008 (Addendum)

I mean, it's not my fault, is it? I didn't ask to get laid off. And yet, I feel like it's my fault. I feel like I let everyone down. Maybe it's because I'm still here and they're not. I can't stop thinking about them. It's been three months since the plant closed, but I miss them every day. We were all so close. When something good happened, we shared it. When something bad happened, we shared that too. I guess it's easy to be friendly when you don't really have anything to worry about. A job for life, benefits, vacation time, a pension plan. All of those things just came with the job description. Sure, times were tough everywhere, but I never really worried about my own future because the worst-case scenario wasn't all that bad. That's gone now.