The headline may spawn furor among some and affirmative surprise among others.  I’m going to spell out one particular fact for those wooed by the press’ coverage of Calgary’s laid off white collar oil and gas workers.  These proud people have been paid more than everyone else in every other sector possessing similar non-industry specific skill sets.  Hence; one might rationalize that a cyclical premium was built into their higher salaries.  Guess what?  That down cycle came during 2015 and 2016.  If you worked in this sector and were laid off and drove a Mercedes, I bet you forgot to prognosticate the possibility of a downturn when salivating over the chrome wheels, glitzy dashboard, and heated seats at the dealership.  Perhaps, you own a house in Mount Royal while similarly hard working individuals with no less of an aptitude for learning work in the transportation industry and live in Martindale.  You see, workers in other sectors empathize with your plight but they have also been witness to announcements of your extravagance and penchant for lavish Christmas parties and Stampede functions.  They’ve occasionally heard you reference working in “oil and gas” in what could be perceived as an elitist manner.  Of course, you’ve espoused capitalist sentiment from a right winged political philosophy but now you’ve been afforded special consideration from the Employment Insurance fund whereby small business owners may be faced with the consequential increased payroll costs associated.  We want to see you get back to work if you haven’t changed sectors by now.  We want to see you win and hopefully carry yourselves with a modicum of humility having gone through a reality check.