for the record

Two weeks ago the owner of a maturing startup with fourteen staff turned 30. Now the staff numbers seven. One of his best friends was one of the ones let go.

Everyone reacts more or less the same way. “That sucks. How are you. How’s Aaron. What happened. How are you & Aaron.”

– It does suck. This isn’t the way the dream was meant to go. The good guys are supposed to win. If you pour your heart into something, no matter how bad things seem, you always pull through in sudden-death overtime. If you pick your man and you back him you’re supposed to be backed in return.

– I’m alright. Kinda mopey, but for me that mostly means laughing at other people’s jokes more than making my own. I’m still sassy. And it only takes a day to re-discover how much happier your body is if you let it wake up naturally. The two things I hate most in life: cold showers and alarm clocks. But yes, I’m doing alright. A bit of a stunner on several levels, but I Will Survive.

– Aaron’s managing. He’s going through the roughest time of his life, I’m sure. He’s living the epitome of it’s all happening at once. He doesn’t think I understand quite what’s going on with him, but I do.

– People will be discussing what happened for ages, but the textbooks will sum it up pretty simply. More agressive management decisions needed to be made months ago. More sacrifices. The team needed to be better aware of the reality of the situation, and we needed to be unified in our goals. And that’s as tidy a soundbite as you’re likely to get on this. The long and the short of it is: extreme measures were necessary because they were left so late. Granted, I could be wrong about this summation, but I don’t think so. And no, it’s not all Aaron’s fault. It might be his responsibility, but he doesn’t solely shoulder the blame.

– Aaron and I will be fine. We were friends before, and during, and we’ll be friends long after. As I said, he doesn’t think I understand, but I’ve got a pretty good grasp on the financial situation. He was forgiven for canning me even as he did it. That said, he still booted one of his best friends to the curb, and that’s gonna sting for a while. I hope he understands that, even as I understand his side.

So that’s that. For the record and set in stone. The Way It Is.

(sidenote- mindless entertainment of the day, courtesy of Cara, and featuring penguin and yeti.)

Now, I think I’ll go to Vancouver with Davin and hang out with Hybrid. So there.