What I know for sure...

Oprah Winfrey has a listing of what she calls “What I know for sure,” in which she bestows her pearls of wisdom. There are worse people you can take advice from.

In that vein, I’d like to list the things I have learned from working, being laid off and life in general:

Companies don’t care about their workers. They care about the bottom line. If they have to cut workers to save the company, they will do that.

Upper management doesn’t care about workers. Upper management cares only about perpetuating their own power base and being surrounding by their sycophantic favorites. If you are not one of their favorites, start packing up your desk.

Companies don’t care about the workers they have laid off. They care about the public and their competitors knowing they have laid off workers.

There are worse things than being laid off: losing a loved one, being diagnosed with a serious illness. Yet losing your job is nevertheless a traumatic experience.

The people who tell you that being laid off is no big deal have never been laid off.

The New York Mets bullpen sucks.

Some laid off workers are OK with it; others are bitter and angry. It depends on the individual and how they process the termination. We should not judge.

If you are laid off, don’t be surprised if you find out later that one of so-called work “friends” stabbed you in the back to ensure your termination.

If a co-worker gets laid off and you are still on staff, DO NOT say to your former co-worker that “they had to lay you off to save the company.”

They are called skinny jeans for a reason. If you are not skinny, do not wear them.

The “reply all” function is not your friend. Use sparingly.

Sean Connery was the best Bond.

In my interactions with all people, I try to stay positive and sympathetic, keeping whining to a minimum. Yet when I hear people say they don’ want to be around negative people, I think what they really mean is, “I don’t want to hear your problems, but let’s talk about me …”

What goes around, comes around. Treat people kindly, and you'll get kindness in return. If you treat people badly, you'll get that in return.  I have seen this in my life, both for the good and the bad.

When you treat people badly, apologize and makes amends as soon as humanly possible. It's all you can do.

Some people will always think they are better than you. Let them.

Some people will treat you badly. Let them. Trust that they will get their comeuppance someday, in some way.

Nothing is better than dark chocolate.

If a company has targeted you for a layoff or has eliminated your position, there isn’t much you can do about it,

What you can do, and the only course any worker can take, is to come into work every day and do your job to the best of your ability … until they tell you not to.

So, there’s my “What I know” list. What are some of yours?