Uncertainty: the state of being unsure of something...yep, that sums it up nicely.

It occurs to me as I sit here, satiated by the Wor Sue Gai of Ho Toy, looking at a silver coupe speed through the intersection which I can see from my 14th floor window-side cubicle, that certainty is a cold mistress and we are all her foolish lovers.

Translation: Due to shifts in certain markets within the energy industry, a cost of doing business report is being run and analyzed to determine whether the regional budget supports a satellite sales branch in Ohio.

Yeah, any combination of the words I just used, when strung together in any type of semi-coherent statement, is never a good thing. Never.

It's been known now since returning from Chicago that our branch may get the chop. This feels like a fairly recent, and radical, development since it was just last Monday when we were all sitting in a loud and shiny office with our regional leaders being told how great is it that we were there and I recall the word "team" being thrown about rather liberally (and loosely, in retrospect).

Here's the rub: like a badly-written novel, the foreshadowing of these events was spelled out in the crudest of ways and yet still we're acting shocked now that history repeats itself. Basically, about four months ago, we merged with another branch, a much larger branch (if you're a Trek fan, visualize the Borg -- or if you more prone to comedy, think BBC's The Office and realize that we're Swindon, not Slough -- good, glad you're coming with me on that); and we watched as many of our friends and co-workers lost their jobs in the assimilation...ahem, merger. The redundancies were crystal and though fearful, we held aloft our index fingers in revelation...Ahhh, we said, but we're in sales. Sales is always a safe bet.

There's certainty in sales.

The funny thing is, we kind of believed that. Now we're waiting for either the axe to fall or an 11th-hour reprieve from the suits at corporate. And while I'm not overtly fond of the prospect of having to find a new job, I'm also not terrified by it. It's just, well -- to quote a fine local actor by the name of Stefan (with mocking jest and a dose of a six-year-old's nasal acoustics)-- "it's annoying".

I don't want a change. I can't use a change. While it's not executive producing my own television series, it's a good job. Sometimes I glance around and realize how lucky I am to have it. But c'est la vie, non? Of course I'm only speculating on rumors and office gossip while other people are actually having equally, if not more, dreadful upheavals in their routines. My aunt, for one, found out today that her amazing boss got an amazing promotion and yes, that's awesome for him (and I have to be happy for the guy - I used to work for him and he's a Domer), but now her daily life will be in chaos for a bit. Numb was the word I think she used when she found out at 8:30 a.m. this morning. He's already gone.

Obviously, things at her company will go on and her routine will resume some type of normalcy, though it will be admittedly different; and I'll either be here at my job next week or home searching the classified for another opportunity. Happens to the best of us, doesn't it? We find comfort in the routine. We like our lives just the way they are and abhor any minute changes that may come along without our permission. We want certainty. We sign up for fixed-rate plans and direct debit. We sign leases and create our little worlds just as we want them. We declare that Wednesday will be "plans-free" night and every other evening we sit down at the same time to watch our favorite show, not because it's enriching our lives, but because we've gotten used to the certainty of it all.

And so, sometimes, certainty takes a holiday and we're the ones who pay for it.

Gotta say though, this possible major shake-up to my daily routine is definitely a thwart to all that pesky complacency I'm so keen to condemn. As I sit here looking out my window, nothing has changed. It's now a tan mini-van cruising through that intersection instead of a silver coupe, but for the most part - it's the same scene. Has been for a while. Maybe a little corporate cost of doing business measure is just what I need to change my point of view.