At 8:14am on November 28, 2008, Earl Robbins said…
Here is the premise for "Antidote": If you are interested in any part of it, go to antidote.ning.com and sign up for a role.
“Nobody goes to that conference, there are just too many people there”, thought Tom, paraphrasing Yogi Berra, as he watched the Segue zoom by. How bad is it when the venue is so big that you have to have ground transportation to get around? “It’s just not worth the effort.” He was trying his best to be interested and forgiving of the ridiculous nature of this monstrous beast of a meeting but it just wasn’t working. He knew he had to get out of there but how to do it gracefully was escaping him at the moment. There were people who depended on him for leadership and direction and they could so easily be demotivated by such an attitude and action. But Tom was tired. Tired of fighting against an entire industry not only technically but in management strategies as well. In fact, in every aspect of his life, he was tired of fighting. He was tired of confronting negative personalities and negativity in general. Tom longed to find a positive person with whom he could share ideas someone who would add and not subtract, multiply and not divide. And to watch the very soulless people who are undermining the very core of what he had worked so long to create, gloat over their pillaging and plundering, was gut wrenching. But, alas, it was what it was and Tom knew he was not going to change it. So he decided for once in his life to do what was best for him and get the hell out of that place. He knew it was time to pass the torch on to younger less cynical and emotionally spent colleagues and no time was better than that moment.
So Tom went back to his hotel and called the front desk to check out but found out that he was going to be charged for another night whether he left or not. This was extremely irritating but he wasn’t able to argue his way out of the charge. He decided to stick it out one more day. The whole thing was exhausting so Tom decided to take a nap. He had blown off any desire to attend any sessions anyway so a refreshing siesta appeared to be a good interim solution. And it was.
After a while Tom got up and decided to head down to the pool for a drink and to just soak up some sunshine to see if he could life his spirits. It was kind of a chilly day so there were not many people out at the pool and only one or two in the pool at any time. But it was pleasant. The bartender tried to make conversation but Tom wasn’t interested. It was a beautiful day with a slight breeze swaying the leaves of the palm trees and the sounds of beach music being played though the pool area speakers. The pool experience did not do much to brighten up Tom’s attitude so he headed back up to his room to get ready to go out to dinner. While there he signed on to his computer and answered a few emails and wrote a couple of notes about a few ideas he read in the conference planner.
June was a very good employee. She was knowledgeable about her job, technically savvy and got along with the rest of the staff. She had been a part of the office for four years and had earned the good will of clients and coworkers alike. The consulting firm she worked for, Barnes and Werth had two partners and she and her boss, Joseph Barnes, worked very well together and had built a very strong clientele with a rock solid portfolio. In fact June had put so much time into her work that she had not had a day off in over a year and since her birthday was tomorrow, Friday the 13th, she had negotiated to have that day off to pamper herself, get her hair done, a pedicure and a facial. She just wanted to relax and bask in the glory of what she had accomplished and she had made sure that there were no issues to be dealt with on the day of her birthday. It was all set.
June was a very meticulous and detailed person who left nothing to chance so she had carefully made reservations for all of her birthday activities. She felt cheerful and relieved to have the time and to have her schedule set. Nothing could keep her from having a truly joyful day, and that was final. June was not married nor was she in any sort of relationship that would get in the way so she could relax and dream about what might happen that Friday night. She was going to shop for a new outfit after her pampering so she would be coifed, dressed and ready for the world that night. She planned to break a few hearts and soak up some well deserved attention. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself to be put in a position to be noticed and approached and she looked forward to it and maybe even longed for it a bit. And she would be a knockout for sure.
Tom had no idea what he was about to step into. He was just escaping a very bad situation that was tugging at his stomach and making him a little bit nuts. Being home would surely be so much better, so safe and warm. He began his preparations and got back to his hotel and checked out. It was only a two hour drive back to his house and it would go by very quickly. Then he would be rid of this sense of dread and uneasiness. Yes, this was the right thing to do.
