Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 45Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous

- Chapter 45

Posted: May 30, 2005 - 10:20:56 am



Jerry stepped out of the lobby of the hotel and looked at the building across

the street. He had a meeting with the executives of the company in twenty

minutes. It would take five minutes at most to cross the street and go up to the

third floor. Sighing, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to be fifteen minutes

early. He went to the crosswalk and waited for the light to change.

While waiting, he fidgeted with his new suit. Jenny had insisted buying it for

him. Upon selling the house, she had money to spend on him but no idea what to

get for him. Right after closing on the house, she had taken him shopping. After

hours at the mall, she gave up and settled for getting him a new suit. He had

resisted, but she had argued that he was going to be talking to the executives

of his company. She was proud of the way he looked and wanted him to impress

them.

The light had just changed when he heard the unmistakable flap- flap sound of a

flat tire. He started across the street while watching an elderly woman turn

into the drive of the office building. Her car was the one from which the sound

originated. Reaching the other side of the street, he could see the passenger

side rear tire was flat as a pancake.

As he approached the car, the woman stepped out and asked, "Could you help me

young man?"

Jerry froze as his mind raced through his options. He glanced at his watch and

saw that he still had fifteen minutes. He knew could change the tire without

being late to his meeting, but he was wearing the new suit. The odds were good

that he'd get it dirty.

The elderly woman repeated, "Could you help me young man?"

Knowing that Jenny would understand if he got his suit dirty helping out a

little old lady, Jerry came to a decision and answered, "Yes, ma'am. Could you

pop the trunk so I can get your spare tire?"

"Thank you," replied the woman as she walked over to the trunk. It took her

almost a full minute to get her key in the keyhole and the trunk open. While she

had fiddled with the key, Jerry removed his suit coat and laid it on the grass

where it would stand a reasonable chance of remaining clean.

Going over to the trunk, Jerry removed the spare tire, the jack, and the lug

wrench. The older car used one of the classic bumper jacks. Jerry set the jack

down and fitted the lip under the bumper. Looking up, he asked, "Could you set

the parking brake, ma'am?"

"Oh, of course," exclaimed the woman. Flustered, she headed to the door of the

car.

Jerry worked the jack until it was tight against the bumper. Rather than lifting

the car, he went around to the flat tire and removed the hubcap. It was filthy

and his hands turned black. Shaking his head, he loosened the lug nuts using his

strength to power the lug wrench to break their tight hold. Once all were

loosened, he used the jack to raise the back end of the car.

Ten minutes later, he lifted the flat tire into the trunk and closed the door.

His hands were filthy and his new shirt had a smear of dirt on it. Frowning, he

looked down at his shirt and thought to himself that Jenny would kill him if she

saw him in that state. She took such pride in his appearance. Looking over at

the elderly woman, he said, "It's fixed. You can go on now."

"Let me pay you something, young man," replied the woman.

"No, that's okay," said Jerry holding up his hands in an obvious gesture of

refusal.

"Come now. All young men tend to be short of money. Lord knows that was true

when I was young," replied the woman.

"No ma'am. I don't need your money," said Jerry as he bent down and carefully

wiped his hands on the grass in the miniscule hope of removing some of the dirt.

It didn't help much. He picked up his suit coat by holding the label between his

thumb and forefinger. Checking his watch, he saw that he still had two minutes

to make his meeting. He knew that he'd be late by the time he washed his hands

and made it up to the office.

The woman approached holding out a five-dollar bill in a hand that trembled from

age. Jerry shook his head and said, "Ma'am. Give it to your grandkids."

"You're such a nice boy," said the old woman as she nodded and put up her money.

Jerry smiled at being called a boy and imagined the reaction Henry would have

when he told him the story. He headed towards the door of the office building

with a grin on his face. He glanced at his watch and swore. The short exchange

with the woman had eaten up more of his time and he was now late. After washing

his hands and putting on his suit coat, Jerry headed towards the office.

Jerry stepped into the office and found a receptionist behind a simple desk. An

older gentleman, who Jerry estimated was in his early sixties, was seated in one

of the chairs in the waiting area. Putting on a weak smile, Jerry said, "I'm

Jerry Smith. I have an appointment with..."

Interrupting him, the old man exploded, "You're late."

Jerry turned to face the man and noticed that he bore a strong resemblance to

the picture of the CEO of the company. He stuttered and answered, "Yes, sir."

"You're clothes are dirty."

"I know."

"What's your excuse?" asked the man watching Jerry. His eyes narrowed as though

he were judging the big man.

