The economy slumped in 2008, businesses faltered with the general recession. It was like a huge series of dominoes falling in an endless row.
Business scandals became front-page news. Accounting firms had been acting as business advisers in addition to being accountants.
The image of the meek accountant in coke bottle glasses sitting behind a desk with a stack of ledgers had long since passed. The new accountant was a rugged looking bruiser, spending his free time speeding around town in a high-powered sport sedan. No longer did women scorn the myopic nerds of the past. M.B.A. graduates were more sought after than N.F.L. players. But the business slow down caught hundreds of newly wealthy accountants in a downward spiral.
Jake Le May was the lead accountant for Telecom Circuit Boards Inc. Jake had been making $1.2 million a year in his combined role as accountant and adviser.
Telecom was a worldwide manufacturer and had been in an updraft for 10 years, springing from a $10 million a year company to a $200 million a year behemoth.
Jake’s compensation had followed with the company’s growth. But now suddenly a reverse slide had begun. Jake wasn’t ready to live the way he had in the past.
At first, Jake advised the company to layoff a large contingent of workers when the world economy caused Telecom’s customer base to ratchet downward. The orders dwindled, and so did Telecom’s fortunes, and thereby Jake’s compensation.
Jake advised the company to turn down the lights and idle some of their machines. Still the tide continued to go out and take Jake’s livelihood with it. Jake's next step was forging the time sheets of all of the hourly employees, but that was not enough savings as company profits continued to plunge.
Jake was in a panic! He knew that another layoff was all that would help stem the tide and prop up his personal cash income. But the last layoff had depleted the companies unemployment compensation pool. So another layoff would cost the company more money to replenish the pool and provide for the workers.
Jake was desperate. He needed to stop the red ink so he could maintain his lifestyle. Then the idea came to him. It was cheaper to gas the workers!
He would arrange for a meeting and bring in all of the next round of workers who would be laid-off, and when all were gathered in the meeting hall, he would fill the room with toxic gas and asphyxiate them. The deaths would eliminate replenishing the unemployment pool and keep Telecom’s cash at home and of course in Jake's pocket.
On the day of the meeting Jake was there and ready. In a matter of minutes he would be flush with cash again.
Just as Jake began to twist the tank lever to fill the room with the deadly gas, he heard a whooshing sound and felt the rapid air movement from behind him. He turned and was staring directly into the eyes of the workingman’s hero. The caped crusader’s image reflected in Jake’s terror filled eyes!
A swift jab to the solar plexus followed by a left cross to the chin and a roundhouse kick to the knee knocked Jake to the floor like a tumbling sack of potatoes.
Maintenance Man quickly radioed the local police to pick up the garbage. Maintenance Man and his apprentices tied Jake in a cargo net and assisted the local P.D. in loading Jake into a patrol car and then sauntered on back to work.
The workers in the meeting and the management staff in attendance never even had a clue what happened in the adjoining area. No one in attendance knew how close they were to not only losing their jobs but also their lives.
The big guy in the blue cape with the bright yellow M calmly went back to his job keeping the workplace at a comfortable and safe temperature. Hundreds of families, while suffering from unemployment that night, were at least together. And they never knew how close they were to total tragedy.
Maintenance Man, always in the background, had done his job one more time.
May God bless you Maintenance Man. You were a Super Hero!
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
Business scandals became front-page news. Accounting firms had been acting as business advisers in addition to being accountants.
The image of the meek accountant in coke bottle glasses sitting behind a desk with a stack of ledgers had long since passed. The new accountant was a rugged looking bruiser, spending his free time speeding around town in a high-powered sport sedan. No longer did women scorn the myopic nerds of the past. M.B.A. graduates were more sought after than N.F.L. players. But the business slow down caught hundreds of newly wealthy accountants in a downward spiral.
Jake Le May was the lead accountant for Telecom Circuit Boards Inc. Jake had been making $1.2 million a year in his combined role as accountant and adviser.
Telecom was a worldwide manufacturer and had been in an updraft for 10 years, springing from a $10 million a year company to a $200 million a year behemoth.
Jake’s compensation had followed with the company’s growth. But now suddenly a reverse slide had begun. Jake wasn’t ready to live the way he had in the past.
At first, Jake advised the company to layoff a large contingent of workers when the world economy caused Telecom’s customer base to ratchet downward. The orders dwindled, and so did Telecom’s fortunes, and thereby Jake’s compensation.
Jake advised the company to turn down the lights and idle some of their machines. Still the tide continued to go out and take Jake’s livelihood with it. Jake's next step was forging the time sheets of all of the hourly employees, but that was not enough savings as company profits continued to plunge.
Jake was in a panic! He knew that another layoff was all that would help stem the tide and prop up his personal cash income. But the last layoff had depleted the companies unemployment compensation pool. So another layoff would cost the company more money to replenish the pool and provide for the workers.
Jake was desperate. He needed to stop the red ink so he could maintain his lifestyle. Then the idea came to him. It was cheaper to gas the workers!
He would arrange for a meeting and bring in all of the next round of workers who would be laid-off, and when all were gathered in the meeting hall, he would fill the room with toxic gas and asphyxiate them. The deaths would eliminate replenishing the unemployment pool and keep Telecom’s cash at home and of course in Jake's pocket.
On the day of the meeting Jake was there and ready. In a matter of minutes he would be flush with cash again.
Just as Jake began to twist the tank lever to fill the room with the deadly gas, he heard a whooshing sound and felt the rapid air movement from behind him. He turned and was staring directly into the eyes of the workingman’s hero. The caped crusader’s image reflected in Jake’s terror filled eyes!
A swift jab to the solar plexus followed by a left cross to the chin and a roundhouse kick to the knee knocked Jake to the floor like a tumbling sack of potatoes.
Maintenance Man quickly radioed the local police to pick up the garbage. Maintenance Man and his apprentices tied Jake in a cargo net and assisted the local P.D. in loading Jake into a patrol car and then sauntered on back to work.
The workers in the meeting and the management staff in attendance never even had a clue what happened in the adjoining area. No one in attendance knew how close they were to not only losing their jobs but also their lives.
The big guy in the blue cape with the bright yellow M calmly went back to his job keeping the workplace at a comfortable and safe temperature. Hundreds of families, while suffering from unemployment that night, were at least together. And they never knew how close they were to total tragedy.
Maintenance Man, always in the background, had done his job one more time.
May God bless you Maintenance Man. You were a Super Hero!
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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