One day while both of my daughters were home for the holidays we went to the movies and saw “Up In The Air”. I didn’t really know what it was about but my daughters agreed to go with me and that in itself is reason enough to go; so much fun to sit between them with a huge container of buttered popcorn. And if I am being honest I would probably pay to see still pictures of George Clooney…gawd, the man is truly gorgeous and I read or heard somewhere that he doesn’t wear any makeup in the movie and apparently is always ready for a close up….I wonder what he looks like when he wakes up in the morning; hmmm, that thought could keep me occupied for the better part of the afternoon. But that is not why I decided to write about the movie.

George plays a character in the movie, Ryan Bingham, who flies around the nation laying people off for companies. He is personable, kind, and compassionate and did I mention wildly attractive? The story line includes life on the road, having a much younger colleague tell you what to do but my interest was all about the laying off process. The company George works for is planning to implement a remote system of informing people that their job had been eliminated-a system designed by a much younger person. He decides before the company does this the designer should experience first hand what he does day in and day out. She, of course, sees the errors of her way and is much more appreciative of the nuances of letting someone go.

Now I have been laid off and I have been the person delivering the layoff news. Just for the record, I prefer being the person delivering the news vs receiving the news. The movie does an excellent job of showing people’s reactions to the news. No one has an appropriate response to hearing this news from someone as good looking as George Clooney. But I laughed, I cringed, I felt badly for these people and realized this has to be one of the most traumatic things that can happen to you. On one level it could be argued that one deserves the respect of hearing this live and the opportunity to vent frustration, anger, sadness, and fear. On the other hand it could be argued it is best if the person getting the news can experience all of those emotions alone. I got a phone call which was pretty short. Maybe that was better as he didn’t look like George Clooney.

So have any of you been laid off by someone who even remotely looked like George Clooney or was as caring as George was in the process?

And which is better, in person or remote delivery of the news?

Tell us your story….