GlenM

Once upon a time, there was a man named George. George had a very important job. Every morning George would get up and hurry to work. He would wear his best suit and his best shoes. He knew that part of his important job was to look important too.
At work, George would sit at his desk and write important reports. Every day, someone would give him the important information and then George would prepare his report based on the information. George knew that the customers depended on him to prepare the very best report that he could, and so he worked hard.
At the end of each day, he gave his report to his boss. The boss would smile and say “George, this is the best damn report I have ever read. You can be certain our customers will be very happy. Here is a large pile of money for your work today.” The boss would then hand George a bundle of money. And George was happy.
So it was, every day, day after day, year after year, with George creating a report and his boss giving him money. But one day, something happened that changed George’s life forever.
At the end of one day, George brought his report to his boss. Like always, his boss told him what a great job he had done and gave him some money. But then his boss added “Today, our customer is here. I will give this to them personally.” George was excited. A customer! Although he was not allowed to meet them himself, he was excited to hear what they had to say. So, while his boss was meeting with the customer, George crept up to the door and listened to their conversation.
“This is our report for you.” his boss said. Then there was a rustling of papers.
“This is excellent!” said a man’s voice. There was more paper rustling as the man flipped through the pages of the report. “I hope you are rewarding the person who wrote this.” the man added.
“Oh yes,” said George’s boss “and he is our very best employee.”
George was beaming. The customer was happy and George’s boss had said such wonderful things about him. He walked back to his desk grinning from ear to ear. He sat at his desk for a bit, thinking about all he had heard. He wondered if his boss might tell him about the conversation, and thought about how he would have to appear surprised (and thankful), as if he had no idea about what had transpired in the room.
George stood up to get his coat and happened to look out the window. Down below he saw a man walking out of the building with his boss. The customer! It had to be! George leaned on the glass, trying to see him clearly. He was a tall man in a dark coat and he was wearing glasses. George could see a packet of papers in his hand. The report. George’s report! The man stood there and talked to George’s boss briefly, then they shook hands, and each turned to walk away. George’s boss walked into the building and the man walked towards the cars in the parking lot. Then the man did something unexpected.
As the man passed a trash can, he dropped the report into the trash. George was stunned. Maybe he had seen it wrong. It was a long way down to where the man stood and there was a bit of dirt on the window. Yet, he was certain that there had indeed been a paper in the man’s hand and it was quite clear that now there was not. Maybe he put the paper in his pocket and actually threw out a tissue, George reasoned. He wasn’t certain.
George grabbed his coat and ran downstairs and out the door to the trash can. The man had already left the parking lot by the time George arrived outside. George looked around to see if anyone was nearby, and then he reached into the trash can.
(to be continued…)