Precision Grading, where Bryan worked, rode the wave of the initial housing bubble long after it should have been able. Bolstered by extensive projects that had already been green-lit, the company slogged through but was in economic crisis. To survive, management used deposits on future jobs for day-to-day operations, as large and small developers skipped payments and performed other financial acrobatics to offset the market’s cooling. By the spring of 2008, the economic slowdown had gone from being a possibility to a cold, hard reality. As he watched the new work turn from a trickle to a drip, a quietly persistent sick took up residence in his gut. Bryan knew there was strife ahead. Without a turnaround, he was in trouble, but there was nothing to do but wait and hope. He did the work there was to do and spent a lot of time spec-ing out new projects, scanning for potential other sources of work or corporate income, and brewing beer.
There is a saying that many businesses on the Eastern Shore, which relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood, have adopted: If we can make it to March, we can make it to December. The first quarter of the year is when companies have to make tough decisions, and the spring of 2009 looked shaky as the fall of 2008 came to a close. There was nothing on the horizon.
In the construction industry, land sales are critical economic indicators. An un old house could always be sold, but long-term developments happen like tidal waves, growing slowly over time, but when people are looking for developable space, word travels quickly. In the grading business, when word isn’t traveling, it is time to start worrying. As the end of the year came on, there were very few homes or buildings slated for spring start dates. After a scorching summer and a mild autumn, winter appeared as if it would bring with it the promise of the season.
Friday, December 19, was clear and warm. By noon the temperature flirted with the mid-60s, but dusk brought the true cold as it had for the past few evenings and by Christmas, freezing days and nights would be the norm. As prepared as he thought he was for them, the words “I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to lay you off,” still came as a punch in the stomach. Bryan had been idle for days but hoped something would break, that the company would wait and see what January brought before making any personnel decisions. But with six days left until Christmas morning, during what would be the worst stretch for the American economy since the Depression, the prospect of an extended unemployment weighed thick and gray and indomitable. The fact of his layoff wasn’t a shock intellectually, but emotionally, Bryan discovered he was still quite unprepared for unemployment. Life didn’t happen like this for people like him. He was skilled, and he worked hard. The lack of business had nothing to do with him. He wasn’t the problem but, somehow, firing him would make things better?
In considering this question, Bryan got a sense of what would be his descent into depression. This nameless emotion comprised of rage at a perceived betrayal and misery born of despair sat upon a foundation of despondence. He didn’t know the economy would keep tanking, but the sense that swelled in him, standing there unemployed in what was no longer his office, would become a constant companion. Intellectually, he had no reason to suspect he was betrayed. The facts are that when businesses aren’t making enough money to pay their employees, the employees have to be fired. Once they’ve shed sufficient expenses and dismissed enough employees, the company either will recover or close. It happens. But that it happened to Bryan was as unacceptable as it was necessary and obvious. He had a soul full of disappointment and hurt at Precision Grading’s disloyalty, but no way to focus or justify it.
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