the rest of the company and getting paid 3 times less.

The rest of the day passed slowly and quietly. Wednesay also passed slowly and uncomfortably as we were told not to bring up the subject of the lay-offs unless our co-workers wanted to talk about it. What the hell do you think we could say except I'm sorry? It was a very uncomfortable day.

Oh yeah that brother in the suit was not walking through the halls waiting for an interview. He was hired security in case of an incident. After the announcements were made he appeared on our floor until he was sure that all those notified of their release date and packages had left for the day. All were gone by 10:30am.