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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The "Honest" Company Rep

My best girl friend, Cindy, owns a small company specializing in government bids. Sometimes government bids demand a mandatory get-together before companies can formally bid on a project. There is truly no need for a mandatory meeting, except that it can often discourage companies that are outside of the area. In other words, it gives preference to the local boys.

And since Cindy has a small company, she can't attend every bid, so she sometimes has a representative go for her.

Yesterday, Cindy was trapped at the office all day, so she asked her father-in-law to go for her. She also asked him to sign in as her, not because she was trying to pull some scam (and it is allowed) but because she wanted all information to be addressed to her. And since she'd had some run-ins with this particular governmental entity, she asked him to sign in under her alternate company, which they hadn't heard of.

However, "Sid" got an attack of conscience. Shortly after the meeting ended, he called her. Apparently he started out doing what she'd asked, which was to sign in and take notes.

But suddenly after he signed in, Sid felt remorseful. So, he went up to the man holding the conference, pulled him aside, and whispered "I signed in as Cindy Smythe. But, I'm not Cindy."

This was probably apparent to John, the head honcho.

"But you know Cindy," he added. "I think you may have had some disagreements before."

Well, if John hadn't remembered her before, Sid had been kind enough to help him out.

"And..." said Sid, "She owns two companies. I signed in as ABC Co., but we really are usually known to you as XYZ Co. I think you should know that."

So at this point, I think we can safely assume that John was pretty certain he was dealing with a shady company who was sending a man afflicted with some form of mental illness, in an attempt to somehow subvert the system.

Needless to say, Cindy will no longer be sending Sid to any functions.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I feel sorry for your friend Cindy. At the same time, I feel sorry for her Father-in-Law. Unless I am reading you wrong, there wasn't any malicious intent. He just took on a task that he wasn't suited for and botched it. Been there, done that. I count it a great blessing that my job allows me to concentrate on my strengths and sends in others to cover my weak points. Better for everyone that way.

Paul Nichols said...

...and who can blame her?

Three Score and Ten or more said...

If his mind is slipping as fast as mine, I understand both his and her points of view. (unfortunately)