To start, this happened about 8 or 9 years ago, but finding this sub made me want to share.
A couple of years after the economic downturn and being laid off around 2009/2010, I decided to completely leave the banking industry and move to something more stable. I was a single parent of two children around 15m and 12f. My daughter has some mental health issues as well as being on the high functioning end of the spectrum (This becomes relevant).
When I left banking I was a manager so I went from making a comfortable salary and living in a 3 bedroom house to moving to a much smaller apartment. My new salary was much less than what I previously earned but better benefits and growth potential.
I’m at my desk when around 11am a coworker calls me and says “ hey don’t you live in xyz apartments? A building is on fire, they said there was an explosion, maybe a gas leak.” There’s about 25 buildings so hearing that one was on fire wasn’t immediately concerning.
I google my apartments and find several news headlines about all the fire departments in the area being called for help. As I scroll I see a video of my front door and my welcome mat with my building almost completely burned, minus the front wall. I stood up and just froze. Everything was gone except our clothes we were wearing, bookbags/purse, and my car.
After I gathered myself, I went to my manager’s office to let her know what was happening. I cannot remember word for word but this is the gist of the situation.
Me: Hey, manager’s name, I need to leave, it looks like my apartment has burned down.
Manager: I heard there was a huge fire and explosion, you live there?
Me: Yes, so I need to leave.
Manager: (Seeming to become mildly irritated) Well going there is not going to help anything. The firefighters aren’t going to let you get to your apartment.
Me: My apartment no longer exists other than my welcome mat so that’s not my concern. My children are getting out of school in a few hours. I don’t have clothes for them to wear to bed or to school tomorrow. I don’t even know where we will sleep tonight and I have to tell them every item they ever loved and cherished is gone. My daughter will definitely have a meltdown so I need to have a plan before they get out.
Manager: Takes a deep sigh, well if you feel like you really need to go up there then I guess go on ahead. We will work with you the best we can but we still have to make sure your work is getting completed. (I’m in accounting in government. )
To summarize, arriving at the apartments was the best decision. There were several charitable organizations that offered help. I have renters insurance so my agent showed up and helped us with getting us into Homewoods by Hilton. I mentioned them by name because when they saw that we had no luggage the staff went above and beyond to make our eventually three month stay, as comfortable as possible.
My manager has retired but did come around once the other managers and her own boss came to express concern and sympathy. She even organized a monetary donation from the whole department. I know it was to save face. I’m grateful she has retired. I’m now a manager myself and have vowed to never treat my coworkers less than how I would want someone treating my family.