Commencement

by Lawrence Cherry

  Tim headed toward the conference room brimming with pride and confidence in his accomplishments of the past three months. It was hard work, made even harder due to battles with Preston’s incompetence and his own physical ailments. Even this morning as he worked with Vera and Clara, Tim could feel another headache coming on, but he would struggle through it. He wasn’t going to allow anything to ruin this important meeting.

  Everything was ready. Clara and Vera had already set up the projector and placed copies of the report, bound neatly in heavy-duty portfolios, on the table. Tim even went to the extra expense of buying some breakfast platters for the executives to snack on. There were platters of fresh fruit, bagels sliced into quarters, mini-muffins, and croissants with the accompanying condiments of margarine, strawberry jelly, and cream cheese. There were also large crystal carafes of orange juice and a silver thermos of coffee, as well as servings of cream, sugar, and half-and-half elegantly displayed in company silver ware. The executives from the upper ranks were used to ‘the best’ and Tim did everything he could to make this presentation first class all the way. He knew that most of the upper brass either didn’t know or care who he was, or didn’t like him. With this in mind, Tim knew his presentation had to be flawless if he was going to make a favorable impression on them. He wanted the work he had done to speak for itself. No matter how they felt about Tim personally, they wouldn’t be able to say that he didn’t get the job done. He’d always delivered when they needed him to and today would be no different.

  Tim had taken great care to fine-tune the reorganization of his department following the layoffs. He was given a directive from Standoff that he had to create a reorganization plan that would fit within the constraints of the new budget and regulatory parameters he had been given. Tim was able to devise a plan that was considerably cheaper than what was projected. In fact, he was going to be able to save the company a considerable amount of money given the new contract with the Brill Company, and his great eye for cheaper products and services that had the same or better quality than the ones they were using. He had already had a dry run with the interface between vendors and departments and was able to trouble shoot problems in advance so the changes happened with little or no fanfare. Tim even had results from a survey that he conducted within the company, which proved that all of the departments were pleased with how smoothly things were running. Some even said that the services were even better than before. The surveys, Tim found, were essential to the fine-tuning process as without the feedback, he wouldn’t have had any idea of what to change and how. He couldn’t wait to share this bit of information with everyone at the meeting. Tim had been given a lot more responsibility and he wanted Standoff and the others to know that he was worthy of it and capable of much more. Maybe then they might trust him enough to move him up to one of the investment houses into an actual consultant position. Maybe.

  The only thing that could possibly derail Tim’s hopes was Preston. Preston wasn’t very bright, but he was very articulate and charismatic, which made him a very good bull artist. Any other person would probably have been fired after some of the antics he had pulled recently, but Preston was very good at making small things he did seem like miracles, and making all his mistakes look like the work of someone else. Every time something happened it was always “I was told by Tim, blah, blah, blah,” or “Tim didn’t tell me, blah, blah, blah” But his biggest accomplishment was ego stroking. He knew how to make the big guys feel comfortable around him and that was something Tim could never do, even with his best efforts. He knew Preston was working on an addendum, but Tim didn’t particularly feel threatened by it. He knew it would be about 20 pages of the same lame idea worded a million different ways. What made Preston dangerous was his growing influence with some pretty powerful people. The only thing that mitigated Tim’s fear of Preston was the understanding that money was the bottom line with the big executives. If you couldn’t make money for them, you were done, no matter how nice a person they thought you were. The only thing Preston seemed to be able to make for the firm was trouble.

  When Tim entered the conference room, he was a little taken aback by the presence of all the company executives. There were eight of them. One was talking to Clara, and several were taking china plates of food and cups of coffee to their seats, but there was a small crowd around Preston near the refreshment tables. It seemed that he was talking very animatedly with Standoff who was smiling from ear to ear with another heavy weight, Richard Casinoff, who was one of the division heads. Tim couldn’t hear what they were saying, and as they saw him approach the table, their faces changed suddenly and the conversation stopped.

  “Good morning gentlemen,” Tim greeted them cordially, trying to cover his apprehensions. “I hope you are finding everything to your liking.”

