Laid-off with no notice!

I came in at 7:15AM, got a call from my boss at 7:20, by 8 AM I was revving the engine in my car. Great, just great and guess what…I didn’t see it coming. Neither do the 9.4% of millions of unemployed Americans. What bothers me is that you can give your blood, sweat and tears to a company, be multi-tasked to the maximum and when they are ready to let you go…no notice. NO two week or month notice. But, on the other hand, if I were to hand-in my notice, this would mean a negative reference if I gave less than two weeks notice! How’s that? And how do they decide who to let go especially when so many are still walking around not doing anything for months. Even to this day they are still employed. My guess, it’s who is “chummy-chummy” with the management. Some of it may be due to how “valuable” your work is, but in my case (especially when I know guys who walked around and spent most of their hours talking), how am I validated in being dumped-out into the parking lot!
I think it is just professional corporate courtesy to inform your employees with at least some advance notice (weeks or months) regarding lay-offs. Have some form of consideration considering that these same companies want "you" to be considerate when handing in "your" notice.