Six hours ago, at 1:30 pm, I was informed by my employers that I no longer have a job.

I have been working at a large church as a sound engineer for the past 8 months. Their system was in shambles, and I've spent most of my time there repairing or replacing hardware, or training volunteers on how to operate the system, in addition to mixing for services throughout the week.

This morning, between two of the services, I was told that I needed to have a "meeting" in order to "touch base" with the musical director and the senior pastor. This is a common occurance, and didn't mean much.

At this "meeting", the pastor began by complimenting me on how good a job I was doing, how much I have improved the sound of the services, and how much he personally liked me. He does this frequently, but then he got into how much he enjoyed working with me, and what a good job I had done the past few months. At this point I realized what was coming. The music director then did likewise, and praised my work ethic and expertise. They said they were more than satisfied with what I had done, and were very pleased with my efforts.

Then the senior pastor pulled out an envelope containing a check with two weeks pay, and informed me that I would not need to come into work anymore. He began to get teary-eyed, and the musical director flat out shed tears. They then started again with the "we like you" speeches. They claimed that the church was in financial hardships, and that they had to let go of several people already. They did not have the financial capability to keep me on staff anymore. It appears I had worked myself out of a job, training volunteers and repairing the system to a proper functioning order.

I found the whole scene to be quite humorous, and would have laughed out loud, had it not been for the fact that I no longer have a source of income.

The only thing worse than working a crappy job is looking for a crappy job to work at. I was making 12.50 an hour at this job, and now going down to 6.75 (California minimum wage) is going to be quite a burden. University fees are on the rise again, and I'm royally screwed.

How was your day?

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Empty.

You were going to laugh in the face of a crying pastor?!

Sorry, but that sounds a bit harsh. That being said, that sounds crappy. I know if it were me I'd donate money to them from my next job if I could.

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There is no signature

Hey, if you're going to laugh in someone's face, go big.

Oddly enough, I'm also unemployed as of today, except, I quit, and you got fired. Which sucks, good luck getting a new job.

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[insert various humourous anecdotes here]

[This message has been edited by Insipid (edited June 27, 2004).]

You're going to hell for sure.

And minimum wage here is $5.15/hour.

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Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.

You should ask the pastor if he knows where you could find work. People like priests have insane networks, and I'm sure he'd be willing to help you out. Then again, it might be kind of awkward going back and asking for work there...

God hates you.

That's how I like to quit my jobs - with the boss in tears

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WAITER: Here’s your green salad, sir.
ANAKIN: What? You fool, I told you NO CROUTONS! Aaaaaaargh!