As a writer of fiction, it’s hard sometimes to know when the line of credibility is crossed and how to manage to just stay on that edge. I shouldn’t worry; reality is beyond it.
Here’s the scenario: Corporate management holds a meeting with employees in which it discusses the current economic situation and what the company is doing to manage expenses. The “company” is not giving any cost of living increases this year, and the “company” will be enforcing an unpaid furlough leave of one week. That means the company is saving a lot of money and some of the employees get to keep their jobs. Okay, so everyone has to bite the bullet and if this saves jobs, it’s hurting everyone a little bit instead of hurting a few more (jobs are still being eliminated, regardless of cost saving measures, it’s inevitable) a whole lot.
But then, with a perfectly straight face, management goes on to explain–with Powerpoint slides and all kinds of smoke and mirrors–how the employees should embrace outsourcing to India because it saves the company a lot of money and thus, saves jobs.
Honest to God, this was said in all seriousness and maybe the moron himself didn’t see the irony. You just can’t make this stuff up.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology