Did you ever join a group that you never thought you would and really didn't want to?

When I was 17, I had to join a union in order to get a job. I bitched about it because I was a fool!

Did you just get fired, @syz? Regardless of the circumstance, that’s a blow to the ego. Is there any way to fight it, or mitigate it? Unemployment?

I was fired at 50 after 20 years on the job. Fortunately, it was the year I met my “70 rule”, and corporate reversed the firing long enough for me to retire. I’m eligible this year for a small pension.

When I was young I couldn’t even spell ‘Senior Citizen’, now I are one. It sucks.

I can’t say I never thought I would be in the position I am in, but currently my husband is unemployed and it sucks. I quit my job for his new job, and then his job fell apart in less than 6 months. We had sold our house, everything is in storage, and we are living with my inlaws.

I said in the beginning I can’t say I never thought…because I always had in the back of my head bad things can happen. I’ve seen friends laid off, I know people who have lost their homes through natural disaster, financial mistakes, and on and on. I never felt immune, so I tried to save a lot and be ready for the rainy day.

I really didn’t predict the rainy day to be like this. I didn’t know my husband would be so ansy. I thought we could travel a little, take advantage of the time off. Nope. He can’t fathom it. He is too worried about what to do next. It’s so uncomfortable to watch him. The discomfort I’m pretty sure will lead to a mistake. We’ll see.

Not really. I always knew I would ascend to godhood.

I never thought I’d be a member of a prostate cancer support group – a group no guy wants to join.
And now I’m not just a member – I am a director!

@syz No! Did they not realize what a gem they had? You are my veterinary info idol !
Thanks to you the critters in my woods are happy and healthy! So much so, when I utter your name they all bow with respect.

I never thought I’d be divorced and single in my 60s.

@stanleybmanly Were you a fool because you went with the flow and joined a union, or because you were too young to understand the benefits of organized labor for working people?

The latter. I lacked the sense to understand most things that mattered. My father knew I was a fool, and did not hesitate in pointing it out. My mother feared for me, but my dad would just laugh uncontrollably while shaking his head. After gaining control sufficient to speak he would announce “YOU are such a fool” and usually resume laughing before finishing the sentence.

Yep, both of those too. Divorced and wiped out in the recession at age 53 and joined the almost homeless bankruptcy club, something I NEVER thought would happen to me after decades of solvency and excellent credit. Yes, oh joy!
I also never thought I’d be in middle aged aches and pains and fracking high blood pressure club and just welcomed my first BP medication last month.

Turned 56 a few months ago and the getting older club sucks on so many levels right now.

Yes, I had been at my previous job for 30 years and 4 months and got laid off. Because I wasn’t 55 at that point, no retirement, no pension. So I got a job as a manager of a hospitalist group at a hospital. I’ll be there until I retire, right? No. Who would know that my hospital is getting ready to close? It’s been there 116 years. I’ll find out for sure when that will happen in mid May. So at 58 I’m now going to be a part of the unemployed in a state where there are no jobs and at an age that no one will want to hire me. Crap.

Edited to add: Who the hell would fire @Syz? She is the best most knowledgeable vet I’ve ever known. In the way that you can know someone on line.

Wasn’t expecting to end up in the chronically ill camp when I was 14. Hell, I was hardly aware the camp existed.

I don’t know anyone who grows up hoping to join AA, but we sure glad it is there when we needed it!

Eventually something like this will happen to me, not if but when. Part of me actually does not care and part does. I did go through some serious on the job shit I don’t care to ever relive. My wife is going through something similar right now. I have seen some extremely good workers get fired and some lazy dumbfucks stay on. Management often is clueless about who is keeping the foundation solid beneath them.

@chyna Jessie is a pretty doggie with such a sweet face.

Rape survivor club.
Foreclosure and bankruptcy club.

@Love_my_doggie Thank you. She is very sweet.

Yes.

I joined the Ripped-Off Retirees club in 2012.

Thankfully my house is paid for, my Social Security payments are almost sufficient, and my Big Blue state (CA) generously compensated me for my loss last year.

Redundant club.
Immigrant club.
Orphan at 23.
Divorced club.
In superbly happy relationship.
Black sheep of the family and ostracised.
Successful completion of PhD.
Tenured academic position.
Probably many more happy and sad clubs to come.

I’m sorry you’re going through this. I can imagine you are shaken to the core. Sometimes these forced changes can lead us down paths we would never have found unless life had tipped us out of our comfortable boat. I hope once you’ve had time to grieve for what you’ve lost, you can find a new and even more successful path.