I was over at my parents doing some tech support yesterday,
when my mom gave me a folder of papers that I had left at my sisters when I had
been living with her. They were my separation papers from Electronic Data
Systems. The first sheet said: To whom it may concern: Brett DaSilva has been
employed by Electronic Data Systems from 12/8/1997 to 5/22/2009. When I read
the sheet memories hit me like a locomotive. EDS was my first real job. Jen and
I had just gotten married three months before I started. Before that I was a
kid going nowhere fast. I was a manager at Wendys, I was making about 16k a
year working crappy hours. The first suit I ever bought was for the interview.
Thank goodness I got the job. I could not believe it. I was making 26k a year.
I had to wear a suit to work every day. I had a job I could be proud of. I had
a job where I was making more money than I ever had in my life. I started out
on the phones taking calls from Xerox employees. I worked my way up to
supervisor of the helpdesk. Things could not have been going better. We got bonuses,
we got recognition, I had about 15 people under me. Life was good. Then EDS
started closing down the helpdesks in Michigan in about 2004.
I had to make a
choice. Move down to Kentucky with the jobs, or be out of a job. This was one
of those life changing decisions that come along. I made the wrong one. I moved
Jen and I away from our family and friends and made the move to Kentucky. I was
ill prepared for what awaited for me when I got down there. I ended up being
demoted back to answering the phones. I had lost my support system and was
lost. I was moved from job to job, but never really found myself down there. I
was never the performer down there that I was in Michigan. I had gambled and
lost. Then came the day when I got the call into my manager’s office. I was
being laid off. After twelve years with the company I was being kicked to the
curb. Holy self-esteem hit Batman. I was lost. When I started at EDS I was 26.
I believed that like my parents you found a company worked there for 20 or 25
years, and then you retired. That is no longer true. We were hundreds of miles
from home. I was jobless and Jen was working at Wendys. I was making 45K a year
when I got laid off. I went from that to making 250 a week on unemployment.
We could no longer afford to stay in Kentucky so we moved
back to Michigan with my tail between my legs. I blamed myself for what
happened. I felt worthless. We ended up moving into my sister’s basement. I got
a job at Kelly Services, I worked there for about a year, and then again I got
laid off. By then I was wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Am I really
that bad? I worked a few other temp jobs for Kelly before finally ending up at
Siemens. I have been there for a year and I still look over my shoulder every
day. I have some of the top numbers on the desk. I know I am doing a good job,
but well I have been burned before. It has taken me three years to get back to
the pay I was getting working for EDS.
Now I am considering a career change. I am not happy
answering phones. I really like writing, and interviewing people. I see others
doing this and getting paid for it. I am like I want to do that. I am not quite
sure how to get there yet, but people are starting to know my name. I have to
keep being ignorant and keep asking people who I probably should have no right
talking to for an interview. I have to, as the great philosopher Kevin Cronin
said, keep pushing. I have to put EDS behind me. I have to know I have a good
support system here now. I have to look forward. So I put the folder in a box
that I never look in and keep my eyes to the future.
