Toll vs. QoS

Its very common in rural / sub-urban Odisha to see groups of kids, blocking the road and extorting money from motorists. Extortion may be too harsh a word as, this happens primarily around Dushera / Diwali and ideally the money raised should go towards the festivities of that area.

However, like in any other org one can think off, the money does not always go to the "puja" ! A bunch of adolescent finds a few days of alcohol ! So, government have made certain regulations around not blocking the road and collecting money.

However, as we headed to a small temple 50kms away from the City, a small town on the way had an interesting set up in the main crowded part. Few vehicles blocking the ONLY way to go across the town. While stuck in that mess, a good Samaritan walks to the car window, and offers an advice.

"This road has bad traffic today. It will take you 1 hr to cross this town. Why do not you take a right and take the road in front of the village school that by-passes the jam ?"

Then he, helps in that right jam, to reverse our direction and divert in to the bypass. We thanked him, took some land marks and went on,,, it was a scenic green road, which was clear.

Until we got road blocked for extortion that to ; ) Toll for better quality transport !! What a neat arrangement to move this activity to a side road, little bit more hidden from the glaring eyes .. indeed !!! 

Corporate Lay Offs

Not something I would have put down on my blog .. however, this farewell mail, following a lay off, from a long time colleague was unique. While it has the undertone of Shock (why us ?), helplessness, bitterness towards the company policies - it also has a "specific ask" to the recipients of the mails. Asking to help in social media to find a further job ! And it also shows, while our current work place has become very very unpredictable, we remain very less prepared for these shocking events !

Its an increasing reality, that lay off can happen to any one of us, not based on performance, or tenure in a particular work place.

Of course I ll be changing names in the content below..

Friends and Colleagues;

After a combined 32+ years here, my wife, Kate, & I are both impacted by company “Limited Restructuring” and our positions are eliminated.  Given this unexpected and shocking turn of events, we are writing to ask you to help our family.  Please make some time to connect with us via “LinkedIn” and then please carve out time to write a recommendation and/or endorse us for skills and expertise.  It has been a long time since we looked for work externally and the outplacement team has explained that it’s important to have a current profile, including detailed reviews/endorsements.  Until this time, we have really just accepted requests but, now actively using this as a job search tool, we would appreciate detailed recommendations and specific endorsements for:

Pete – "a list"

Kate – "Another List"

Clearly, with two young children to support, it’s especially important to restore income to our family and secure comprehensive and reasonably-priced health insurance – especially before our daughter’s next MRI is required …or something unthinkable happens.

We appreciate you keeping us in mind for external positions that you think would be a good fit.  We both believe that our next roles will come as a direct result of you connecting us with your extended networks.

Friday is our last official day at current place and we will lose email access early on in the day, Eastern Time.  The best way to reach us is via LinkedIn or on our cell phones.  As with Oscar speeches, we likely have inadvertently omitted someone from this email.  It is stunning how many people we have had the opportunity to work with over a combined 32+ years of service here.

Thank you for your help and support for our family.

Goodbye, farewell & Amen

Pete & Kate