  “Yes, very much. In fact we were just remarking on Clara’s talent for refreshments if nothing else.”

  This was followed by chuckles from Preston, Casinoff, and the others. Tim, who felt uncomfortable with what they were implying simply forced a smile out of politeness.

  “Tim, if you’re ready, I guess we might as well get started. I do have another meeting to attend at our office in Jersey.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  All of the businessmen followed Standoff in a line to the table and everyone sat down with the exception of Clara who was bringing the computer and projector out of sleep mode, Vera who was refreshing the coffee cups of the participants of the meeting, and Tim who was now taking the lead.

  First, Tim went over the changes that had been made to streamline the process for ordering supplies. Then he went over how despite the merging of departments, fulfillment of orders and requests would be the same or even better based on the current restructuring. Next, Tim went over the spreadsheets and projections regarding the costs of the new changes to the department. He made sure to emphasize that because of the Brill deal and other changes, the cost to the department would be ten percent less than last year resulting in a huge savings of $4,000,000.00 a year. Tim was confident and he could tell by the looks of the people in front of him that they were pleased with the amount of money saved. Everyone except Standoff, who just sat staring at the projections with a stern, but studious expression, and Casinoff who seemed not to be paying any attention at all, but was whispering to Preston. He was mid-sentence when he noticed, Preston whisper something to Standoff, who nodded his assent to whatever Preston was saying. Tim became a little distracted by their sidebar conversation, but quickly refocused his attention and continued with his presentation. Tim knew that his work had merit, and he had seen how much good it had done for the company. He made sure to mention his work with the surveys and how the method was effective for troubleshooting problems and making things more palatable for the staff. Tim was sure his originality in this area would demonstrate to those present that he was not just some charity case foisted upon them, but someone who took his work for the company seriously and had their best interests at heart.

  Soon, Tim was done with the presentation and he opened the floor for questions. Clara stopped the projector and turned the lights on.

  “This Brill Corporation is rather new. Do you think they will be as reliable as our other vendors?” asked Casinoff.

  “Based on the responses to the quality control surveys, we haven’t had many complaints”, answered Tim.

  “But complaints none the less”, remarked Standoff.

  “Nothing that was due to inherent nature of services or product. Some people just need time to adjust to change”, asserted Tim confidently.

  “If you are done, Tim, I hear Preston has an addendum to the re-organization that he would like to present. I’m sure we will all find it to be as interesting as what you have presented to us”, Standoff said eerily, almost as if he already knew what it was all about.

  “Yes, I’m sure”, replied Tim almost glaring at Preston as he took a seat at the conference table near Vera, and Preston strode up to
the head of the room.

  Preston took a USB drive out of his pocket, put it into the computer and opened up his power point presentation. Tim couldn’t believe his eyes as he read the title: An Alternative Plan for the Reorganization of Business Management. This was hardly an addendum at all. Then good old Preston took out a bundle of copies of his handsomely bound proposal and gave it to Vera to distribute to the members present. Clara and Tim looked at each other in disbelief. Tim couldn’t believe what Preston was doing. He was trying to usurp Tim’s position. Tim’s blood was boiling, but he didn’t want to make a scene in front of his bosses. It took every ounce of self-control Tim had to keep him from getting up and cramming this ‘proposal’ down Preston’s throat. Now it was clear to Tim that Preston had went behind his back to Standoff. Probably on the evening of their little disagreement. This smelled like a set up, however, Tim was powerless to do anything but to watch events to unfold.

  Preston started his presentation by saying that although Tim’s plan was a good one, it was too conservative. Preston decided that more aggressive action needed to be taken in face of the economic recession and pressures from the shareholders to reduce costs in the company. He decided that a more radical reorganization was necessary, one that eliminated wasteful spending.

