“Really, this is highly disappointing, Simon!” exclaimed the lead coordinator of turnarounds, “You and your people had two weeks to sort through all these parts and prepare them for the job. Two weeks of ten hour days that came out of our budget. Now here we are, one week into the turnaround and we are already finding deficiencies.”
“I do understand your frustration, James. It is highly unsettling that this extraction tool you are trying to locate has been misplaced but what you have to consider is that we sorted through over one thousand parts and ninety nine percent of them are accounted for. This one just happens to have slipped through the cracks.”
“And it just so happens to be the most critical tool which is now going to delay our outage and suck even more money out of the budget. We can all forget about our bonuses on this one,” James replied with a more than apparent note of resentment.
“I wouldn’t jump to such conclusions. We haven’t exhausted all means just yet. Wendy’s looking for the tool and she is very good with these sorts of treasure hunts.”
“I expected higher standards from you Simon. I thought you and your crew would deliver better results!”
“We surely can, but you see, one thousand parts is a lot! Even though we tried very hard we are prone to human error, since we are all human, last time I checked.”
“Don’t get smart with me now. You are costing this company money.”
Simon had a lot of things on his mind, a lot of things that he wanted to say. He was getting ready to put the guy in his place, another money hungry middle manager with low self esteem and mediocre talents. It was tempting to shout back at James and remind him that while they had been sorting through over one thousand parts in the warehouse, he had remained hidden in his office, working on his side gig of day trading. Indeed, it would have been gratifying to expose James right at that instant but Simon decided against such recourse. The right time hadn’t arrived, plus everyone had a side gig around this place. His assistant Wendy often picked up the pile of cardboard boxes from the recycle bin outside and brought it to the recycle depot for personal profit, but she worked hard and deserved even more than what the company was paying her anyways. Simon took a deep breath and reverted back to the habits of his upbringing which had moulded him into a gentleman of great reservation.
“I do feel terribly sorry for your discomfort. Please have a seat and I will go and touch base with Wendy on this.”
“I don’t like to sit down. I don’t think you really understand how important this is. It has a direct impact on my career and in turn on my life.”
“Sure,” Simon replied then added under his breath, “and what a life that is!”
James didn’t hear or didn’t detect the sarcasm in Simon’s voice. Luckily, Wendy was soon seen briskly heading over their way with a skinny long cardboard box in hand. Simon and her had worked together for several years. As she came closer, the extreme difference in their heights became apparent. Simon was a tall man and Wendy reached barely past his waist. When standing side by side, they looked like an odd duo of travelling circus acrobats. Everything about them was in extreme contrast to one another. She spoke crudely, with a voice raspy from years of smoking. He articulated himself with grace and diplomacy. She dressed in casual and well worn clothes, while he always took care to pick well fitting and crisp outfits. Nevertheless, they got along exceptionally well.
“Here it is,” she announced. “The bastard had fallen behind one of those damn shelves and we didn’t see it but luckily it crossed my mind that this exact scenario might have transpired.”
“Finally,” James exclaimed and aggressively snatched the tool from her hand. “You people really need to get your shit together.” Without giving them a chance to reply, he turned around and marched off.
“What a bastard!” Wendy declared. “He better run off before I give him a piece of my mind.” Her face turned red with anger. “We work our asses off, while he sits comfortably in his office, not once coming down to look at what we do. Then he shows up here and has the audacity to criticize our work. He knows darn well that he can’t do it half as well as us!”
“That’s right. You’ve hit the nail on the head. A manager who has never been in the shoes of his subordinates holds no credibility with them.”
“Everybody knows the only reason why he is even in that position is because his father in law is an executive. You would make a ten times better manager if you ask me.”
“No, you flatter me too much, Wendy. It might get to me one of these days. I might start yelling at you and snatching things from your hands.”
“Maybe you would also start promoting your friends and I might actually get somewhere in this company.”
“That’s right.” Simon added facetiously, then sat down at his table and pretended to be reading an email on his computer. “Don’t worry about him too much. He will learn his lesson soon enough,” he added.
