Pink Slip
© 1999, Chris Heller
Pink Slip
One of the many disadvantages to holding a job is the distinct possibility that one day you will receive your pink slip, or be fired. Funny, you don't get a black slip, or a vomit-colored slip, or anything at all appropriately colored; you get a pretty pink slip.
Though the "pink slip" euphemism is an old one, it seems particularly apt for our increasingly bureaucratic, impersonal society. Surprisingly, the businessmen of the world haven't seized this opportunity; most people who are fired never actually get a pink slip. It would seem that management types would love to avoid dealing directly with the people they fire; slipping pink "fired" notices in soon-to-be-former employees' mailboxes would eliminate the need for ugly face-to-face contact.