I took a rare Sick Day from work on Tuesday and resisted the urge to check my work email at any point during the day.  By mid-afternoon though I got an alarming text message from a coworker saying there was a mandatory 8 AM company meeting.  This wasn’t good for two reasons:

• We never have “all hands” company meetings before 9AM.
• The meeting also was mandatory for our offices in the UK, Germany and Australia.

Thus I could rule out two potential scenarios:

• Our lease ends in this building at the end of the year but there would be no need to involve the international offices on news about a new building.
• A new CEO for our company wasn’t likely for several reasons not worth getting into here.

So this led me to this conclusion even though I had no proof, yet years of experience made me know there was no other option -- we were being bought out.

Having had some real sleep difficulties the previous two nights, I knew Tuesday night would be even more of a challenge to fall asleep.  In the 11+ years I’ve been working, I have survived over 10 rounds of Reductions In Force and have also endured 3 buyouts where I also survived the new employer’s axe.  So while I’ve been fortunate as hell (I also like to think my skill set has a little bit to do with my luck in all this but it still has come down to luck in certain scenarios) all these times, you never know when the roll of the dice is going to go against you. 

Compounding this fear now is the fact I have three mouths to feed.  While it wouldn’t have been easy 10 years ago to get laid off, all I would have to worry about is fending for myself.  Now I’ve got two daughters who depend on me and the pressure is exponential in terms of providing a constant source of income to keep your family clothed, fed and living in a house.

Wednesday morning couldn’t have felt more appropriate.  While we have had a dry summer, that morning was gloomy and foggy and the weather seemed to come straight out of the “Sleepy Hollow” movie set.  To me, not knowing for sure we were going to be sold but knowing that that was the most likely scenario, I felt like a foster child.  “Who will be my new daddy tomorrow?” 

Sure enough, our CEO told us we had been sold to our biggest competitor.  That was definitely an initial surprise since we fought tooth and nail against each other in certain markets but the nice thing is we really have eBay’s attention now that we are responsible for a sizeable chunk of all their online auctions.

I will give the new company credit.  Unlike all the other times I’ve been in this scenario, this was by far the most organized and most “humane.”  They had a representative from each department come down to our office and we’ve been in meetings together the past two days.  For those of you who have been in other company buyouts with me, you know that is an extreme exception.  Usually the takeover is much harsher.  So far, it appears these guys really want to work with us and they’re keeping our Atlanta office.

Of course, with a company buyout there is always the mandatory layoffs and that was the most uncomfortable scene of the day.  Here we survivors are, making small talk with our new bosses, trying to make a good first impression and over our shoulders we can see our now-ex-employees packing their stuff up and leaving.  I don’t care how many times you survive one of these downsizings, if you are human there’s no way to not feel bad for the people let go.  It’s awkward as hell to try to go about your business while they’re packing their stuff up permanently. 

Anyway, life goes on, my paycheck continues for now, and my oldest daughter doesn’t have to ask why Daddy is home on a work day, mumbling incoherently in between swigs of alcohol.