gettin' repo'ed

The shit hit the fan early this morning. Sue turned the country station up loud at 7:30 and hushed the rest of us up.

Radio Announcer: The largest manufacturer of school busses in the United States, the B___ Corporation, has been sold to a company overseas. The H___Corporation has agreed to buy B___for $665 million dollars. No word yet on whether company layoffs will ensue.

Sue: Oh, great.

Tara: First thing them Brits are gonna say is "Get ridda all the temps!"

Mike: I wish these Amurrican companies would quit gettin' bought by furrin companies.

Tara: My mom said the last time B___got sold, they made every department lay off one person.

Betsy: (waits a beat) It was nice knowing you guys.

Jay: Tara, they can't lay off all the temps. We want to KEEP Betsy.

Tara: Shut up, Jay.

Mike: (Walks to Tara's cubicle) You know, Tara, if we get rid of one person, it'll have to be you! We can't get rid of Sue, and nobody's gonna lay off Betsy. She's MARRIED, with a CHILD....

Betsy: What?

Tara:She does NOT have a child.

Betsy: That's got to be the worst way to find out you're pregnant.

Tara: I know a worse way to find out you're pregnant.

Mike: The she's probably gonna HAVE a child soon, and she'll need a job.

Sue and Tara: Shut up, Mike.

Tara: My friend was gettin' a new job and they made him take a drug test, so he had his wife pee in the cup, so when it came back they said, "Son, the good news is your drug test was negative, the bad news is, you're pregnant."

Betsy: That's worse than having Mike tell you at work.

Tara: I'm gonna get laid off and my car's gonna get repo'ed!

Tara went on for the next 30 minutes, on the phone, in the office, every time somebody said something, she'd reply, and her sentences all contained the words "laid off" and "repo."

Scott: What are we supposed to do until the meeting?

Tara: Think about what I'm gonna do when I get laid off and they repo my car.

Sue: What are y'all gonna do about lunch?

Tara: Y'all are gonna have to buy me lunch, 'cause I'm gonna be broke after I get laid off and my car gets repo'ed.

(....)

Tara called her mother, who works in the next building. Her mother faxed us a news release, which Tara read aloud to the office:

The B___ Corporation in Fort Valley, GA is soon to be bought by the H___ Corporation of Great Britain. The H___ has agreed to pay $665 million for the American bus manufacturer, which is currently owned by Merrill Lynch. B___ accounts for 40% of all school busses in the United States. The transfer will cause a huge layoff, including Tara S___, whose car will be repo'ed.

As the day went on, we had a few meetings, a few explanations, and a formal apology for having to hear about it on the radio. The official story is that nobody will be laid off. Damn—my life would have been so easy.

After work, John and I played tennis. We actually played well, though we'd have sucked if we'd had to play someone who can actually play. If one of us ever learns to serve, we'll have to stop playing.

I can't get online. I'm going to have to ditch this ISP—I consistently cannot get on between 7 and 10 pm. I know those are peak hours, but fuck, it's the only time when I HAVE to get online. Fuck that.