Jerry didn't want to use changing the tire as an excuse, since it wasn't really

an excuse. He had stopped to help the old lady knowing that it was likely going

to make him late and mess up his clothes. If the CEO was the type who wanted him

to take care of business first and people second, then Jerry didn't think he'd

care. Looking back at the man, Jerry answered, "Excuses don't change things. I

was late and my clothes are dirty. I apologize for making you wait."

The old man looked at Jerry finding it hard to get over how big Jerry was. He

shook his head incredulous at the answer given by the large man. Breaking into a

smile, he said, "I owe Al three lunches this week because of you."

"Pardon."

"We noticed you crossing the street and saw the woman with the flat tire. I bet

Al that you wouldn't stop to help the old woman. He won that bet. Then I bet

that you'd take the money rather than argue her out of it. He won that bet. Then

I bet you'd use it as an excuse for being late. He won that bet," explained the

old man shaking his head at the idea that such men still existed in this world.

Years ago he had given up hope on the younger generations. It seemed to him that

they were all self-involved. Extending a hand, he said, "I'm Mike Harrington.

I'm pleased to meet you Jerry Smith."

Jerry shook the man's hand and replied, "It's nice to meet you and I'm sorry for

being late."

"Come onto the conference room. The rest of the executive team are waiting to

meet you," said Mike.

The elderly man led the way through a pair of polished wooden double doors. As

he headed towards the double doors, Jerry noticed an interior waterfall hanging

on the wall of the lobby. He smiled as he remembered working on that one. They

had created it a couple of months before he had gotten married. Amazed at the

co-incidence of finding his own work in the lobby, he followed Mike down a

hallway to a conference room. Entering the room, Jerry looked at everyone and

saw how they were seated on one side of the conference table. Al winked at him

while Mike pointed to a chair and said, "Have a seat."

Jerry pulled out his chair and waited to sit down until after Mike went to the

end of the table and took his place at the head of the table. Al broke the

silence and asked, "So how many lunches do you owe me?"

"Three," replied the old man with a smile.

"Good."

Jerry sat down and faced everyone across a table feeling a little intimidated by

the arrangement. He recognized everyone from pictures that had appeared in the

company newsletter that he received every month. For the next few minutes, they

went through the process of introducing themselves. At the end of the table was

Mike Huntington, CEO of the company. To his right sat Mike Huntington Junior,

the CFO of the company. His role was an artifact of the history of the company

as a family own enterprise. Seated next to him was Catherine Demmings, the

Vice-President of Personnel. Albert Sinclair was to her right in his role as

Vice- President of Sales. Seated next to Albert was the corporate lawyer, Jacob

Meyers.

Mike asked, "Where's your lawyer?"

"I didn't bring one," answered Jerry noticing the look of surprise that crossed

everyone's faces. He smiled to cover his nervousness.

"Al did tell you to bring one, didn't he?" asked Mike concerned.

"Yes, he did. I figured I didn't need one, sir," replied Jerry. He suppressed

the urge to shrug.

A look of concern crossed Jacob's face as he said, "I doubt that you can handle

the legal aspects of the contract. I'd suggest you get one."

"I don't need one," replied Jerry. He turned to face Mike at the head of the

table. Biting his lower lip, he struggled to put his thoughts in order. He said,

"I came here because I want to do what is right for the company and me. You're

trying to get the wrong man to do the job. I'm not a CIO, sir."

"You're turning us down?" asked Mike incredulous.

"Well, in a way," said Jerry.

Al frowned and leaned forward. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"Look. I hired Karen and she put together the system for us. I don't know how to

put this, but I don't know anything about computers or modernization. I'd

suggest hiring her, but she's not ready for such a position," said Jerry.

Mike sat back in his seat and stared off into space for several minutes.

Everyone else around the table waited to hear what he had to say. Finally, he

leaned forward and said, "You could have called us on the phone and told us

that. I believe that you came here because you have an idea. What do you have in

mind?"

"Give the job to Al and his district to me. Bring Karen here to work for him and

transfer Mike to one of the local stores," answered Jerry, the words tumbled

over themselves on their way out of his mouth.

"Why Al?" asked Mike Junior.

"He knows what is required to do the job. Al watched over the whole process of

exporting the system to the other companies," answered Jerry wondering if he had

stumbled into some sort of corporate politics. The fact was that Jerry had been

too busy as a new husband to follow what Al and Karen had been doing in rolling

out the computer systems to the other stores. All he had done was cover their

absences in the store.

Al raised an eyebrow at Jerry at the idea of giving up his district. He used

that district to test sales ideas for the rest of the company. Being the

district manager put him closer to the action and he wasn't sure that he wanted

to give it up. He declared, "You want my district."

