Intro to story "After the Layoff"

After the Layoff
by Mitchell Waldman

         This used to be a great country. Not now. Not anymore.
         I was laid off from the drugstore. Worked there almost thirty years. Worked my way up from the bottom, from Stock Boy to Manager, with little in the way of education -- I didn't graduate high school, was a semester shy when my dad got sick. I ran that damned place for the owner, Bud Wilkins. Then, when Bud retired, and had no one to carry on the business, this big chain bought him out and they discarded me like a badly worn sneaker.
         Not that I blame him. Paid for his and the Mrs.' retirement, I'm sure. Probably lying in their lounge chairs in sunny Florida right now, watching the clean frothy waves roll in on the hot white sand.
         The big chain's got the big bucks. Owned by a private equity firm. And, Bud told me at the time, he made them promise to keep me on. He said "You're a good man, Phil...I wouldn't even have thought of selling unless they made that provision." Not his fault, I guess. He was like a father to me in a way, took me under his wing after my old man passed on. And the Corp did keep me on -- for about two months, anyway, those cheap, lying bastards. But then, well, hell, they -- some suit named Robert Johnson -- just said I didn't "fit in with their program." Code words for I was too old and cost them too much money. So, they let me train my 20-something year old replacement at half the salary, then let me go. But, don't think I told them everything. Besides, what did I know about their "program"? Ha.
         Now it's like my life is over. What can I do? What do I know? I know the drugstore business. That's it. And who wants to hire a fifty-three-year old ex-manager?
         Thirty years down the drain. Thirty years of my life. No credit, no thanks, not even a "Have a good life" from the blue-suited son of a bitch with the mechanical smile, when he shook my hand and told me with his cold empty eyes that my services would no longer be needed.
         That bastard should pay. He should pay big.

See http://mitchwaldman.homestead.com for the rest of the story
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