work

Ham Hocked

/ Karina Pinella / 4 Comments
Image: Pixabay

Image: Pixabay

Everyone in the office was in a flurry. They all received the same white envelope with a blue seal.

“I can’t believe they’re going to do away with our tradition,” Dora says to Mary, whose office desk is just inches away from hers.

“You must admit that they were kind enough to give us advance notice so we can start saving for our holiday dinner now.” Mary waves the letter from their company’s President, copied to Human Resources and their holiday ham supplier, “Ham Hocks ‘r You, Me, and Us, LLC”.

Dora sighs as she rereads the letter to Mary:

Dear Valued Employee,

 As our company is known to be charitable and humanitarian minded, we will be donating on your behalf the holiday ham to those more in need. I am sure you feel the same as I that this is for a good cause. To save up to purchase your ham for yourselves this holiday, see HR to have additional deductions made from your paycheck.

 In keeping with the giving spirit, your holiday bonus will be donated to the company’s annual holiday party. We can all look forward to this year’s buffet spread including two meat choices of roast and ham, plus two desserts. As a bonus, two more raffle items can be added to our usual three door prizes.

 I look forward to seeing you all at the holiday party.

 Holiday wishes,

 Brent Grimbsy
President, CEO, MBA, BSC, NBC, DeET, LDA, MlPH

Oops Brief: Surprise Agenda

/ Karina Pinella / 14 Comments
allergy related accident

Image: Pixabay

The boardroom is full today because the company’s former Chairman, Mr. Ralph Finley, is in attendance to make a special endowment to the R&D group, among others. Twenty people sit around the rectangular conference table, all waiting for Mr. Finley, who is having a coughing fit. In between blowing his nose, he mutters to them, “Allergies, I forgot to take something for them today.” The people murmur their understanding. Suddenly, Mr. Finley sneezes so hard, his dentures fly out of his mouth and clatter on the table. For a moment, no one seems to breathe; the only sound is the clacking of teeth.

An American Toil

/ Karina Pinella / 5 Comments
work all day

Image: Pixabay

Terri toils all day, stopping for lunch only to eat some stale bread sopped in dishwater soup. No relief until the sun sets and traffic is nil. Darkness envelopes Terri as she climbs aboard the bus. Her mood is black even though her commute is short. A blessing for others, but she sees it as a brief pause before going to another place of toil. She gets home and feeds her hungry latchkey kids. Supper is last night’s leftover rice and beans. Off to bed with tummies full of gas. The next day is another run-of-the-mill, nose-to-the-grind-day.

Oops Brief: The Trail

/ Karina Pinella / 11 Comments
Image: Pixabay

Image: Pixabay

Mary Jo rushes to the airport’s public restroom. She has less than five minutes to greet Drew Hanson in the meeting lounge. He is one of her company’s bigger accounts and she has been sent to give him their preliminary report. As a habit drilled into her as a child, she quickly lines the seat with toilet tissue. She sits and relieves herself. After washing her hands, she dashes out, unaware of the toilet paper trailing behind her like a bride going down the aisle. Her face is ablaze with enthusiasm as she eagerly goes forth to make a good impression in her first client meeting.

Office Romance

/ Karina Pinella / 2 Comments
Image: Pixabay

Image: Pixabay

Stacey glides her fingers through Joe’s hair, as she walks by his work area. He playfully bats her fingers away but he likes the tingling he feels in his spine from her light touch.
Continue reading →

Oops Brief: Aggressive Lint

/ Karina Pinella / 6 Comments

On the 4th floor in Suite 404, Felicity is suited to present her first presentation on fine footwear to the Board. Her watch tells her she has a minute to inventory herself: video remote  control in her hand – check; laser pointer in her suit jacket pocket – check; a cheat sheet for Q&A later – check. She glances down at her shoes and is alarmed to see the amount of lint clinging to her trouser socks.

lint2

Seeking Motivation

/ Karina Pinella / 2 Comments

“Hey, Boss, I’m losing my way here. I think I need a reboot.”

Reimaged from Pixabay ©2015 Karina Pinella

Reimaged from Pixabay
©2015 Karina Pinella

A Rainy Day and Monday Get Me Dow(n)

/ Karina Pinella / 3 Comments

The Dow (I)
At times harsh like hail,
Or can be steady as rain
Is the Dow’s nature.

Images from Wikimedia-Creative Commons/Public Domain

Images from Wikimedia-Creative Commons & Public Domain-Clarence White

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dow (II)
At times bad weather,
Crystal ball cannot predict
Dow Jones’ twitchiness.

Straight Face to Straitjacket

/ Karina Pinella / Leave a comment

Clowns abound and they can be found in the work place too. I remember one in particular from several jobs ago. I’ll call him Bozo so I won’t be sued. He worked harder to make my boss laugh than he did doing his job as an individual contributor. I think it was because my boss had a reputation of being a prig with a sprig up his thingamajig. That he had only one expression—straight faced—gave Bozo a challenge he didn’t find while working in Accounts Receivable.

A brief about my boss—it was rumored that he was born at the Company*, where he started at the ground level and after throwing people under the bus and stabbing their backs, he eventually pulled himself up to VP class. He was not in the corner office just yet, although he made it clear to those who counted that he would rule from there some day. (Last time I heard he is still eyeing that carpeted real estate.) Continue reading →

Tickle Me Pink

/ Karina Pinella / Leave a comment

Like a beetle knocked down on its back,
With its reedy legs fluttering up in the air,
Us drones, minions, working stiffs
Flounder about in our tedious routines–

Crunching numbers, pushing papers,
While the bigwigs think of ways
To stretch our time and pay
So thinly, so third quarter results
Can outperform prior year’s figures.

Tickle us pink, why don’t you?

Better than a pink slip . . . I think?

©2015 Karina Pinella