Well, good luck to your dad. Being laid off is never fun (although there was a certian humour when Marconi laid me off - but that's another story...)
> And because my mom is still employed, and she chose a house with an affordable mortgage, she's already been covering the house payments with her salary alone, and she expects that she can continue to do so even if she winds up supporting both herself and my dad, as long as they live frugally.
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There's a lot to be said for this approach. We couldn't have afforded to have Cassandra if we had taken mortgages based on our combined incomes.
> So, I've heard the reassurances. It doesn't change the fact that my dad is in his early 60s, and has spent almost his entire life working in electrical engineering, which is an especially unforgiving career field for old men, even when businesses aren't conducting mass layoffs.
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In the UK there are (at least, were - the Government is trying to change it) a lot of people who retired at this age (usual age for men is 65), or at least started to wind down for retirement.
> It also doesn't change the fact that I am employed, and my dad isn't, and that's the first time this has happened in ... well, ever. Every single time my dad was previously unemployed, I was still just a student. The last time he got laid off, I was in college.
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> There's something deeply weird about still going to work when your dad isn't.
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I guess that if you are used to your dad being at work it would seem pretty strange. Since my father retired while I was at University (putting me on to a full grant, I might add...) it doesn't seem all that strange.
It is stranger to go to Mum's house knowing that Dad isn't going to be there.