  Preston proposed that it was time to automate the supply order process. Instead of having a department for intakes and having people to check budgets, approve the orders, and track shipments and delivery, he wanted to provide every employee with direct contact with the vendors through a personal interface program on the Internet. Vendors and company employees would interface through the company’s own supply website. This way people could just submit purchase orders with the click of a mouse and get instant feedback on whether the order was approved and could check statuses over the Internet. Vera and Clara’s jobs would be unnecessary and/or redundant and their positions would be eliminated. He said that by leaving the responsibility for ordering to individuals in their respective departments, the overhead for supply management would be reduced considerably. The company would only need one person to focus on working with existing vendors, or finding new ones, and maintaining the site. Overall, with the cuts in staff, the firm would save over 15 million dollars a year. That was 11 million more than what Tim’s plan managed to save.

  The plan was as brash as its originator, and did not mention who would oversee departmental inventory, who or what would interface with the accounting department, or what people would do if things needed to be returned or fixed. Nor were there any specifics about what the site would entail or how it would get started or by whom. When Preston was done with his presentation, he shut off the projector and turned on the lights which didn’t shock Tim half as much as what was presented. Preston basically pitched a proposal that suggested that he lose his own job. Even he wasn’t that stupid.

  “Are there any questions?” asked Preston smiling at Tim almost as if to mock him.

  “I don’t see how there could be” gloated Casinoff, “I love it. It’s totally out of the box. We’ve really picked a winner this time, Standoff.”

  “Yes”, another executive chimed in “It’s right in line with the 21st century. I can’t believe no one thought of it before. An Internet site to handle everything would be the most productive and convenient solution. Smart thinking Preston.”

  Tim couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had to say something.

  “Excuse me, Gentlemen, while I agree with you that his ideas are certainly original, I’m just wondering if they are feasible. For example, our department doesn’t approve requests ad hoc. I have to check with accounting. Just how would our accounting department be able to use this site? What kind of software would be used? Who would design the website? How much would this cost? And if everyone is ordering their own supplies how do we stop overstock or even theft of services?”

  “Tim, let’s not be petty”, said Standoff cutting Tim off. “I think we all should be professional enough to acknowledge a great idea when it’s presented. I think it’s gold.”

  “But his questions do have some merit Mr. Standoff. The last thing our department needs is to have a lot of spending that goes unaccounted for or wasteful spending”, replied Middleman, the big cheese of accounting.

  “Relax, Middleman, I’m pretty sure that you will all be able to use the website as well,” said Standoff nonchalantly.

  “Please, Mr. Standoff, hear me out. I don’t disagree that we should take advantage of technology, but there are some things in our business which require face to face, personal contact”, Tim argued.

  “Tim, your point would be valid if this was about doing business with our clients, but it’s not. It’s just a matter of servicing our employees. And all they’re doing is ordering supplies for themselves instead of waiting for someone else to do it for them. I’m pretty sure they won’t care one way or the other so long as I sign their checks”, replied Standoff.

  “It could impact our clients, if our employees find themselves without the needed supplies to service clients, or if time is taken away from our clients to spend on other less important matters…” Tim continued.

  “I don’t think there’s anything you can say that will change how I feel. While I respect the people and the work of the department, we all understand that we have to do what is best for the company. We will continue to work with your reorganization for now as an interim measure but as Preston suggested, the department can be phased out”, asserted Standoff decisively.

  There was an uncomfortable silence in the conference room that lasted for about a few seconds as the import of what was happening settled into the minds of everyone in the room. Tim knew that they were thinking of choosing Preston to be the site coordinator. He could tell by the way the men were avoiding eye contact with him. It was ironic how safe he thought he was after the first round of downsizing occurred, only to have his whole world crumbling around him now. Then Clara let out a sigh of obvious distress, giving voice to what Tim was feeling.

  “I understand that this will not be an easy transition for some of us here, which is why I am also going to offer our excessed workers a very generous severance package, that is, if they are willing to stay on with the firm until the website is fully operational: six months salary and health benefits for six months after excessing. I think that’s a fair offer, don’t you Casinoff?” recommended Standoff.

  “More than fair. Don’t you think so Tim?” asked Casinoff pointedly.

  “Of course” Tim muttered distractedly. So not only was he going to be fired, but he had to suffer working with, if not for, Preston for the next six months. It was all just too much to bear.

