There comes a time in a laid-off remote worker’s life when they have to return the (remotely disabled) company laptop and other company-owned accoutrements, and for me, that time was today.
A FedEx padded return box arrived at my front door yesterday, for which I had a rather packed schedule. Today’s a little more mellow, so I didn’t pack the box until just a few minutes before I wrote this at 3:00 p.m..
I removed only enough padding foam so that the laptop, power supply, and my badge could fit:
Goodbye, rarely-used passcard. I’ve only used it three times — for offsite meetings in London and Chicago, and then to unload some goodies from Oktane at the head office.
Wasn’t it a 2022 or 2023 thing for laid-off people to write a “goodbye company and coworkers” post on LinkedIn, complete with a photo of their badge? This photo may be a cliché, but it’s my cliché, damn it:
All right, that’s everything. Time to close up the box and take it to the nearest authorized FedEx pickup point…
…but not before seeing if the foam rectangle I removed makes a decent cubist lei. It does not, but at least it matches my shirt!
So long, company laptop, and thanks for all the cycles!
Also in this series…
- Laid off in 2024, part 1: The 15 worst minutes of 2024, followed by 15 more
- Laid off in 2024, part 2: First referrals and blue dragons
- Laid off in 2024, part 3: How are you doing?
- Laid off in 2024, part 4: Make the Year of the Blue Dragon YOUR year!
- Laid off in 2024, part 5: The next two weeks
- Laid off in 2024, part 6: The separation agreement / Money, money, money
- Laid off in 2024, part 7: Join me on “Surviving a Layoff” this Wednesday!