The loss of his job hit him like a ton of bricks. [=hit him very hard; made him very upset, unhappy, etc.]丢掉工作对他是个沉重的打击。

Our boss came down on us like a ton of bricks [=got very angry at us] when he found out we had missed the meeting.发现我们错过了会议，老板狠狠地斥责了我们。