Monday, Feb. 09, 2004
Attended a rally, posted at 11:18 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com I attended the rally in front of the state capital today, along with 6000 others. I'm not sure it will do much good, but at least I showed up.Still, it looks like layoffs will happen. I expect the gauntlet will fall on my job on Wednesday. I'm quite sure I'm first in line to go in my department.
While I was talking to my parents over the weekend, I realized what a shitty week I had. Not only did I receive the papers that I am being sued for $10,000 for a BS reason, but I also will probably be losing my job in just a couple of days. It didn't seem so bad while I was living it, but, looking back, it was a pretty bad week.
To desccribe the atmosphere at work right now as surreal is understating it. It's like we're in an Orwellian world with some sort of monolithic enemy that can't be seen or heard or fought. No one has any idea what is going on - only what we read in the newspapers. Everyone is fearful of receiving a pink slip in their mailbox, and no one know how to deal with the fear except making bad jokes about not having to grade papers if we're laid off. It's hard not to wonder where the outrage is about this, about the fact that this upheaval will adversely affect the young people of this city for years. Ehrlich today is quoted as saying the problem was "fascinating," and that's all the help he offers. O'Malley is on the front page of the paper today saying that we can't lay off 1200 teachers, but today his tune is different, saying he cannot help without a sacrifice from the teachers.
Well, I'm willing to sacrifice. I love my job too much not to. I was voted down, though. O'Malley certainly doesn't want to ruin his chances of future political office by allowing his city to lay off 1200 teachers, but it appears his hands are tied as well.
It's all so stupid and sad and makes me angry.
In happier news, I found a copy of Maggie Estep's Soft Maniacs on E-Bay for really cheap tonight. I'd been wanting to buy that book again for years, ever since I let my friend borrow my personally autographized copy a few years ago and then she fell off the earth. Angela Charsha, where are you?