Can you still get "government cheese?"

I work in the consumer electronics industry as a software engineer. For anyone familiar with the field or its labor practices, jobs are about as stable as a one-legged man on a unicycle. In the past week, my company has been going through a layoff process. They were kind and offered a "voluntary" layoff for a few days prior to the "involuntary" layoff. The "voluntary" package gave better severance than the "involuntary" would. Since the percentage of jobs being eliminated was to be relatively high, many people began looking at taking the offer.

Now, the obvious place to look for a job is the OTHER consumer electronics company that exists in my building. The one from which my company was spawned a year and a half ago. Old friends, former managers...it seemed like a good bet. So the rats started jumping off our ship...onto the old ship. But today it was reported that the old ship, our former employer, is looking for a buyer for its consumer electronics division. And now the rats (especially the ones who jumped) are confused and moderately annoyed. The article said that they would "try" and keep those jobs here. I find little solace in a major company saying "we'll try." That sounds like "what else can you do besides software?" to me.

The whole thing has left lots of people tense and irritable, which is making for a fun few weeks before Christmas. In the immortal words of one of my co-workers, it's pretty sad when so many people say "My wife, 2 kids, and I will take our chances on the street" rather than sticking around.

So please go to your local retail outlet and buy at least a 32" TV between now and Christmas. You can think of it as a donation. :)