'Get out of jail free' card

After a horrible week of mounting stress and anxiety, we had that work meeting about the retrenchments. I'm safe. Job-wise, that is. Most of my friends and colleagues weren't as lucky as I was. In my team alone, only four out of the nine of us get to keep our jobs. The rest of the company has also been slashed to pieces, leaving everyone absolutely reeling.

Strangely enough, I don't feel the relief I thought I would've felt. Instead I feel sick. It's so awful to see so many people I care about going through so much crap. Don't get me wrong - I'm extremely grateful to have kept my job. I certainly don't want to come across as ungrateful. But at the same time, it feels like I'm on a sinking ship. It's also difficult to know what to say to people who aren't staying. I've been retrenched before - about six years ago - and so I know how tough it is to take that knock. Never mind the financial stress, the self-esteem also takes serious strain. At least, it did in my case.

Anyway, crisis averted. For now...