"Yes, sir," answered Jerry. He knew that district managers in this company

stayed at their stores. It was the only promotion he could find that wouldn't

require him to move. The money wouldn't be as great as becoming an executive,

but he had decided the money wasn't as important as losing the life he had

created.

Catherine Demmings replied, "It's a fair proposal although your district is the

smallest one in the company. What is it, one and a half states?"

"Yeah," replied Al wondering if he had just lost his district.

Mike Harrington looked at Al for a moment and then asked, "What do you know of

these people he wants us to promote?"

"I've been having Karen do the installations and Mike training the other

managers on how to use them. They are both good hard workers," answered Al.

"What position does Mike have?"

"He's my assistant manager," answered Jerry.

"You've had an assistant manager training managers on how to run their stores?"

asked Mike looking at Al with a raised eyebrow.

"He's familiar with the software, understands the business, and I felt it was

better that he and his wife travel together," replied Al wondering suddenly why

he was trying to justify a business decision that had been successful.

"Now, don't get upset. I was just wondering how an assistant manager knows

enough to explain the business value of the program," said Mike.

Jerry leaned forward and in his deep rolling voice said, "All of my people are

trained to take over the positions of the person above them. Mike can take over

the store at a moment's notice. I've been taking him on sales calls and include

him in all of my meetings with vendors."

"What about the rest of your staff?" asked Mike.

"Martin and Carlos can take over as Assistant Managers, even though they are

two-thirds time employees. Sue has just about finished learning inventory

control. Abe could move into sales full time as soon as he graduates high

school. Leo has mastered his job and I'm thinking about training him to do a

little part time sales," answered Jerry.

"Let me understand this, you could leave the store today and there wouldn't be

any problems with continuity. You're assistant manager would take over your

position, you've got two part-time employees that could take over as assistant

manager," asked Mike.

"That's right. Learned that was important when I was shot," answered Jerry.

Mike sat back and stared at the big man sitting at the conference table. He

recalled discussions about the manager who had been shot while breaking up some

sort of drug ring. It wasn't until Jerry mentioned getting shot that he had

connected him with the incident. At the time, he had expected Al to spend

several months at the store covering for the manager, but he'd been there for

less than a week.

The room quieted down while Mike considered what Jerry had told him about his

staff. Catherine shifted nervously in her seat while she tried to read the

expression on Mike's face. After a minute, she turned her attention to Jerry.

Little things about his operation came back to mind. She hadn't heard anything

about his training program for his employees, but knew that his store had no

turnover in the past couple of years. She recalled that his store had the best

minority representation of the entire chain. She also recalled that he had

instituted the employee college program.

Junior looked over at Al thinking about the reports that Jerry had been

generating for him. Al had been justifiably proud of the reports that Jerry had

developed. As CFO, he knew the value of good clear financial reports. He

wondered if Jerry understood all that he had done for the chain.

Breaking the silence, Al leaned forward and said, "You don't want to move."

"That's right," answered Jerry with quiet certainty in his voice.

Hearing a chance to negotiate, Jacob Meyers asked, "What's keeping you there?"

"Well, I've got a lot of ties to the area. I have the big house and the slum

house. I'll never sell the slum house. My daughter has a house that she

inherited from her grandmother," answered Jerry.

The lawyer knew that property could easily be bought and sold despite any

objections that Jerry might have. It wasn't unusual for a company to buy a house

from an executive to expedite a move. The reference to a slum house was a little

odd, but he chose to ignore it. He asked, "Is that all?"

"My son is in high school and I'd hate to pull him out before he graduates. My

wife has a business there. I even have a part-time business there," answered the

big man.

Dealing with businesses was a lot more complicated than buying and selling a

house. Wondering if there was a conflict of interest, the lawyer in Jacob fully

emerged when he asked, "What kind of business?"

"Henry and I make interior waterfalls. You've got one of ours hanging in the

lobby," answered Jerry with more than a little pride.

Mike re-entered the conversation when he asked, "You made that waterfall?"

"Yes, sir," answered Jerry. He settled back in his chair and added, "Henry does

the framing. My son and I do the metal parts. We've hired a couple of the kids

from the neighborhood to help Henry and to keep the books."

"Which neighborhood?"

"The slum," answered Jerry.

"So you got another couple of kids in that neighborhood jobs?" asked Al.

"Sure. They're good kids. Didn't have much of a future there for a while, but

they're coming along. Shauna was afraid that she'd end up a prostitute before we

hired her. Denzel believed that whites were keeping blacks back. He's getting

over that belief now that he's working for a company run by a black man. He's

discovered that business is business," said Jerry. He barked a laugh when he

commented on Denzel's discovery about the realities of business.

