Something of a recurring theme right now. What you think might be the appropriate reaction to an event widely perceived as unfortunate, is not always what you get. The reaction to redundancies from those in the firing line can leave those left behind a little jealous bewildered. We are great advocates of the glass-half-full approach here at Solicitr and think this little tale from Matthew Richardson at Bitter Lawyer (Mergers & Acquisitions by day, Unethical & Amoral by moonlight!) sums it up nicely, well entertainingly at any rate…

You know who I feel bad for? (Yes, I feel sometimes.) I feel bad for Frank Sacks, a 40-something associate. Who just got canned!

You don’t just decide on a whim to become a lawyer later in life when you have a wife and kids. No, late-blooming lawyers tend to be people with well-thought-out plans that are properly vetted and analyzed, complete with lists and spreadsheets.  Frank Sacks is one of those people. He probably said, “I want my kids to go to a decent school, so I can’t continue being a teacher.” Or maybe his wife threw down the gauntlet and was like, “I’ve still got enough gas in this tank to find a real man.”

Since I have never spoken to Frank, I felt it would be awkward to say something like, “Tough break!” or, “You’ll get ‘em next time!” So I decided to offer my consolatory urges to someone who would appreciate them—my buddy Steve, a midlevel who also got the axe.  Steve was going to be the recipient of my many awesome platitudes. I planned to give him the full Matthew Richardson treatment, complete with a pep talk and a night of strippers and blow, all compliments of yours truly.

The trouble was, Steve wasn’t upset.

And that ruined everything.

Click here to find out why.