Chapter 1

I had heard quite a bit about Lorna Pierce before I actually met her. I was the new hire for the company and the personnel manager, Bill, and I seemed to hit it off pretty well. We had both gone to the same college (he was a couple years ahead of me) and we both came from the same general part of Ohio – I was from the Dayton area while he was from somewhere around Columbus.

“You probably won’t see much of her ... she doesn’t come down from her ivory tower to visit us commonfolk much. But if you ever do get a chance to meet her, she is absolutely fucking gorgeous. Just watch out; she is a complete and total bitch,” he said. “She basically stole the company from her old man. He was twice her age and filthy fucking rich. She was a golddigger and married him for his money. Then once she had her hooks in him good and proper, she divorced the poor old fool and took the company and half of his fortune with her. Now she runs this place like Hitler ran Germany, and the rest of us just try to hang on to our jobs however we can. It isn’t a real pleasant work atmosphere, being so fearful of losing your job, but the job market is no place to be right now. We do have one consolation in that she is up there on the thirtieth floor and we are down here ... we rarely see her. She even has her own private elevator so she doesn’t sully her pretty self with us street people!”

Well that worked fine for me – the further I was from the tailored-suit executives, the better I liked it anyway! I had never had ambitions to be a corporate kiss-ass or “yes man”. Just give me a working class job with working class people I don’t have to put on airs around and I’m a happy guy.

After I had filled out the necessary paperwork required of every new person in the company, Bill took me around and introduced me to some of the people I would be working with. First he introduced me to Allen, who would be my immediate supervisor. He seemed like a friendly guy and someone I could work for. He was talking to his secretary when we came up, so I was introduced to her as well. Her name was Karen and she seemed nice as well. Then Bill introduced me to some of the men and women I would be working alongside. All of them seemed friendly enough, most were more worried about those above them, than a new guy in their midst.

I did pick up on this tenseness as I was introduced to the crew and once we had made the rounds and was back in Bill’s office, I asked him about it.

“Is it me, Bill, or is everyone here kind of walking on eggshells? I don’t know, but I sense a lot of very cautious, very timid, people here,” I said.

“You aren’t imagining it ... most of us down here come to work wondering if we will have a job for very long,” he said, “There have been a lot of people come and go from here and no one really knows why. They just leave and we never see them again. We hear rumors of firings and such, but who really knows the truth? It makes us all nervous and paranoid. We just do our jobs and then go home and put the day behind us.”

“How can you work like that? Not knowing how long you will be here, not having any kind of job security? How do you plan for the future?” I asked him.

“Listen, James, I know this isn’t the ideal job for any of us. But there isn’t a lot of work out there, you know that. At least here you get a decent pay and as long as you do your job and don’t make waves, you can continue to do that. The people that get fired are the ones that don’t do their job or don’t do it right, or the ones that create problems asking for raises, or talking about unionizing or something. Just take this job as it’s given to you and you will be fine. Ms. Pierce may be a tough bitch, but she is also quite smart and a shrewd businesswoman; she knows it takes many people to run this company and she knows without them, this company and her opulent, upper class lifestyle wouldn’t exist.

“She also knows the legalities of the business world. She knows when and how to fire someone so that they can’t come back with some lawsuit or hassles from the labor department. When she fires someone, she does so in a way they have no recourse from.

“Believe it or not, people who do their job well and are ambitious, can do well here. Ms. Pierce has her executive staff and they, too, sometimes have openings. Not as often as us down here, but on occasion one of us ‘guppies’ gets to swim in the ‘shark tank’,” he said.

After we talked, I went back to my work area and Allen, my supervisor, showed me my desk. I spent the rest of the day that first day getting my desk organized and prepped for working there. I had to set up my computer with my work account password, set up the different programs to recognize me, and get myself on the company email. Allen had his secretary Karen show me where the copy machine and fax was and how to use them she showed me the break room and I got assigned a locker where I could keep my coat and overshoes when needed, and I got a key to the entry door from the building’s underground parking lot. That first day was spent just getting organized and logged into the different areas I would need to access to do my job!

After that I spent the next couple weeks learning the different computer programs and applications used by the company. I had a basic working knowledge of Excel, Quickbooks, PowerPoint and the other general business applications but I needed to learn the specific special programs they used. Fortunately for me, “computer-ese” came easily to me, and I was able to learn how to use the programs fairly quickly. Two weeks later, I was using them with acceptable proficiency and within a month, it was like I had been using them all my life.

I slowly got used to the routine in the office too. The way things were done and how everyone liked things to run. As I got more comfortable with my job, I was able to focus less on doing my job and more with who I did it with. I began to pick up on the “watercooler talk” and got tapped into the company rumor pipeline – and with this company, that was important. You can’t duck at something you don’t see coming!

A few months later it was nearing Christmas and the whole town was dressed in festive garb. At work there was talk about whether we wanted to have an office Christmas party. This was my first Christmas with the company and I learned that upstairs they always threw a great bash. But none of us “guppies” were ever invited to that shindig so we usually had one of our own downstairs. Some of the girls took it upon themselves to decorate up the office a bit to get us all in the spirit and Karen was more or less “appointed” as the head of the party planning. Everything was set, we would have our party on the last working day before Christmas and exchange little gifts at that time. We set up a “Secret Santa” where we all put our names on pieces of paper and then drew them out of a box. We couldn’t tell anyone whose name we drew so no one felt obliged to go past the $20.00 gift limit.

The girls did a great job of decorating the place and for a week or so before Christmas we all felt like this was a nice place to work. The decorations and the festive mood did a lot to make coming to work more fun. That is until two days before the party...

“Can I have everyone’s attention ... I have an announcement,” Allen said one morning. “This comes straight from Ms. Pierce ... seems she has gotten wind of our Christmas party idea. She writes:

It has come to my attention that there is a Christmas party planned downstairs. I don’t mind if you have a party to celebrate the holiday, I know Christmas is an important time for some of you. However, any party will have to be held after the work day is complete and no office supplies are to be used in decorating or throwing this party. Office supplies are for office use. Also I want it understood that any inappropriate behavior at this party will be dealt with swiftly and severely.

Ms. Lorna Pierce

So it seems we can have our party but it will have to be a subdued, low-key party. Let’s not lose anyone over photocopied tits or asses or a closet call,” Allen said.

Well that email certainly threw a bucket of cold water on all of us! The mood in the room took a definite nosedive; Ms. Pierce’s emails and bulletins usually did that. But we were determined to have a good time and enjoy the holiday in spite of Ms. Scrooge as she was now called – undoubtedly a reference to the Charles Dickens character.

So on the last working day before Christmas we finished up work as quick as we could and when the office closed for the day the party began! It was a pretty good party even given the limitations we had. There was good food, fun times and everyone was glad that at least for a couple days, we didn’t have to worry about work. Someone had hung mistletoe up and so the girls lured some of us guys under it so they could steal a kiss. It was a good time for once in the office.

Allen had rented a Santa Suit and showed up to hand out the Secret Santa presents to everyone. We all laughed at each other’s presents, and then the point of the party we all looked forward to ... the handing out of Christmas bonuses! Allen had an envelope for each of us, some red and some green and as he handed them out we all waited until they were all passed out. When we opened them however, we were brought back to the reality of where we were ... all that was inside was a cheap commercial Christmas card. I read mine as did everyone else:

I’m sorry to have to do this, but due to budget cuts, there will be no Christmas bonuses given out this year. I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

Ms. Pierce

You could have heard a pin drop for a few seconds as we all stood there slaw-jawed at this announcement. “What is this?” one person finally said. “But I was counting on this bonus to buy presents for my kids!” another woman said. “This is total bullshit! I know for a fact revenue is up this year!” another man said. There was anger, tears, and shock throughout the room.