Had to take the long walk today...

No, my bike didn't break down. Though, that would be pretty bad too.

I feel weird writing this here. Not sure why. But here goes: I was encouraged/forced to resign today. This story goes back to when a coworker was being moved, and I was given her job - and still expected to do my own. When I (politely as I could) pointed out that it might amount to me having more than I could do in a day, I was assigned an extra task. (Dumb move, I know.) So there I was, stuck doing two jobs in the time allotted for one, with extra documents to work on thrown in.
Shortly thereafter, I expressed to a friend that if I didn't know better I might think I was being set up to fail. I now know that I was right; I didn't know better, that's kind of what it was.
The higher-ups always said to come to them if I had any problems. Twice in recent times, I'd asked for assistance with my duties. Instead of assistance, I was called into a supervisor's office and asked why I couldn't do my job. (!) That should have been a red flag for me.
Later, about a month ago, I was reassigned to a position which I excelled at. I'd done it before and I was still the best at it. I've been cranking out files like nobody else they ever had.
So, today, I get called upstairs. I'm told the discussion has to do with my poor performance in my previous position (technically "positions", but I'm nit-picking). Nothing to do with my current job. I'm offered a choice: to be fired or to resign. Under all kinds of stress, I decided to resign. This was based on not wanting to hurt my chances of finding another job, at my age, with a termination on my record. (I'm hoping my income tax refund will buy me some time to job hunt. It's already on its way.)
Here's why I feel hurt and betrayed: while I don't dispute the performance issues per se, I seriously doubt any human being could have done both of those jobs, at one time, successfully; I noted that I was not previously given any verbal or written warning or reprimand or even suspended for any length of time. They jumped straight to firing me. To my mind, it isn't a far stretch to suspect that I was placed in a position which would ensure negative results for me; the higher-ups gathered and documented said results, and then - even after I had been moved elsewhere - they had been building their case and used it to show me the door. I can't think why else they hadn't warned me to improve or disciplined me before.

But there is a sense of relief in it. That understaffed workplace had become a pressure cooker. There was no hiding the coincidence that the better-paid veterans (like me) were becoming targets of budget cuts. And I was also believed to be a sympathizer with the previous boss, from what I hear. But if you're going to get rid of someone, in a building full of lawyers, you have to make it look good. I could still argue that it was likely no person there could have done all the work they gave me without falling behind, but it isn't something I can easily prove. So here I am, back in the job market.

I apologize if I have bummed you all out, but I do thank you for reading this far. If I were to ask anything at all of you fine ladies and gentlemen, it is simply to wish me luck. I have a family. I will need luck.

Some people can be. I hadn't heard if anyone was "waiting in the wings" for my job, as it were. But my gut told me that the events leading up to it were part of a larger thing in motion. I partially blame myself for not listening to my instincts and leaving earlier.

The more I think about it, the more I find that in the months past I was likely expected to grow so very disgusted with all the extra burdens that, at some point, I was supposed to throw up my hands in frustration and quit. When that didn't happen right away, I think it may have forced their hand, which may be why they had to build a case and offer me the ultimatum some time after I was moved from that position.

You're not far off the mark, Tom. I was hobnobbing with a friend/former coworker. And with some of what each of us knows, we arrived at the conclusion that it may have mostly been a cost-cutting measure. After nine years, and a mandatory increase, I was at the time making 12k *more* than the starting wage for my position. And also somewhat more than any other positions' starting wage in my department.
So it would be a decent savings for them if they just ousted me and hired a fresh peon. There were also some office politics involved which I was never good at. Unspoken things were expected of me, I believe, and I was too clueless before.
Employees are no longer viewed as people with valuable skills, in most places. These days they are a commodity, to be shuffled, swapped, or replaced, as need or budget dictates. I knew things that most other employees did not know and never figured out how to do. I knew how to do *some* things that nobody else knew, and how to get information I needed that nobody else is likely to find access to for some time. But even I was not "fire-proof" or irreplaceable. The higher-up don't care who you are or what you know. Their eyes are on the bottom line. And even if the whole department suffers while I'm gone, I know the uppers won't care one little bit. I've heard them speak, and in their ignorance they believe the best way to be efficient is to trim, trim, trim, until they are paying out as little as possible. This, without regard to having efficient or knowledgeable employees who can make things run more smoothly than a constant influx of newbies who need near perpetual training year after year.

Thank you much, folks, for you support and best wishes. I am preparing to hit the bricks in a few minutes, and I believe I will have something lined up.

But I have to confess, the only thing that would make me feel all that secure at this point in my life would be to suddenly become independently wealthy. As many of you have mentioned, there's hardly any loyalty left out there.