On September the 11th, 2001, terrible attacks were carried out against this nation and we all made a promise that we would never forget them. We promised as a way of honoring the memory of those who we lost in the tragedy. We promised so that we would always remember what this country stands for, and what we stand to lose if we should ever weaken our resolve against those who would seek to (etc., etc.) But also, and maybe not as importantly, but still pretty importantly I think you will agree, we promised never to forget that day so that we would never accidentally schedule an office-wide "ice cream social" on its 7 year anniversary. This is the story of one man...who broke that promise.
On Monday the 1st, my boss slapped a phone number on my desk. It would put me in touch with local ice cream professional, Jeff, about planning an ice cream party for our department. It was a task one notch above the usual data entry, and two notches above sitting and staring blankly at my hands. I was excited.
"Great! What day were you thinking?"
"Set it for next Thursday. I'm going to a meeting."
It was confusing. As far as I knew, we had ALL made the promise. But if I've learned anything from the multiple
presidencies of George W. Bush, it’s that you won’t get anywhere second-guessing the bad ideas of a superior. I scheduled the party. "Thursday...the 11th?" Jeff wanted to know, "We uh...yeah, no, we can do it. We’re uh...pretty wide open that day."
No shit, Jeff. So what flavors were you thinking?
When my boss returned from his meeting and I served up the news he was satisfied. Then, just before he got to his office and I totally abandoned all hope of avoiding this grizzly debacle, he yelled "Oh, shit!"
I didn’t know how to play it. Should I pretend to have forgotten too, help him save face? Or should I act relieved and feign like I was about to call him on it myself? I never got the chance to decide.
"I’m leaving town on the 11th! Eh, whatever. You can handle this on your own, right? I mean," he chuckled, "you’re not a COMPLETE screw-up!"
Of course, my boss isn’t the one to blame here. Who I should really be blaming is Iran. We all know that’s the place where terrorism was born. Right?