Wendy shrugged and walked off to check the other shelves for any more fallen items. Simon took a sip of his coffee, his eyes resolutely following James on his way up the stairs to his office. When Simon had been a little boy, his father had often taken him out hunting on the family estate grounds. He recalled waiting patiently for hours, hidden in the bushes, in anticipation for the right moment to strike. It was a game of endurance. A shot fired too soon would scare the animal away, one fired too late would never hit its target. A precise and well-timed execution was the only way to succeed. Sometimes one had to apply the tactics of hunting in other aspects of life. There was no point in attacking James now in the midst of his power trip. Instead, it was always better to wait quietly and patiently for the right time to drive the dagger right in the heart of his arrogance.
Simon stared at his monitor in earnest, trying to catch up on the emails that flooded his inbox daily. More than half of them were completely useless and filled with toxic company politics. Over the years, Simon had learned that middle class people took their jobs very seriously. Every small bonus, every minute percent increase in their salaries was a source of great excitement and great expectations. Despite the ever present drama, Simon quite enjoyed his work as a turnaround coordinator. It had been eleven years for him in that position and he had acquired a type of effortless disposition which allowed him to maneuver through all the bullshit without emotional outbursts. It also helped that work wasn’t really a necessity for him. He had access to huge amounts of wealth, which he kept stashed away and which could allow him to live out the rest of his life without the need to lift a finger.
Nobody knew the truth about Simon’s real heritage. Twelve years ago he had abandoned his father’s estate in England and relocated to the oil rich province of Canada, in search of adventure and excitement. Not that he hadn’t already experienced his fair share of excitement, growing up in a household of billionaires. He had had every kind of privilege imaginable. He had visited every corner of the world. He owned a large collection of artwork, accumulated by his family over the centuries. His circle of friends and acquaintances consisted of aristocrats, influential politicians and celebrities. He had had an incredibly comfortable life, yet somehow, despite all that, he never really felt fulfilled. His inherited wealth had not allowed him to experience the thrill of the climb to the top. For years, he tried to enjoy and appreciate his blessings but eventually came to the conclusion that life was too short and that from his current position, he felt bored with it all. He longed to venture out of his lane and experience the raw and pure battle for existence. He wanted to hear life in a different octave, one that most of his peers were afraid to confront. That’s why he had packed his bags, abandoned everything, relocated to Canada and adopted the identity of a middle class working man.
“I checked behind all the shelves and nothing turned up,” Wendy announced after returning from her mission.
“That’s great. It means James won’t have a reason to yell at us any more.”
“Right,” Wendy said and looked up towards the second floor of the warehouse, where James’s glass walled office was. “Part of me enjoys watching him suffer. I wonder if that makes me a horrible human being.”
“I wouldn't jump to such a conclusion, Wendy. If the guy wasn’t an arrogant prick, nobody would wish him any ill. Besides, he’s mistreated you many times before.”
“I wish to teach him a lesson one day. If only I could flip the tables around so that I was in the position of power rather than him.”
“Patience, Wendy, one day things will return back to their natural balance.”
Wendy went off to smoke and Simon was left alone. He decided to take a stroll through the shelves to make sure that in her search through the area Wendy had indeed done the best thing for the company.
In his eleven years on the job, Simon had seen eight different managers come and go, all incompetent, insecure and aggressive. He watched their rise and downfall intently, curious to learn why such idiots always climbed to the top one after the other like clockwork. Once at the top they began to speak the same way, dress the same way and in general conform to any manner and custom that made them look different from their former peers. It was laughable but not unexpected for Simon to see how the behaviour of the ambitious middle class echoed the way aristocrats enjoyed solidifying their privilege with exclusive rights and legends of divine endowment. People below them always fell for it for way too long. Sometimes it took years before heads began to roll in the guillotine bucket and things returned back to their natural state of balance.
Simon was determined to prevent James’s reign from lasting long. He didn’t mind the guy that much but the way he treated Wendy with borderline sadistic condescension was unacceptable. She was crude, unattractive, and primitive in her intellectual capacities, but she was authentic. She had the courage to speak out in tense situations and point out the glaring stupidity which many people chose to put up with. She did not deserve to be trampled on.
After his expedition through the shelves, Simon returned back to his work station and began typing an email. Soon it was lunchtime and Wendy invited him to join her outside on the picnic table.
“Are you playing your online chess game again?” she asked, noticing how intently Simon was staring at his phone.
“I sure am.”
