Dear Boss,
When I walked into the office this morning, you called me over to a gathering of my co-workers and asked me to listen to a "Zen story." You read about a beggar who sat on a box for 30 years, holding out his baseball cap and collecting money. Predictably, a stranger walked up to the beggar and had nothing to offer except the sage advice to look inside that box. I was blown over when the beggar discovered it was chalk full of gold! I loved the implication that this impoverished person lacked curiosity and never looked inside the box, and also that his laziness prevented him from ever moving the box and discovering that it weighed a ton. Anyway, after the 5-sentence build-up to this surprising climax, I felt as elated as the beggar who was saved from destitution.
You so aptly summed up the story this way: "In these hard economic times, we all need to look deep within ourselves." Wow, that was some profound shit. I'm so totally glad that, on the eve of "Spirit Week" at our Catholic hospital, when at least two major units of our organization were either closed or sold off this week, you gave us a Hallmark-Zen parable (and some pastries) with which to alleviate our fears. I was pleased that you choose this story above a Christian prayer or a gospel story. Bastardized Buddhism rocks, and I know our patron saint is nodding his approval up in heaven. Thank you!
Insincerely,
Punk Tilly
p.s. Kudos for reading a story about a beggar while my co-workers and I are contemplating the possibility of unemployment. That was super smooth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Our company is closing it's office here, so they brought in a counselor to talk about it with staff (nice gesture.) The counselor went into a story about how dumpster diving can find you some great shit! He also suggested going back to college, because at least there all the people around you are poor too. They brought in a different counselor the following week...
You are a genius. This sentence is a comic jewel -- "I know for a fact that you do not literally change your headgear between your two roles, as if you were doffing a helmet and donning a dunce cap."
Post a Comment