"Everybody's rep... will be affected this week."

This is what a client just sent me in an email. Everybody's reputation will be affected this week. It's Go time for him, which means it's Go time for me. I've been working with him for the past 90 or so days getting a tool of his up to speed and working the kinks out for him. He pays us per month about the same as I make per month. So the pressure is on the make things work flawlessly for him this week.

I suppose a lesser man, given the same situation I am in (knowing that an impending layoff is coming in the form of a telephone call to me later this week), would... well, I mean, what kind of loyalty do I actually garner toward a company that is going to end our relationship? What kind of respect can I hold toward a company that has asked so much of me over the last 18 months only to end things like this? What kind of confidence do I have in a company that is laying off so much of their IT folks (I found out today that they are laying off their 2 remaining Infrastructure team members... uh, who is going to babysit your servers and stuff?)? Everybody's rep will be affected this week? So if shit went down what is the worst that would happen? If the user experience was so bad would you actually pull your contract (you know, the one that is worth about as much as I make?)? Does vengeance get any easier? Seriously, could it be any easier to sabotage my soon-to-be-former employer?

These are the questions a lesser man asks himself.

I am not a lesser man.

Unfortunately, the only people that will know this are the people I tell... my wife, my family, and you - the reader. So the next time you ever find yourself asking "What would Eric do?" in a certain situation, you better bet your ass you should know that he'll take the high road.

Why? Why, when this situation is so nicely gift-wrapped and delivered at his feet? Why would I shoot down this opportunity to get back at those who are about to strike at me? It's not right, no, but is what they are doing right?

Well, it doesn't really matter. Because, bottom line, it isn't right. And I am better than the lesser man. I am because I got to be.