Tom had an appointment at Barnes and Werth at three o’clock which he could now keep and not have to cancel. That was a relief as well but he knew that if he had canceled there would have been no negative recourse. He would have just rescheduled and since he was a very well known and well liked client at that office, they would be very forgiving. Either way, it was no big deal to Tom. Actually he was hoping that they had not forgotten since the appointment had been made months before and he was relatively uncertain then if he would be in town or not because of his conference. Tom was pretty sure he had confirmed but then he also knew that he had planned to cancel. So he would just show up and see what happened. Nothing to lose.
As Tom made his way home the Interstate droned by, one big long straightaway that seemed like too much of a metaphor for his existence. The straight and narrow, one direction, doing the right thing, trying to make the way for others easier, with blinders on never any time for himself. Maybe it was a chemical imbalance that was bringing on this bout of moroseness but whatever the cause there was definitely a battle going on inside him and it was not going to be settled easily. The miles and miles of asphalt and concrete were not helping, too much time to think and no clear path for those thoughts. Every way the thoughts went another group smashed into them and there was no resolution.
It was a pretty ordinary day at the office and nothing foretold the events that were going to change so many lives. It was business as usual and morning coffee was brewing, the schedule was set and not too hectic, all in all the prospects were optimal for a very pleasant day. But it was not to be. There was a confluence of events rushing down the dry river beds toward a flash flood of destruction. It was all so innocent, so benign in intent and yet so predictable but the players had no way from their experiences to understand the circumstances and be able to avert the impending catastrophe.
In Harold Werth’s office, Patty, one of his aide’s was having some difficulties. She was a single mom who was being harassed (my term) by the Social Security Administration and she had to be gone for a while to take care of the problem. In fact, she had to show up at the Social Security office in person and stay there until the problem was resolved. Now if you have had to do that you know this is no small task. And true to form on that day it was taking forever to finally get to the desk and then to wait and then to talk with someone and then to wait and so on and so on and so on. Patty called her office several times to let them know her progress and they were very understanding at first but there was a client coming in at three o’clock and she needed to be there. She knew that and was trying so hard to make it happen. But the time kept slip slip slipping away like the sands of an hourglass leaving her empty, hollow and cold.
Patty was serially monogamous, faithful in short time intervals but unlikely to have anything of substance in the way of a relationship. By some miracle she only had two kids but their fathers were not exactly the parenting types. They were more the one night stand types. But Patty was a very insecure person who craved the attention of men and easily gave herself to them for the slightest hint of commitment. Those commitments never panned out and she was always left behind and two times with kids. Patty loved those kids and would do anything for them including working in situations where she was not treated very well just to get money for clothes and food. Her formally taught skills were minimal but she was smart and learned quickly and she became an integral part of any office in which she worked, and there were more than a few. Why? Because Patty was a victim. Some people just have dark energy following them around and circumstances seem to always go against them. If there are layoffs, they are the ones to go. If there are unreasonable clients they are somehow always her s. If a tree falls, it is on her car. A black cloud just followed her around. She kept a good attitude about it and was a very outgoing and vivacious person in spite of it all. But she and those around her just waited for the next shoe to fall. Or tree. But you didn’t want to be near that tree.
Just at the three o’clock hour a representative came out of her office and told Patty that her matter had been resolved. It took about ten seconds for Patty to grab the papers, say her thanks and head out the door to her car. Thankfully it started and she raced back to the office and sprinted from the parking lot to the front door.
Who knows what possessed Joseph to call June and ask her to come into the office for a meeting but I do know he wished he hadn’t. To him it seemed like a small thing to ask since it fit his schedule and June had always been willing to comply with his wishes without any problems. So he did. It was a simple request that he intended to make so he was not ready for the reaction that he got. June was obviously very upset and was using words and a tone of voice that Joseph had never heard from her before and he didn’t like it very much at all. In fact he was quite perturbed by her reluctance to comply and so he insisted that she show up at the office so they could work this out. At that point neither of them intended to work it out. The anger was palpable and words escaped that were not easily going to get back into the word barn. June had her day set and even though her state of mind was going to be destroyed, her day was not. She had appointments and plans for most of the day and she intended to keep them regardless of the demand from Joseph that she come in to kowtow to his wishes.
