I pulled into the parking lot of Bud's Bar, shut off the engine and then spent five minutes staring at the wall of the building in front of me as the voices in my head fought it out. One voice was saying: "Go on in there and get shitfaced" and the other voice was saying "You need to remain calm and be cool about this and you can't do that if you get drunk o...
Doldrums It had happened much as Samantha had suggested it would. Shortly after lunch, Julia had been called into a meeting with the vice president of Human Resources. The woman had flown in from New York to meet with people in the Chicago office as part of the reorganization effort. Julia had been escorted into the executive conference room by the woman's...
"Honey, I had to do it. The slimy little bastard had me over a barrel." "Nope, he didn't. Not a barrel in sight on that video." "Please don't be petty. Not now. If I didn't do it, he was going to block my promotion." "So why didn't you come to me and tell me about it so we could fix it together?" "If I'd come to you, what would you have said?" "Change j...
Ben and Katy's experience with George was quite different to that of Ben's rival, Jeff. Katy wasn't a meek mouse of a wife, she was a successful corporate lawyer and very ambitious to make money, and she didn't care what she had to do to get it. "You need to get this promotion Ben, your salary is now way behind mine, and I need you to keep up. What's your p...
This all began a few months ago when I had to work late one night. Didn't really have to work late, but the wife and I have a newborn who's been crying non-stop. I know it's wrong for me to make up excuses to stay at work while my wife had to deal with the baby all by herself, but the crying had been driving me crazy. I work in an advertising firm; I've been...
UNWANTED ASSISTANCE It was the annual United Way dinner and dance to reward the bosses of the companies who contributed the most and the chairmen and chairwomen in each company or agency that achieved 100% participation in the campaign. The annual campaign goal had been surpassed this year, so everyone was in a good mood. The meal was a buffet consisting of...
Rick was looking forward to the promotion and it was all he talked about. My husband had been with Trans Canada Couriers for over five years as a driver and there was an opening for a supervisor coming up when old Ernie Green retired. Ed Karnack, the branch manager, had more or less implied Rick was on the short list to replace Ernie. The promotion meant a...
This story is true even though I am not at all proud of what I did for Robert. He and I had been married for only 4 years when he changed jobs. He was very satisfied in his last position as a department manager for his firm. He knew there was just no hope of promotion within that firm because of two things - 1, The old boy network where the very best friends...
On Monday afternoon Jeff knocked on George's office door. He knew that Ben had been in to see him in the morning, but he didn't know what had happened, so he decided to be cautious and see where things went. "Jeff, come along in, sit yourself down, shall we have some tea?" "Yes please George, always happy to have tea," Jeff kept things light. "Sam, bring...
Lucy waited in line to speak to Santa. Her weight shifted nervously from one black stiletto heel to the other as she fidgeted with the bow in her curly blond hair. Most of the women in line had a child with them, but that didn't bother Lucy. Lucy looked up and down the line. Actually, all of the women had a child with them. Oh well, she needed to talk to the...