Fallen Stones (6 page)

“Let me cut to the chase here, Jason,” Walter said and Jason knew he was definitely in for bad news. Whenever Walter used clichés like "cut to the chase" or "the bottom line is..." Jason understood he was about to deliver some bad news and wanted to get to it as quickly as possible.  Walter said, “They like the project and are going to approve the machine's purchase, but the machine won't be installed at this facility.”

Jason asked, “Won't be installed here?  But it's our project, hell it's my project, where else would it be installed?”  

“The machine is going to be installed in the facility up in Ashton...” Walter explained, “The boys at corporate are in love with that operation and at this point in time feel the folks in Ashton can do no wrong; whereas they believe we can do nothing right. So they decided to go ahead and purchase the machine, but the entire project is being handed over to the Ashton facility.”

“They can't do that!”  Jason said with frustration, “How can they do that?”

“Look, Jason.” Walter consoled, “I know you are upset and justifiably so. This pisses me off as well. But you must understand; unfortunately the suits can do whatever they damn well choose to do. It's their company, their money and this just happens to be what they have decided to do.”

“But what about us? What about all of us here?” Jason asked, leaning forward in his seat.  

For a moment, Walter did not reply. He looked down at his hands now tee-peed on his lap, his elbows leaning on the huge arms of his chair. Then after taking a deep breath he looked directly at Jason and said with frustrated resignation, “We can't be expected to keep competitively manufacturing parts with outdated equipment…and the fact is we won't be doing so for very much longer."

Jason felt as if he had been hit in the face with a baseball bat. He sat stunned looking at Walter with great trepidation.   "By the end of July, this year, Lancaster will cease all machining of products. From that point on all machining operations will be transferred to the Ashton facility."

Walter explained further, "Now, Jason, what I just told you and what I'm about to tell you is extremely confidential. It cannot leave this office. Is that clear?" Jason numbly nodded his head. "Alright then. Next Monday and Tuesday, a delegation from the Ashton organization will be visiting our plant to evaluate our machinery to determine which, if any machines they might want to take to their facility. When the group is touring the shop, if anyone from the shop asks you anything, you are to simply reply that you are not sure who the people are or why they are here. You have got to play dumb about all of this."

"Wa... wa..." Jason mumbled, suddenly unable to put two words together to form a cohesive thought.

"But what is going to happen to everyone here in the office?" Jason said, gesturing to the door, indicating his salaried coworkers.

"Well." Walter said, "Let's start with me. They offered me an early retirement package, you know, a golden handshake as they call it. The way it looks, I will be retiring sometime before the end of July."

Jason stared dumfounded at Walter for a moment, thinking about the implications of what he had just said, then realized with a bit of building anger that Walter was being given a great offer. After all, he was planning to retire soon anyway and now with the manufacturing operations ceasing, he would be receiving a good financial package, allowing him to retire earlier than he originally planned.

Then Jason said sarcastically and with a bit of attempted self-deprecating humor aimed both at his boss's good fortune and his own apparent misfortune, "Let me guess... you get the golden handshake and the rest of us get the golden shower... right?"

Walter smiled knowingly, despite the circumstances, understanding that Jason was simply letting off a bit of steam with his off-color yet sadly accurate assessment.

"I suppose you're almost right about that." Walter said reluctantly, "A lot of my direct employees will definitely get pissed on before all of this is over. Almost everyone in this department will be losing their jobs that is...except for you."

Jason suddenly sat up straight in his chair realizing what Walt had just said. "Wa... what do you mean, except for me? Are you saying I will still have a job? How can I still have a job?"

Walter smiled a fatherly smile and said with a certain degree of pride, "Jason, as you are aware, for some time I've been grooming you to fill my shoes when I retire. As such, I have always spoken highly about you not only to the management here in Lancaster, but to the managers at our other facilities, as well as to the boys in corporate. As a result, they have instructed me to offer you an alternative to being laid off, and I must say it is a very generous offer, considering the current world economic situation."

Suddenly Jason became hopeful. Maybe he wasn't going to lose his job after all. He hadn't realized it but all the while he was listening to Walter he was subconsciously dreading   having to break the news to Stephanie. But now, from what Walt was saying, perhaps there might be a small ray of hope.

"What sort of alternative?" he asked.

Walter hesitated for a beat then said, “Everyone was impressed with your work on this project and they are prepared to offer you the ‘Manager Of Manufacturing Engineering' position at the facility in Ashton."

"Ashton?" Jason said in disbelief, "But what about Jim Dodson? Isn't he still the manager at the Ashton facility?"

"He is... or I should say he was." Walter replied, "But he too was offered a chance to take early retirement and he jumped at the opportunity even faster than I did."

That was when the realization hit Jason. He was going to have to uproot and relocate his family. Sure, it would only be about fifty miles north of where they currently lived, and probably would not be a major inconvenience for visitations with his stepdaughter Cindy's dad, but still it was a major adjustment to put his family through; a new place to live and a new school in the fall.

"Jason," Walter confided, "I don't know that you have a lot of choices here. However, I still would like you to take the weekend and talk it over with Stephanie. Maybe you two can take the kids and drive up through the area around Ashton and see what sort of house you might want to buy. You can get a lot more for your dollar up there and your salary will be substantially higher, so I see no reason why you would not be able to buy or even build a much bigger home...

“And I'll tell you what... I'm going to need you here the early part of next week for a few days until the Ashton group is finished, but if you decide to take the offer, you can take off next Wednesday through Friday to drive up to Schuylkill County and maybe meet with some realtors. I'll speak with the personal folks at Ashton to see who they recommend.