June went about her business knowing that there was a big fight coming but the banter with the various professionals that worked on her body made it easier. She even vented a little bit to some of them who were righteous on her behalf and they stoked her fire even hotter than before. Her pedicurist told her that she should file a grievance. Her hairdresser advised her quit on the spot and find another job. At the gym she confided in a fellow treadmiller and was told not to let her boss get away with a trick like that. By the time she was done with her appointments, when she had planned to go shopping, she decided to go on into her place of business and get it over with. By that time it was getting close to three o’clock and June ruminated that Joseph would surely have been put in his place and would not be as cruel as he had been on the phone earlier.
What potion do you bring to me
A bitter pill with a sugar coat
That love you are so stingy with
Can turn a man into a goat
What I need is a good antidote
Foul winds that blow you here to me
You tore the rudder off my boat
The promises you made to me
Were poison in the words you wrote
What I need is a good antidote
Biology, sociology, physics in a bowl
Enzymes and hormones swirling around
Running hot and burning cold
Taking me up and throwing me down
In a virtual strangle hold
You give so much and take it away
Ramming it down my throat
Sailing away to the sunset
In a vessel that will not float
What I need is an antidote
Joseph Barnes was a good business consultant. He knew all of the ins and outs of business and the tricks of the trade. He was good at his job and made the clients with whom he worked more successful and profitable. He knew how to work with the people who came to him for advice and made them feel safe, secure and welcome. Joseph thought his acumen with clients translated to being good with his employees. He believed that whatever he did would be viewed as the correct course of action and would therefore be accepted without consideration. The problem was that Joseph did not put the time into knowing about his employees in the same way that he did his clients. As long as things were going fine and the business was successful, there weren’t many rough stretches to navigate and everyone in his office was pretty happy.
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“Nobody goes to that conference, there are just too many people there”, thought Tom, paraphrasing Yogi Berra, as he watched the Segue zoom by. How bad is it when the venue is so big that you have to have ground transportation to get around? “It’s just not worth the effort.” He was trying his best to be interested and forgiving of the ridiculous nature of this monstrous beast of a meeting but it just wasn’t working. He knew he had to get out of there but how to do it gracefully was escaping him at the moment. There were people who depended on him for leadership and direction and they could so easily be demotivated by such an attitude and action. But Tom was tired. Tired of fighting against an entire industry not only technically but in management strategies as well. In fact, in every aspect of his life, he was tired of fighting. He was tired of confronting negative personalities and negativity in general. Tom longed to find a positive person with whom he could share ideas someone who would add and not subtract, multiply and not divide. And to watch the very soulless people who are undermining the very core of what he had worked so long to create, gloat over their pillaging and plundering, was gut wrenching. But, alas, it was what it was and Tom knew he was not going to change it. So he decided for once in his life to do what was best for him and get the hell out of that place. He knew it was time to pass the torch on to younger less cynical and emotionally spent colleagues and no time was better than that moment.
So Tom went back to his hotel and called the front desk to check out but found out that he was going to be charged for another night whether he left or not. This was extremely irritating but he wasn’t able to argue his way out of the charge. He decided to stick it out one more day. The whole thing was exhausting so Tom decided to take a nap. He had blown off any desire to attend any sessions anyway so a refreshing siesta appeared to be a good interim solution. And it was.
After a while Tom got up and decided to head down to the pool for a drink and to just soak up some sunshine to see if he could life his spirits. It was kind of a chilly day so there were not many people out at the pool and only one or two in the pool at any time. But it was pleasant. The bartender tried to make conversation but Tom wasn’t interested. It was a beautiful day with a slight breeze swaying the leaves of the palm trees and the sounds of beach music being played though the pool area speakers. The pool experience did not do much to brighten up Tom’s attitude so he headed back up to his room to get ready to go out to dinner. While there he signed on to his computer and answered a few emails and wrote a couple of notes about a few ideas he read in the conference planner.