"That makes five kids you've helped in that neighborhood," commented Al.

"You keep referring to that neighborhood as a slum. You don't really mean a

slum, do you?" asked Junior.

Al interrupted, "Yes, he does."

Mike waved a hand to get control of the meeting. Once he had everyone's

attention, he said, "Jacob, I'd appreciate it if you'd take Jerry out to an

early lunch. I need to talk a little with the rest of the team. Take him to the

country club for lunch and come back around two."

Not used to being employed as escort, Jacob frowned as he answered, "Sure."

Outside, Jerry said, "I'd like to go across the street and change my shirt, if

that is okay with you."

"That would be fine," said Jacob.

The pair of men crossed the street. Jerry led Jacob up to his hotel room and

proceeded to change shirts. It wasn't until Jerry had removed his shirt that

Jacob could see the scars on his back where he had been shot. It was an ugly

wound and Jacob stared at it in amazement. It was one thing to hear that someone

had been shot but quite another to actually see the evidence. He commented, "You

were actually shot!"

When Jerry turned to face the lawyer, his stomach wound became obvious as well.

Jerry answered, "Yes. I don't remember it though. Well, I remember the first one

in the back and the one in the stomach. Can't remember the others."

"How did it happen?"

"I was part of a delegation that went to ask the owner of a crack house to shut

down the house. When we turned to leave, one of them shot me in the back. After

that, I don't really remember much," answered Jerry. There was no way that he

was going to explain about how Mr. Atkins went there to threaten them with death

if they didn't. He continued to put on a clean shirt.

"Why did you do it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I take it this happened in the slum. That's where crack houses are, so why

bother," replied Jacob. He knew it was rather heartless, but one had to be a

realist.

"Sure, there are crack houses in slums. There are also families, lots of

families who are trying to get by the best that they can. Having a crack house

in the neighborhood makes it even harder for the families," answered Jerry. He

finished buttoning his clean shirt.

"So you instigated it?"

"Me? No way, I was against the whole thing. I was there with the unofficial

mayor of the neighborhood trying to keep what happened from happening. I figured

a big guy like me standing there would intimidate everyone," said Jerry. He

stepped over to where he had put his suit coat and picked up it. Shaking his

head, he said, "I learned that the size of a man means nothing to someone

holding a gun. Stupid me. At least I'm not so stupid that I don't learn from my

mistakes."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I won't be asking any drug dealers to stop selling drugs in my

neighborhood," answered Jerry with a laugh.

Jacob was still trying to make up his mind about Jerry. His first reaction was

based on the reports about Jerry. They'd all suggested a very diligent and

intelligent man who was revolutionizing their company. Then he'd seen the man

and he couldn't keep from thinking of him as a big dumb ox. After talking to him

a little bit, he realized that Jerry was a complex man, probably the most

complex he had ever met.

"I'm ready," said Jerry.

"Oh, sorry. I kind of drifted off there for a minute," said Jacob.

"Do you really want to eat at the Country Club?" asked Jerry. The idea of going

there to eat really bothered him. Joining a Country Club was something his

ex-wife had always wanted him to do. He'd been to a couple of them in the past

and always felt that it was a lot of money to spend for very little in return.

"Not really," replied Jacob surprised that the big man didn't want to go to the

club. Most visitors enjoyed the idea of being around the movers and shakers who

were members. He paused for a moment thinking about where they could go to eat.

Finally, he said, "How about barbecue? You could change back to your dirty shirt

and leave your suit coat here. We'll come back in time for you to change and

make it to the meeting on time."

"How about if you get sauce on your shirt?" asked Jerry.

"I keep a spare change of clothes in my office," answered the lawyer with a

smile. He added, "It's an old trick."

Over a lunch of barbecued brisket, the two men talked about life, money, and

business. Jerry told Jacob about Henry's thoughts concerning the minimal

differences in trash between rich and poor. Jacob was impressed that the big man

listened to insightful observations regardless of the social status of the

source. It also gave him insight into how difficult it would be to convince

Jerry to move away from his home.

By the time the bill arrived, Jacob felt like he had a good handle on the

character of the man seated across from him. After pulling out a twenty out of

his wallet to cover the lunch, he said, "There's no amount of money that we

could offer you to convince you to move here, is there?"

"No," answered Jerry.

"We'd have to convince you that it would be better for the hundreds of employees

in this company for you take this job. Am I right?"

