I expected a lot of people, but when I walked in, it was packed--like meat-market-dance-club packed. I thought maybe it might be a little somber...maybe people getting teary, but it was this giddy/crazy/happy/fun hug-fest. Soooo many hugs! My face started to hurt from smiling so much. And a lot of people showed up who've been gone for a long time--years, even. Sooo much laughter! So many people exchanging information about potential jobs. By the end of the night, the entire Logistics team was dancing! So typical of Entertainment folks to take a horrible situation and smile and make it wonderful. I can't even convey how amazing all my former co-workers are and how much I will miss everyone.
Our company has struggled for a long time. People have been either leaving of their own accord or getting shoved out in small or large groups for years now, leaving those of us left with little scratches on our hearts each time and questioning our sanity as we continued to stick around. So certainly, those of us who were left knew that our future there was sketchy. But there had been some rays of light lately. We were waiting for some money to come through from the bank that would have enabled us to pay off some debts and continue to move forward. Potential investors were supposed to come just last week and that meeting was cancelled (and now I guess we know why). I heard last night that a member of the Potiker family (our founders) had put forth an offer to John Menard Jr. to buy the company. And it was refused. Obviously, I don't know all the details...and who's to say any of that could have kept this from happening. But still, it boggles my mind that a man with 7 BILLION DOLLARS to his name felt that the best decision of all was to file for chapter 7 and wash his hands of it all--knowing how that would affect all the employees who are now left with no incomes (and many of my poor co-workers were owed commissions and/or money for travel or other expenses for work). Not to mention the ripple effect from the damage this would do to all of our unpaid vendors. That is the decision of a truly greedy and heartless human being.
I'm still very angry about the circumstances of the closure of our company. It's starting to cool off a bit though as I think of all I need to do to focus on my own well-being. There's just not time for anger. And I don't want to be someone who holds onto bitterness and hatred--that's not good for anyone. But it bothers me so much that this Ebenezer Scrooge/Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life/Mr. Burns from the Simpsons (or worse than all combined, really...google the guy...the stories loony greed are unbelievable!) is able to just go on with his mountains of money, as if nothing ever happened. I'm sure he realizes that he can't be touched and that it will all be figured out by trustees and forgotten by and by. But I'm sure he will someday get what he deserves.
And on a much smaller scale, I also blame our last CEO, Dean for some of this predicament as well. He did not cause it. But he certainly exacerbated it. He just jumps from company to company, flying around the country, riding around in limos (ok, I guess I only know that for certain about the limos in the case of the Celebrity Apprentice...and don't even get me started about that brilliant idea) and then leaving it all in a shambles a couple years later. And holding up production of the books to make sure he had his face printed on the inside front covers of the books and then hitting the road by the time they're printed--nicely done. Re-tweet that, Dean.
Ok, that wasn't very nice. But it made me feel a little better. Bottom line is that I believe there are many more good people in this world than bad. It stinks that it seems like the horrible people typically hold a lot of the power. But I am generally optimistic that good can still overcome evil. Peace and love...keep being good to each other.
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