28 Dec The Story Machine, Story 3: Daily Grind
Daily Grind By Jeff New Orleans gets all the attention. I'm not bitter about it, it's a heck of a town. The food, the sights, the entertainment - it's all top notch. By no means is this meant to be slanderous to the other notches. I don't hang my hat in the Big Easy. No, my friend, you head West out of Nola and you'll find my stomping grounds. If you hit Lafayette, you've gone too far. That's right, that's right - you're looking at a citizen of the one and only Baton Bordeaux. It's just like every other town in some aspects, in others…well, let me tell you a quick story. I'd just finished a successful job on Wednesday and treated myself to the best dang plate of jambalaya in town. I'd tell you where, but I'd have to kill you. Just kidding. Probably. Anyway, I was content with a belly full of good hot food and a wallet with some extra bills. I don't have a 9-to-5 type of gig, so I tend to take the opportunities that come my way. Sometimes that means a pantry stocked to the brim with the finest artisanal red beans and rice. Other times it means you have to buy the cheap red beans and rice, no andouille, no nothin'. Such is the glamorous life of a messenger. There was a note under my door when I woke up the next morning. It was going to be a good day. If somebody was angry with me, they wouldn't have left a note. If somebody was angry with me, I probably wouldn't have woken up this morning. So, hey, like I said - a good day. I open the note and read it, and I can feel the blood run out of my face. Still a good day, y'all, just…complicated. Some people have a desk and a boss that sends them emails instead of sliding notes under doors. Some people have meetings in a conference room instead of a clandestine rendezvous at a notoriously fragrant location. I'm happy for ya, I am. But that doesn't pay the bills for me. Maybe it did once, but that's a story for another time. Right now it's time to get on my coat and hit the street. They gave me the time and place, but the method is up to me. No matter how things shake out, there's going to be an…unfortunate workplace accident taking place. The trick is making sure that the right person is the only person to be involved. It's all part of effective communication - making sure the message is clearly sent to the right recipient. If my employers had wanted to send a strongly worded email, they'd do just that. Certain grievances are expressed in certain ways. In this particular instance, a representative of one party had what I'll call an unjustified physical response to a standard business practice. I was tasked with delivering a message to express the other party's dissatisfaction and...