March 11, 5:30pm
Describing how she felt that day, Gayl, who’d never been laid off during her 15 years working in the insurance industry, uses one word again and again: “shocked.” After spending the rest of the day calling her equally stunned family and friends, she meets some of her still-employed colleagues at the local pub, Edison Park Inn. “There were shots and beers to be had,” Gayl says. She makes it home seven hours later.