Juxtaposition

Definition of JUXTAPOSITION
: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side; also : the state of being so placed

Let's juxtapose, for a moment, my spring seasons in both the current year and 2010.

Last year, at this moment I was planning excitedly for a trip out of town with my family, looking forward to seeing good friends, eating some amazing food, and coming away with happy memories of my family's first road trip.

Last year, in the days to come, I was planning and preparing, making ready all aspects of our planned trip, including my absence from work.

This year, I am planning an absence to finally rid myself of the breasts that cause me such pain, because my employer actually covers breast reduction.

Last year, in the weeks to come, I had an amazing trip, we visited and played and made some amazing memories with the aforementioned family.

This year, we are already looking forward to warmer months ahead for more fun times and memories, camping, playing outside, and riding bikes.

Last year, on 3/28/10, I returned to work and was told that a piece of paperwork going unsigned had ended up signing my employment's death sentence.

This year, I'm not at all worried that this company will not only NOT fire me when I return from surgery, but they are utilizing the crap out of my skills like never before. AND I'M LOVING IT.

Last year, in April, my best friend had twins and I was lucky enough to be able to visit her in the hospital because I was unemployed.

This year, I've gotten to see that same friend twice, spend alone time with her and those babies that will soon be a year old, in addition to getting to spend waaaaay more time with my own kids and other friends because my job doesn't suck the life out of my life.

Last year, in April, I began a job hunt, and worked on our finances to ensure our survival at least until I could gain employment.

This year, I'm considering what I can do with all the knowledge I've gained in this new career. I feel like I've gotten a degree in "Insurance 101" or at least finished my general studies on the subject. I can help my friends and family when they have insurance questions, and I'm considering whether the next step would be to use this base to go back to school for a medical billing/coding/transcriptionist program.

All in all, I'm finding it harder to be bitter with Bresnan for their dumb decision, because in the end the people I help NEED help, and the people I talk to every day actually make my job better because they appreciate me because I give them my best.

As part of this catharsis, I would like to point out to all previous supervisors/managers/directors that I used to work with (minus the ones who I actually love, because they know who they are)....... SORRY, SUCKERS! I think it's been abundantly clear that you fired one person that actually DID the work, not just talked about it before going out for their 8th smoke break of the day, or spending the majority of their time making personal calls on their work phone while all their employees could see that they weren't working.

So that's it for juxtaposition in my life. In this case, everything in 2011 is 100% better, my family life, my wife life (hehe), my work life, and my friend life.

Suck it, 2010 :)