Dockside: After the Hurricane
July 17, 2052
Around Gulfport, Mississippi
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Richard sat nervously at the back of the meeting room. He’d arrived late, but the meeting hadn’t started yet. He didn’t want to be here. He was needed at home, but his gut told him this was too important to miss, and he always trusted his gut. The hurricane had done a lot of damage to his house and, while he’d been able to fix it up to be at least livable, there was still a lot of work to do.
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The meeting was about to start. Amos finished his chat with the person sitting next to him, stood up and went to the podium. He tapped on the mic to get everyone’s attention.
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As the room quieted down, he started to speak.
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“I know the last two weeks have been rough on all of you, and I appreciate the effort it was for some of you to get here.”
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He paused, looking around the room to be sure everyone was listening.
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“You all know that Hurricane Rachael was one of the worst ones we’ve had recently. You know the amount of damage it’s caused.”
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Murmurs of agreement came from the crowd.
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“Now, I’ve spent the morning with the reps of the owners, and I have some bad news.”
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The room turned silent.
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“The damage to the docks is too extensive. None of the cranes survived. The warehouses mostly collapsed. Containers are smashed and scattered all over. Even parts of the dockside have been washed away. The engineers said that, even in the best of times, and these certainly aren’t, it would take about two years to get back into business. So, the company’s decided to move operations elsewhere.”
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The room filled with angry shouts. Amos held up his hands for quiet and eventually everyone settled down.
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‘Look. Even if they were to rebuild, you’d all still be out of a job until the port re-opened. We tried to work something out with them that would help you the most. It’s a big multi-national company and the owners, or at least the reps, understand your pain. We finally came up with something I think is fair and will help you the most. First, anyone who wants to transfer to the Norfolk shipyard will be welcome. They’ll even cover the cost of moving you and your family. If you want to move further to one of their other operations on either coast, they’ll help with that too. For the rest, they’re giving you an additional two weeks severance. That’s four weeks in total.”
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The room filled with murmurs and discussions. Amos kept silent until it was quiet again.
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“Unfortunately, that’s it. Go home and discuss it with your family. For those who agree to the transfer, come back tomorrow. There’ll be more information and sign-up forms. The rest of you, your final pay will be transferred to your accounts on Friday.”
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Richard leaned back in his chair. At forty, he was one of the senior crane operators and knew he would have a good position in Norfolk or anywhere else. But he had family here – parents, siblings, cousin, sons and daughters – and he knew his wife wouldn’t want to leave them behind. He felt almost sick to his stomach.
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He slowly got out of his chair and left the meeting, dreading the conversation he had to have when he got home.