Mondays the day...

I haven't posted in so long I figured I had better post something even if it is just ramblings. Things have been a little tense around our little town this past month and I need to vent or I am going to have a serious meltdown.
Freeport-McMoran (the mine in Morenci that Joe works for) announced a month ago that there was going to be a mass layoff. The price of copper is below production cost and I guess they figure laying off a ton of people is going to solve the problem. They didn't give anyone a clue as to who was going to get layed off. They offered an early retirement package and this past week Joe brought home a paper offering a deal for anyone who would leave voluntarily. Pretty much the only thing keeping our little town alive is the mine. It is the main source of employment. The air in the town is heavy. You can feel the stress and tention anywhere you go and the only thing anyone talks about is this layoff. Well Monday is the day they will start to let people go. My heart is heavy when I think of all of the families I know that could be effected. It makes me sad to think the future for these families our little town could be grim. They are going to layoff 1550 people so who knows what the outcome will be. That is about half of the mine.
I don't like posting negative things on my blog because I hate to dwell on the negative. The only reason I am posting this is to ask for your prayers for the people that are going to be effected by this. Not us imparticular but for the whole group. I know there is going to be a lot of anger and contention all next week and I am hoping nothing to serious happens. If you are a reader of this blog and you or any of your family members work for Freeport, know that our prayers are with you. Thank you all for everything you do.