The company where I worked was recognizing that they had long-term financial problems that would eventually lead to being broke if things kept going the way they were. A few people were starting to be laid off from different departments.

It wasn’t surprising that people were being let go. What was surprising to me was that as far as I knew, there was no acknowledgment of any suffering they might be experiencing. Only the positives of their tenure at the company came up, at least in public.

Having been laid off twice myself with no notice, I knew what an emotional and financial blow it could be. So I took it on myself to privately email those people to acknowledge and recognize the pain that they might be going through. One of them wrote back to thank me for doing so.

Life is sometimes painful, shitty, and unfair – we should not turn our eyes away from that. Doing so denies the humanity and the suffering of our colleagues and fellow human beings.