June was a very good employee. She was knowledgeable about her job, technically savvy and got along with the rest of the staff. She had been a part of the office for four years and had earned the good will of clients and coworkers alike. The consulting firm she worked for, Barnes and Werth had two partners and she and her boss, Joseph Barnes, worked very well together and had built a very strong clientele with a rock solid portfolio. In fact June had put so much time into her work that she had not had a day off in over a year and since her birthday was tomorrow, Friday the 13th, she had negotiated to have that day off to pamper herself, get her hair done, a pedicure and a facial. She just wanted to relax and bask in the glory of what she had accomplished and she had made sure that there were no issues to be dealt with on the day of her birthday. It was all set.
June was a very meticulous and detailed person who left nothing to chance so she had carefully made reservations for all of her birthday activities. She felt cheerful and relieved to have the time and to have her schedule set. Nothing could keep her from having a truly joyful day, and that was final. June was not married nor was she in any sort of relationship that would get in the way so she could relax and dream about what might happen that Friday night. She was going to shop for a new outfit after her pampering so she would be coifed, dressed and ready for the world that night. She planned to break a few hearts and soak up some well deserved attention. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself to be put in a position to be noticed and approached and she looked forward to it and maybe even longed for it a bit. And she would be a knockout for sure.
Tom had no idea what he was about to step into. He was just escaping a very bad situation that was tugging at his stomach and making him a little bit nuts. Being home would surely be so much better, so safe and warm. He began his preparations and got back to his hotel and checked out. It was only a two hour drive back to his house and it would go by very quickly. Then he would be rid of this sense of dread and uneasiness. Yes, this was the right thing to do.
Tom had an appointment at Barnes and Werth at three o’clock which he could now keep and not have to cancel. That was a relief as well but he knew that if he had canceled there would have been no negative recourse. He would have just rescheduled and since he was a very well known and well liked client at that office, they would be very forgiving. Either way, it was no big deal to Tom. Actually he was hoping that they had not forgotten since the appointment had been made months before and he was relatively uncertain then if he would be in town or not because of his conference. Tom was pretty sure he had confirmed but then he also knew that he had planned to cancel. So he would just show up and see what happened. Nothing to lose.
As Tom made his way home the Interstate droned by, one big long straightaway that seemed like too much of a metaphor for his existence. The straight and narrow, one direction, doing the right thing, trying to make the way for others easier, with blinders on never any time for himself. Maybe it was a chemical imbalance that was bringing on this bout of moroseness but whatever the cause there was definitely a battle going on inside him and it was not going to be settled easily. The miles and miles of asphalt and concrete were not helping, too much time to think and no clear path for those thoughts. Every way the thoughts went another group smashed into them and there was no resolution.
It was a pretty ordinary day at the office and nothing foretold the events that were going to change so many lives. It was business as usual and morning coffee was brewing, the schedule was set and not too hectic, all in all the prospects were optimal for a very pleasant day. But it was not to be. There was a confluence of events rushing down the dry river beds toward a flash flood of destruction. It was all so innocent, so benign in intent and yet so predictable but the players had no way from their experiences to understand the circumstances and be able to avert the impending catastrophe.
In Harold Werth’s office, Patty, one of his aide’s was having some difficulties. She was a single mom who was being harassed (my term) by the Social Security Administration and she had to be gone for a while to take care of the problem. In fact, she had to show up at the Social Security office in person and stay there until the problem was resolved. Now if you have had to do that you know this is no small task. And true to form on that day it was taking forever to finally get to the desk and then to wait and then to talk with someone and then to wait and so on and so on and so on. Patty called her office several times to let them know her progress and they were very understanding at first but there was a client coming in at three o’clock and she needed to be there. She knew that and was trying so hard to make it happen. But the time kept slip slip slipping away like the sands of an hourglass leaving her empty, hollow and cold.
