First off, its Shadoboxxer’s birthday, which means that it’s time for another installation of our, “Abuse Shadoboxxer” series.

On a more serious note, it seems fucked up news is rampant these days. I’m sure some of you have heard the story about Lea Hernandez’s house burning down. She lost six pets to the fire, and pretty much everything she owns, including her art and clothing. Some people are donating what they can to help out, because she is in serious need.

I actually suffered a house fire when I was 10 years old and lost most of my stuff, so I know how badly this sucks. The donations my parents received from my church and school were not large, but I do remember how much they helped. And Jesus Christ, if I had lost any pets to that fire, I would have probably went to the store, stolen a gun, and blown my brains out from the anguish. I don’t believe I’ve met Lea yet, but I do think we were about 1 degree apart on most of the panels at all the cons in the past 3 years. I do know that this story is true. I hope she is able to recover sooner than later. The thoughts of all of the community are with her.

In other fucked up news…

I got an email from a reader who took my advice regarding getting a Toshiba Tecra M4 Tablet PC. He is the owner of Monkeywiz.com. However no sooner did he buy it, but he was laid off from his job.

I’ve been there. I remember back in the day when I was let go from ImClone Systems without warning. I was working what I thought was a temp to hire position, and I did really well in everything that was asked of me. I even put up with extreme verbal abuse by the older lady who I worked with. Unfortunately for me, she was also repulsive, because she didn't shower daily; she just sprayed on more perfume. I'm not joking. I'm not being funny. I am not making fun of her. It was a fact. Visitors complained. She left oil on the phones she touched. It was disgusting, and couldn't be overlooked because she was also mean, shrill, and a micromanager.

I found out later that they lied to me, and were just having temps work the maximum time allowed by law without benefits, then letting them go. It was really mean of them because they were tasking me with assembling new hire packages and such. I totally remember reading through the insurance benefits section and almost praying that I could get hired soon because I was so poor that I was unable to see a doctor, and I seriously needed to go to one. Healthcare in America is absolute shit if you come from an impoverished background and are trying to make your own way out of there. How are you supposed to work long enough to get a steady job if your body is falling apart?

I got notice that I was not welcome back on the premises by phone while I was eating dinner at home on a Friday night. My agent was stunned that after giving me very high marks in my reviews that they would do such a thing, but there you go. I started crying on the phone; because I don’t have any family who will help me out or anything like that…I needed that job. They could have at least been honest with me that they were not hiring so that I wouldn’t have been jobless for the holidays. I’m sure since ImClone is most famous for the Martha Stewart scandal, nobody is surprised that they would be treating their employees this way. Luckily, I work at a better place now.

I’m actually getting sick to my stomach remembering how bad this time in my life was. It inspired this comic.

So, go and check out Icarus Ink, the T Shirt Store from the Monkeywiz blog and help the guy out. I hope you get back on your feet soon, man.