An Update

I wanted to thank everyone who has offered prayers on behalf of Mrs. Orr and me during this season of trial. We got an update on something we’ve been anxiously awaiting, and I thought I would post an update here.

Not far into the new year, I was fired from my work-at-home position. The reason for my termination was my refusal to comply with a company policy that I believed was unethical and heartless. I had been previously warned about this on prior occasions when I was a new employee, and the situation did not arise again until sometime around Christmas. I was advised by my supervisor that I was being placed on a probationary status pending an investigation by Human Resources, and that I would be apprised of the result of their investigation as soon as it was completed.

So I was allowed to twist in the wind for a couple of weeks, at which time I was advised that I had been found in direct, knowing, and intentional violation of a couple of company policies and that I was terminated, effective immediately.

The news was a shock, but not entirely a surprise. My wife and I had discussed the circumstances that led to my refusal to comply with the policies in question, and she was in full agreement that I had done nothing wrong, and that in fact I did the right thing, the only thing my conscience would allow.

So it was very difficult to announce to her that afternoon that I had been fired from my job. We both felt the same way: as if we’d been kicked in the stomach. I shrugged and accepted the situation, and set about trying to marshal resources in order to find another position.

That same evening, in considerable distress, my wife sat me down and told me that she had some news. She explained some physical symptoms that she had been experiencing for a couple of weeks, symptoms that immediately alarmed me. I won’t go into detail here, but suffice it to say that the symptoms were/are female-related, and that we were worried because my late mother-in-law died of a disease that manifests symptoms much like what my wife was describing.

We made an appointment for her to be seen by a specialist, a grueling and frustrating process indeed, since all the local physicians who specialize in this area were booked solid for several weeks. A friend with whom I used to work at the job prior to this most recent one is a licensed medical professional, and made a recommendation to see a particular doctor. Alas, this doctor was booked until April, so we researched and found another specialist who had an opening in mid-February.

The day came and my wife, who has been stoic in her endurance of stress and physical discomfort, finally got to see the doctor. I accompanied her to the appointment, and we had prepared a list of questions, along with a detailed list of symptoms to discuss with the doctor.

In this day and age, it is very challenging to find a physician who is not only highly competent, but who also possesses a good bedside manor. We were pleased with the doctor who saw Mrs. Orr. She was kind, attentive, sweet-natured, perceptive, and very experienced. She set our minds at ease with her grasp of the situation as well as her proposed diagnostic plan. My wife was especially impressed at the level of acumen the doctor displayed while discussing her late mother’s diagnosis and condition, which led ultimately to her death years ago.

So, then. A biopsy was performed, along with an ultrasound and several other tests. We have been waiting on the results of these tests since then, and this morning the doctor called and offered us some good news. The biopsy results were benign. We are still awaiting the results of a couple other things, but the doctor seemed positive about how she expects them to pan out. My wife is scheduled for surgery. The downside is that the backlog of surgeries in this area means that she cannot be operated on until early April, so we’re back to dangling for a while longer. But the good news about the biopsy and the upbeat vibe from the doctor — who will be performing the surgery herself — has given us a bit of breathing room.

We’ve had pretty much everything on hold since this started, and I’m hoping that my beloved wife will be able to sleep and to recover her appetite as well. It’s been a hard road, and I’m hoping for a slightly smoother course at least for a while.

In the meantime, I’ve been applying for jobs literally every day. To date, I have applied for more than two hundred positions and have gotten only two interviews (virtual interview via my laptop). Both of these interviews were quite depressing. They were both conducted by young women, one of them a black girl who was chewing gum and eating while asking me the standard questions. Neither seemed to truly be listening to my responses, but rather merely checking off items on a list. Both interviews ended with the same result: an email a few days later thanking me for interviewing, but informing me that they had decided to go with another candidate.

A good friend of mine has been experiencing exactly the same situation, having been terminated from his longtime position with an international company for very dubious reasons. He has been applying and interviewing like a demon, and finally secured a position (at lower pay) with a company a couple of weeks ago. While we were discussing this situation recently, he said, “S.K, the bad news is that you’ve pretty much aged out of the job market. It might be different if you had a college degree, but even that might not help you at this stage.” And he’s right. I am in my mid-sixties with a high school education and no real marketable skills, increasingly hampered by arthritis and a few other minor medical problems. I do feel that something will turn up, that someone will hire me. I am constantly tweaking my resume and applying at all kinds of different places, using several of the big online work-from-home sites. Time will tell. In the meantime, our savings are taking a hit and the stress level is evident in our home. Our marriage is strong and solid, but the house is somber and too quiet most of the time. But we continue to march.

For those of you who have been praying for us, I want to thank you again. We do not take your prayers and kind wishes for granted, nor will we forget them. Thank you all for your kindness and your friendship and your spiritual/emotional support. Mrs. Orr joins me in blessing each and every one of you.

~ S.K. Orr