Nivel intermedio

Don't take it personally

Carlos is gathering his personal items. He picks up his boxes, looks around his office and
then quietly walks out, leaving the door open behind him. As he waits for the elevator,
he thinks back to that morning when out of the blue, his boss stopped by his office.
"Good morning Carlos! How are you?"
"Great Maurice! It's Friday! ", replied Carlos, "and you?"
"Very well, thanks. By the way, do you have a minute to talk? "
"Of course!", replied Carlos a bit surprised.
Maurice walked into Carlos' office and shut the door behind him. He sat down and his
expression turned serious.
"I have some bad news, Carlos. As you know, things have been tough with the recession
lasting longer than we expected. Upper management has concluded that we have to let
some people go if we want to stay competitive. Do you understand?"
"Excuse me Maurice but, I'm not sure I understand. Are you firing me?", asked Carlos, a
bit confused.
"Please don't take it personally. We agonized over the decision for months. We are really
out of options."
"'We'? But Maurice, I just bought a new home. My wife is 6 months pregnant. I have
worked for this company for almost 20 years…"
"…for which you have been well compensated" replied his boss, finishing Carlos' sentence.
"I am so sorry, but we cannot take into account the personal circumstances of every
employee when reductions are made. These decisions are never fair. I did all I could to
convince them to keep you but they had already made up their minds. Today will be your
last day. A representative from Human Resources will contact you in about 30 minutes to
discuss your severance package. It is very generous; I can assure you of that. Well, I
have to be at another meeting in about 2 minutes so if you have any questions…"
Carlos was speechless. He just stared at Maurice with a look of disbelief.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Maurice stood up and extended his hand to shake
hands with Carlos. "I'm truly sorry Carlos. I wish you all the best. If you have any
questions you know where to reach me."
Carlos sat in his chair, stunned, unable to respond. Maurice, realizing that Carlos was not
going to shake his hand lowered it, turned and left the office. As Carlos gathered up his
personal items, he began to make a list of all the expenses he could cut until he found
another job: cable, magazine subscriptions, expensive wine, golf on weekends, expensive
vacations…
Now, as he enters his home, he wonders if he should tell his wife yet. She has enough to
worry about with the baby.
"How was your day honey?", she calls out from the bedroom.
"Good… busy as usual", he responds.
His wife gives him a kiss. "It's Friday! Let's go to Maggiano's!! I can be ready in 10
minutes."
Carlos takes her hand in his. "What if we stayed home for a change? We could have a
romantic dinner, maybe watch a movie…"