“You winning?”
“Quite so. My opponent’s king is sitting exposed. I might soon manage to take him.”
“That’s great,” Wendy said with sadness in her voice, which caught Simon’s attention and made him look up from his game for a second.
“What’s the matter?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said unconvincingly.
“Come on.”
“Well, I just got my evaluation back today and he gave me two out of five,” she said half choked. “I know I have things I need to improve on but I really thought I deserved at least a three.”
“That’s quite outrageous!” Simon exclaimed. “I can’t believe James would do that. You deserve a five out of five. You work very hard and you’ve personally fixed so many problems in this place.”
“Well, I guess he don’t see it that way.” She got up and straightened her shirt which was a couple of sizes too large and had several holes in it. “I’ll be all right, don’t worry about me,” she said with a sincere attempt to hide her grief, “I’m gonna go for a smoke. I’ll catch you after lunch.”
“Wendy!” Simon called after her to no avail. She had already turned around the corner.
After lunch Simon disappeared from the warehouse floor for an hour to attend to some other work related matter. In a short while, James was seen coming down the stairs from his office. He stomped angrily to the area where Wendy was packaging some boxes.
“This time you people have really done it! You’ve ruined our chances of ever getting a bonus on this job,” he shouted from a distance.
“What’s the matter, boss?” asked Wendy as she got up to face him.
“Another part is missing, a very important one,” he handed her some paperwork.
“Well, it says here that we have received it, so it should be with that shipment of parts that went out before lunch” she stated after examining all the sheets in her hand.
“And yet it isn’t. I just got a call from the site and they assured me that they have not received it.”
“That’s strange.”
“What is strange is that you people still have a job, considering how many incompetent things you’ve done on this assignment alone.”
“Hold on, boss. Let me have a final look through the shelves,” she said and ran off to the back. After less than five minutes, she emerged with a small square cardboard box in her hands and a sizable amount of perspiration on her forehead. “I’ve found it, boss. I really don’t know what happened.”
“Unbelievable!” James shouted, emboldened by Simon’s absence. “You really are a useless and incompetent dwarf. I really don’t know how you’ve lasted this long in the company! You don’t deserve…”
“Ahm,” someone cleared their throat and interrupted James’s rant. He turned around to find a tall man in a suit standing behind him.
“You’ve met Luke, our district manager, before haven’t you, James,” Simon gracefully introduced the man.
“Oh, Luke, how great to see you here. What brings you over this way?” replied James with a face flushed in embarrassment.
Luke glanced over at Wendy compassionately, then looked at James. “I’ve come to see how the facility operates. It seems like there might be a few things that require my attention around here.”
“Nothing to worry about. We have it under control. Wendy here has just located the missing item which was endangering the performance of our job.”
“James, I’m afraid I need to speak with you alone in your office.”
“Yes of course, let’s go upstairs,” James replied with a tremble in his voice.
The two of them walked quietly up the stairs and once inside, James was seen quickly closing the window blinds.
The next day James didn’t show up to work. In fact he was never seen on the company premises again. His office remained empty and his dismissal was announced a week later when the company posted an opening for the position of Manager of Turnarounds. People urged Simon to apply but he refused. He was quite content at his current place. He wasn’t after more benefits or higher pay. The meagre bonuses the company handed out from time to time did not motivate him. He didn’t feel that the grandson of Lord Mountbatten himself should compete with average folks for his share of company profit.
When the outage was finally finished and the team received bonuses for a job well done, Simon took his and donated it anonymously to the local hospital. He then took Wendy out for drinks to cheer her up. In a couple of weeks the Manager posting was taken down, a suitable candidate had been selected. The new boss was introduced to the team at the end of the next day.
“Pleasure to meet you and I look forward to working with you,” the new manager greeted Simon and shook his hand. “Now if you excuse me I must head out as it is almost five o’clock and I have to stop by the District Manager’s office before going home.”
“Have a lovely evening. Goodnight and God bless,” replied Simon, leaving the manager in awe of his charming manners.
With the introduction thus completed, Simon sat down at his computer and read over the scope of their next assignment. After an hour, it became dark outside. He leaned back in his chair, stretched his arms out, took a sip from his bottle of lemon mint flavoured water and started a new game of chess on his phone.
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