03-19-08
Almost Evil
Sally works for a non-profit company. For the most part, people that work for non-profits are kind and charitable. But not always. Sometimes people who look nice and shiny are actually dirty and rough, almost evil. Such is the case with Mr. Cake, a CEO at Sally's non-profit.
Mr. Cake came to the company after being fired from his previous non-profit. Not many people in the current company know that information and those that do never ever talk about it. He has been in a leadership position for ten years. In those ten years he has had over 5 assistants.
One of his assistants, Rita, worked for him for four years until she was “let go”. Mr. Cake claimed that they were dissolving Rita's position and that he would no longer need an assistant. That seemed funny to Sally because as soon as Rita was dismissed Mr. Cake brought in a 19 year-old Hooters girl to cover his phones. Three months later a new, full-time, male assistant was hired into the position that was to be dissolved. It happened to be his nephew. That seemed unfair to Sally so she started thinking, why did Mr. Cake let Rita go? She was on time, professional, competent, confident, and loyal.
And then Sally remembered some very important tasks Mr. Cake had asked Rita to complete. One was making photo copies of a fictitious map he had created. A map that you might create if you were 12 and in the boy scouts, complete with rivers, mountains, and fantasy towns. The only thing different about these towns and waterways was that their names were somewhat disturbing. Blow Job Way, Cunnilingus Mountain, Fuck that Whore Village and Nigger Road. Rita made copies for him because that was her job. One time he asked her to scan a naked picture of his ex-girlfriend and then Photoshop it onto a bicycle so that he could send it around to his buddies for a laugh. Rita did that too because her paycheck depended on it and she needed to keep her health insurance.
It occurred to Sally that Mr. Cake had let Rita go because she knew too much. He had let her in and she was becoming disgruntled, so she had to go.
Sally has seen Mr. Cake get away with things that no one should get away with. The above are just a couple of fireable incidents among many lesser and greater ones, depending on how you look at it or what you know about the law:
- Drinking 3-4 dirty martinis during lunches
- Back stabbing co-workers and slandering innocent executives
- Staring at women's breasts while pretending to talk to them
- Firing (or not hiring) women that don't please him aesthetically
- Blaming everyone but himself for poor decision making
- Making maps on company paper that have bolded words like: Cunnilingus and Nigger.
Sally hates Mr. Cake and thinks he has a lot of nerve to walk around in this world pretending to be a nice guy. She despises the injustice of it all. And yet she continues to work for a company that supports this terrible behavior. Is Sally almost evil too? She thinks of herself as a decent person. She is a college graduate. She has protested for less. She is not alone.
Sally is confused. So confused that she doesn't even like to tell this story. What if her boss found out? Would she be let go, too? Would she lose her health insurance for telling the truth? Or would justice be served? Would the victim win and the bad guy go down? Would the little guy at last triumph? Would goodness take evil to the battlefield and win? She can't answer these questions. Neither can I.
I understand what Sally must feel every morning as she looks herself in the mirror while blow-drying her hair. I can hear her thoughts over the hum of her ConAir: Someday we will live in a world where people don't abuse their power. Someday we will have the guts to stand up for what we know to be right. Someday we will not fear choosing our souls over our paychecks.
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Writing Menu
 09-24-08
Almost Embarrassing
07-14-08
Almost Saving Face
06-14-08
Almost Missionary: Rated X for Sex
03-19-08
Almost Evil
02-12-08
A SIMPLE PHONE CALL
02-03-08
About
01-13-08
Almost a Woman
11-13-07
Almost Everyone
08-13-07
Almost Mrs. Webb or Bridal Brain
06-11-07
Almost Ready
03-12-07
Almost Fired
12-01-06
Almost Gay
10-12-06
Is It Hot Yet? by Angela Kurian and Shannon Noel
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