Patty was serially monogamous, faithful in short time intervals but unlikely to have anything of substance in the way of a relationship. By some miracle she only had two kids but their fathers were not exactly the parenting types. They were more the one night stand types. But Patty was a very insecure person who craved the attention of men and easily gave herself to them for the slightest hint of commitment. Those commitments never panned out and she was always left behind and two times with kids. Patty loved those kids and would do anything for them including working in situations where she was not treated very well just to get money for clothes and food. Her formally taught skills were minimal but she was smart and learned quickly and she became an integral part of any office in which she worked, and there were more than a few. Why? Because Patty was a victim. Some people just have dark energy following them around and circumstances seem to always go against them. If there are layoffs, they are the ones to go. If there are unreasonable clients they are somehow always her s. If a tree falls, it is on her car. A black cloud just followed her around. She kept a good attitude about it and was a very outgoing and vivacious person in spite of it all. But she and those around her just waited for the next shoe to fall. Or tree. But you didn’t want to be near that tree.
Just at the three o’clock hour a representative came out of her office and told Patty that her matter had been resolved. It took about ten seconds for Patty to grab the papers, say her thanks and head out the door to her car. Thankfully it started and she raced back to the office and sprinted from the parking lot to the front door.
Who knows what possessed Joseph to call June and ask her to come into the office for a meeting but I do know he wished he hadn’t. To him it seemed like a small thing to ask since it fit his schedule and June had always been willing to comply with his wishes without any problems. So he did. It was a simple request that he intended to make so he was not ready for the reaction that he got. June was obviously very upset and was using words and a tone of voice that Joseph had never heard from her before and he didn’t like it very much at all. In fact he was quite perturbed by her reluctance to comply and so he insisted that she show up at the office so they could work this out. At that point neither of them intended to work it out. The anger was palpable and words escaped that were not easily going to get back into the word barn. June had her day set and even though her state of mind was going to be destroyed, her day was not. She had appointments and plans for most of the day and she intended to keep them regardless of the demand from Joseph that she come in to kowtow to his wishes.
June went about her business knowing that there was a big fight coming but the banter with the various professionals that worked on her body made it easier. She even vented a little bit to some of them who were righteous on her behalf and they stoked her fire even hotter than before. Her pedicurist told her that she should file a grievance. Her hairdresser advised her quit on the spot and find another job. At the gym she confided in a fellow treadmiller and was told not to let her boss get away with a trick like that. By the time she was done with her appointments, when she had planned to go shopping, she decided to go on into her place of business and get it over with. By that time it was getting close to three o’clock and June ruminated that Joseph would surely have been put in his place and would not be as cruel as he had been on the phone earlier.
What potion do you bring to me
A bitter pill with a sugar coat
That love you are so stingy with
Can turn a man into a goat
What I need is a good antidote
Foul winds that blow you here to me
You tore the rudder off my boat
The promises you made to me
Were poison in the words you wrote
What I need is a good antidote
Biology, sociology, physics in a bowl
Enzymes and hormones swirling around
Running hot and burning cold
Taking me up and throwing me down
In a virtual strangle hold
You give so much and take it away
Ramming it down my throat
Sailing away to the sunset
In a vessel that will not float
What I need is an antidote
Joseph Barnes was a good business consultant. He knew all of the ins and outs of business and the tricks of the trade. He was good at his job and made the clients with whom he worked more successful and profitable. He knew how to work with the people who came to him for advice and made them feel safe, secure and welcome. Joseph thought his acumen with clients translated to being good with his employees. He believed that whatever he did would be viewed as the correct course of action and would therefore be accepted without consideration. The problem was that Joseph did not put the time into knowing about his employees in the same way that he did his clients. As long as things were going fine and the business was successful, there weren’t many rough stretches to navigate and everyone in his office was pretty happy.