John is an independent consultant. He has been at Hamish Industries all week, doing a quick analysis. His report will tell them what they’re doing right and what changes they can make to streamline the operation. His position is a delicate one. He has to be careful not to offend any of the employees. He understands that they may not take kindly to an outsider with a free rein of their workplace commenting on their performance.
It is well known that John’s sympathies lie with the employees. John is a blunt man, and if you asked, he’d tell you that the corporate types that hire him are a bunch of dicks. They probably won’t pay any attention to his suggestions anyway. But, the job has its moments. Watching a bunch of cubies in the wild can be an adventure. Take the employee they call Alan.
John thinks he might be in trouble. Alan was walking past his bosses desk earlier today when he inadvertently knocked a picture of the big honcho’s adorable 18 month old grandchild on the floor. Alan picked it up quickly and put it back in its place, but his boss didn’t look happy.
I think he believed Alan did it on purpose. He didn’t, at least it didn’t look like it to John.
Alan tried to make a joke about it.
“No broken bones,” he said. “Kids are so resilient.”
His boss didn’t even smile.
“Hey look, the little tyke isn’t even crying,” he added.
Still nothing.
I think John’s right; this might cost Alan his job. You wouldn’t think something like this would be grounds for dismissal, but earlier in the week the boss was showing some new pictures of his precious to the staff. One picture had the little tyke with a couple of Clementines in his lap—you know those little mandarin oranges. Alan glanced over at the picture and apparently without the slightest thought said, “wow that kid has quite a pair.” It got a good laugh from the other employees, but not from his boss. Working at Hamish Industries is apparently no laughing matter.