"Probably," answered Jerry wondering if he had just doomed himself. He frowned

at the thought that others in the company would be negatively affected by his

decision.

"I could probably make that argument, but I wouldn't do that because I doubt it

would be true. You picked the right person to take charge of modernization,"

said Jacob.

"Al is a good man and I owe him a lot. He offered me a chance at a time in my

life when I really needed it," said Jerry thinking back to when Al had told him

the company would pay for him to visit an anger management specialist. He'd

taken over payment of the visits when his son started going to the therapist as

well.

It was difficult for Jacob to know how the other employees viewed the executives

of the company. He imagined that most of the employees didn't even know who they

were. Those that did, were either indifferent or had complaints. The only time

they got much feedback was when there was a change in benefits. It made Jacob

feel good that there were those in the company who had positive impressions of

them at the home office.

"We'll get back early enough for you to change your shirt," said the lawyer

glancing down at his own shirt. Sure enough there were a few splotches of sauce

on it. If he'd been wearing his tie, it would have caught the sauce. He said,

"Looks like I'll have to stop by my office to change my shirt, too."

Jerry and Jacob returned to the office. They were on time even though Jerry had

stopped in the hotel to put on clean clothes. Jacob left Jerry in the lobby

while he went to his office to change his shirt and put on his tie. While

waiting for Jacob to return, Jerry went over to the waterfall to see how well it

was holding up with daily use. He was pleased to see that it was as good as new.

Jacob returned and said, "They are ready for us."

"Great," answered Jerry. He hoped to be informed that he was the new district

manager.

The men walked down the hall, relaxed and content after their good meal. When

they entered the room, it was clear that they were the only ones who were

relaxed. Everyone seated at the table looked tired. The table was littered with

the remains of sandwiches that had been brought in for them to eat while

working.

Jacob frowned and took his seat while gesturing for Jerry to take his seat.

Jerry sat down looking around the room. Al looked over at Jerry with a tight

smile. Junior was frowning and Catherine looked neutral. He wondered what had

happened while he was out enjoying a good lunch.

Leaning forward, Mike said, "The problem is that there is only one of you."

"I'm not sure that I understand," said Jerry.

"We argued about who would get you," said Al.

"Oh. Who won?" asked Jerry wondering what it meant that they were arguing over

who would get him.

Mike said, "Well, no one and all of them. Here's the deal. You'll get the

district. It is the smallest district in the chain so that doesn't really help

us much. Mike and Karen will move here as you suggested, but that will leave you

a little short staffed. That's not really a problem, but you'll be settling into

your new responsibilities."

Jerry smiled at having gotten everything that he wanted. The smile started to

disappear when he realized that Mike was not finished laying out his decision.

He asked, "And?"

"We decided to institute a new manager trainee program," said Mike. Turning to

Catherine, he said, "Would you explain it to him?"

Catherine nodded and said, "I really like the way that you've trained your

people to move up a job level at a moment's notice. We want you to train our

assistant managers who are due for promotion. We'll have them work in your store

for three months as an assistant manager and then three months as a manager."

"You want me to train people?" asked Jerry shocked by the suggestion. That was

going to give his store a great deal of turn over. He said, "I can't imagine

there are many people to train."

"Explain it to him."

Sighing at the magnitude of the problem facing her, Catherine said, "Our

managers are getting older. Over the next five years, we're going to lose about

twenty of them. We are having problems hiring people to work in our stores who

are willing to stay in the company as a career. The situation is going to get

worse with time."

"I didn't realize that," said Jerry although he did recall Al mentioning the

difficulties in hiring people. He didn't realize the problem was as big as

Catherine suggested.

"I like how you have been putting people through school to get training in

business. We were discussing it and realized that hiring three or four college

kids at two-thirds time would solve a lot of our problems. A few would want to

stay on in management positions. The major difficulty would be the cost of such

a program scaled across the entire company. We're going to have to work out the

details, but I'm pretty sure that we'll find a solution in your approach some

where," said Catherine.

"So what was the argument over who got me?" asked Jerry still confused by the

earlier statement.

Junior said, "We're not done telling you all the parts of the deal."

"There's more?" asked Jerry wondering if his visit here had been that good of an

idea.

"We're going to use your district to try out some new accounting software that

Al is going to be installing here," said Junior. He looked over at Jerry and

said, "We're going to centralize our accounting system."

"You now answer to three people. Catherine, Junior, and me," said Al answering

Jerry's question before he had a chance to ask it again.

Jerry looked around the table for a minute wondering how he was going to

possibly balance working for three people He sighed and said, "I should have

brought a lawyer with me."

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