I started with my company in early 1982 as an entry level programmer and worked my way up the ranks into a Director’s position. The company had been struggling, been sold once before, but our third owner came in claiming to be a White Knight with money, time, and patience to invest.

That patience didn’t last long.

I should have known when my Director title was changed to Senior Engineer, and I found out only when the Org chart was emailed companywide. The day of the axe, I had been up almost all night putting the final touches on a software demo scheduled for that morning. I never gave the demo. Instead, I got a 30 second speech, two forms to sign, and an escort out the door. My severance package? two weeks pay.

This post was submitted by Dave Tomson.