  “I just have one question”, added Mr. Jacobs one of the bosses from business consulting. “What’s the timetable for this restructuring?”

  “It shouldn’t take more than five or six months”, beamed Preston.

  “Are you sure? You’re talking about hiring a firm to design a web site and software to do all of our supply intakes and then training the staff on the procedures. There are going to have to be dry runs and trouble shooting. Sounds like it could take more than five or six months. Not to mention the new tech staff we’ll need to get it done. All that with salaries of the current staff, it just might cost 15 million just to get this thing off the ground”, Jacobs cautioned.

  “Yes, but we’ve got to think long-term. Once this new system is running it will be much less of a headache for everyone, and as the years go on the savings will be more evident”, rebutted Standoff.

  The voices became an indistinct mix of sounds as Tim became distracted by the emotional turmoil within himself. There were so many emotions swirling up inside Tim, he didn’t know what he was feeling. There was anger and bitterness toward Preston and Standoff, a despondent sadness about losing his job, and shame for his own shortcomings and failures which may have led to his situation. Tim looked around at the faces in the room. Clara’s face was very red, but she kept h
er eyes down on the table, and fiddled with the pages of Preston’s report. Vera was busy clearing the china from the conference table. She looked as if she wanted to cry. So now added to the title wave of emotions that was sweeping him under was guilt. He felt that this whole thing was somehow his fault. It seemed that Preston’s quest for vengeance against Tim had affected other people who had nothing to do with what was going on in the office politics. More than anything Tim wanted the meeting to be over. He wanted his life to be over.

  Finally, Standoff made the motion to adjourn the meeting and set up a date at which Preston would elaborate on the details of his plan and give them an update about how things were going. Memos were to be sent out to all the departments advising them of the new plan. Tim didn’t get much from the end of the meeting. Once the meeting was over, Preston was once again covered in a cloud of executives who were extending praise and congratulations. The sight made Tim sick. Literally. The headache from this morning had morphed into a full-blown migraine. Tim became dizzy and nauseous. There was a sudden rush of acrid bile rising up into his throat. Tim excused himself from the meeting and headed down the corridor to the men’s lavatory, as discreetly and as quickly as he could.

  As soon as he entered into one of the stalls all of the contents from his stomach spilled into the toilet in front of him. After several painful intestinal convulsions, his stomach was empty. As the episode of nausea ended, he flushed the toilet, exited the stall and staggered over to one of the basins to rinse his mouth and splash water on his face. Then he collapsed on one of the couches in the lavatory. Tim felt drained and exhausted. The emotional strain that he felt was taking on its usual physical manifestation. He’d had more than a couple of episodes of nausea in the past few weeks, but after vomiting his headaches would subside and he would feel better. Tim hoped that if he lay down for a few more minutes the pain would go away. Then there was a knock on the lavatory door.

  “Tim? It’s me, Clara. Are you okay in there?”

  “I will be in a few minutes”, Tim said weakly.

  “Do you need anything? I can wait for you out here if you want.”

  “It’s okay Clara. You don’t have to do that. I’ll be okay.”

  “You don’t sound okay.”

  Tim was touched by Clara’s concern. It took all of Tim’s strength to get up from the couch. As he stood up, he began to feel a little light headed and had to hold onto a basin to steady himself. Then he slowly made his way to the door. He tried to gather his composure before he opened it.

  “Thanks for looking out for me Clara, but really, I’m okay”, Tim said trying to reassure her.

  “You don’t look it.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  “You should really go home, Tim. It’s not worth it to stay. Especially after what they pulled today.”

  Tim didn’t want to be a punk. He didn’t’ want to give Preston the satisfaction of having rattled him, or at least knowing that he had rattled him. If he did that, then Preston really would have won.

  “That’s what they’d like.”

  Clara looked at Tim a little puzzled.

  “Look, Clara, you go on back downstairs, I’ll be there in a few. I’m just going out to get some air, if anyone asks.”

  “Don’t you think you should see a doctor?”

  “I don’t know Clara. I think an upset stomach is the least of my problems right now.

  Twenty-Eight