Larry Losing his Job

My brother is losing his job at Xerox. They are closing the distribution center in Suffern on May 3. Larry has worked for Xerox for 35 years, fixing copy machines, riding a fork lift, and supervising stock handlers. He will have 45 weeks severance and a small pension when the plant closes, followed by 26 weeks of unemployment.

Larry has decided to wander around all day like a homeless person and pick garbage, collecting bottles to redeem the deposit. (Like he does on his days off.) He seems remarkably jolly about it. He has always hated his job, but it was never bad enough to quit. Now that the decision is made for him and he can collect Social Security in a few years, he has decided to retire.

I told him to be on the lookout for some part time work that is satisfying. It should not be too hard to make up his lost pay. He could find a low pressure job where his talent for being able to fix things would be an advantage.

Larry repairs guitars, so I think he should open a luthier shop somewhere to buy sell and repair vintage guitars and amps. I would go in as a partner repairing and selling some of my amps, and watching the shop a couple of days a week.

One Comment

  1. Jim wrote:

    Sorry to hear about Larry losing his job. He probably counts himself lucky considering that there must be a lot more from his plant in worse shape.

    Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 2:53 am | Permalink