"Look," Walter said. "It's two fifteen. Why don't you head out for the weekend, drive around for a bit, maybe go and sit under a tree or something and think about how you want to present this to Stephanie. It's a great opportunity, Jason, and a lot better than the alternative for sure. But it's also a very big step, and you both need to be onboard with whatever decision you make."

Jason stood on wobbly legs, his mind reeling. He had so many things to consider, so much to think about. He thanked Walter once again and headed for the door. As he passed a large mirror, which hung on the wall behind the office door, he thought he saw a strange man staring out at him. Although he only got a split-second glimpse, the image made his breath catch in his throat. Jason swore the man appeared as if he had wild and insane eyes. His face was a mass of bloody cuts, and his left ear appeared to have been severed from his head as well. Jason blinked and the image was gone.  

Walter noticed Jason's reaction and asked "Are you all right, Jason? You look like you just saw the devil, himself."

Jason realized he must have had one of those strange moments when you see something out of the corner of your eye; something you swear you actually saw only to discover it was all an illusion or a trick of light, shadow and imagination. "Man," he replied, "all of this is so much to absorb. I think maybe I need a drink to calm my nerves; this stuff must be really getting to me."

"Well, that's probably not a bad idea, Jason, my boy. God knows I've had my share of drinks while trying to cope with everything that's happening. The best advice I can give you is to do whatever it takes to help you relax and then figure out what you think is best for Steph and the kids. I'll be right here for you whenever you make up your mind. And if you think of any more questions you have for me just call me anytime. You have all my numbers.”

On his drive home, Jason tried to figure out how he was going to break the news to Stephanie. Neither of them had ever even considered moving before, but now they would have to give it some serious thought, as his only other option would be to try and find another job locally or else to be unemployed. He had enough severance and vacation to carry him for a few months at best, but regardless, he would have to try to land another position right away. He was the sole source of income for his family, supporting not only Stephanie but their three kids as well. He didn't like the idea of relocating north but with the economy in the toilet, he might have to face the fact that he likely might not have any alternative.

He hated the idea of introducing more change into his kids' lives. It was only a few years earlier that Jason had gotten divorced from his unfaithful first wife and then young Jeremy had to get used to living with Jason alone, with essentially no mother. His ex-wife and her new husband had moved to Ohio and although she always said she missed Jeremy badly, she never seemed to be short on excuses for why she was not able to either come to Pennsylvania to see Jeremy or to allow him to go out to Ohio as well.

Jeremy had only seen his mother once since the divorce. And then to complicate matters further, the young boy then had to adjust to Jason's marriage to Stephanie as well as moving into their new townhouse and getting to know his new younger stepsister Cindy. Jason was grateful Jeremy and Cindy did not have to change schools or that might have made a tough situation even worse. And then when Stephanie became pregnant, the two step-siblings, formerly only children, suddenly found themselves with a new baby brother. Jason realized it was quite an adjustment for them to make and was pleased with how, despite everything, they seemed to adapt quite well.

Cindy's father, Bill, who lived in northern Berks County, almost at the Schuylkill county border, was still an active part of her life, and she saw him regularly. Since he lived about half way between where they currently lived and Ashton, any move they might consider would not impact his relationship with Cindy or his visitation significantly.

However, no matter how much he might hope for the contrary, Jason knew that moving would definitely impact the children to a greater extent than he would prefer. The two kids had been in the same school system since pre-school, and at ten and twelve years old had a large network of close friends. There was no way he could imagine pulling off a move to Ashton without affecting them in a very negative way. Jason decided neither he nor Stephanie should mention anything to the kids until they both had at least an initial chance to discuss their limited alternatives.

Jason also didn't look forward to adding the stress of this new situation to his current work stress and wondered how badly it could affect what he considered his otherwise perfect home life. Yet knew he would have little choice but to face the problem head-on as he did all similar situations and try to find the best solution. He was seriously considering the possibility of commuting the fifty plus miles north every day. He already had a forty-five minute drive to work. So what would another fifteen or twenty-five minutes matter; especially as a temporary solution? But he knew it would eventually begin to take its toll, physically and mentally not to mention the wear and tear on his car as well as physical dangers associated with such a long and unpredictable commute when the cold winter months arrived.

Jason thought back to a time during the early part of his career when he had worked for a Berks County manufacturer and had known some shop employees who commuted daily from Schuylkill County to the Reading area in order to take advantage of the higher paying jobs. They enjoyed benefiting from the higher wages they earned but had no desire to relocate their families out of their native county.  They were a tightly knit group of workers which some of Jason's co-workers jokingly referred to as the "Coal Region Mafia".

Some of these men carpooled while others paid drivers for the right to have a seat in their vans full of commuters. This allowed them to still commute to work but sleep during the more than one-hour trip while the van owners drove. Jason knew of three or four workers who owned large vans and charged people to ride with them daily; these entrepreneurs always seemed to have a list of people waiting and never had empty seats. It was a nice little under-the-table business, which allowed the owners to always drive brand new automobiles, which their passengers helped to pay for.

However, he never heard of anyone heading in the opposite direction as jobs in Schuylkill County were few and the wages were not up to par with their neighboring counties. So if he planned to commute, Jason knew he would likely be doing so alone and with the price of gas he wondered how much of his raise he would end up pouring directly into his gas tank. But nevertheless he decided riding alone might be for the best, as he often had to arrive early and occasionally leave late, which he suspected might occur more frequently with his new managerial responsibilities.

Jason really didn't mind the idea of a long commute to work. With his present daily drive to Lancaster, he had become an avid listener to audio books. He would regularly go to the local library and borrow numerous audio books. Jason found that it not only made great use of the commuting time and was relaxing, but it also provided him with an opportunity to listen to the writings of authors he might not normally take the time to read.