The Cartoon of the Smoking Break Parrot

It really happened...

One day at smoking break, (no I, Toady was not out there) a lost soul (our "friend" Slider) was grieving for his poor, departed parrot. It seems that the parrot had died just a few days before and Slider was very sad. This was outside at some picnic tables which had been set up as a smoking area for those who insist on wasting everyone's time in such activities.

So, as Slider sat there blowing smoke and gossiping with his smoking cronies, a parrot flew up. It appeared to be a friendly parrot and Slider coaxed it onto his hand. He was so excited; it was like this parrot knew he was grieving and came to calm his broken heart. He posted signs and called the radio station, but no one ever claimed the parrot so he kept it.

Several of us were talking when Slider came in to tell us his great story. We were all incredulous at his good fortune. As soon as he left we stood looking at each other. Then someone had a parting quip: "Poor parrot, it will most likely die too." Everyone rolled on the floor with laughter.

We never heard of the parrot again. I assume it is in parrot heaven by now, unless it developed a smoking habit, in which case it is in smoker's heaven.

See the toon at: Smoking Parrot Cartoon

I Work For A PEST!!!!

It was a stupid, insignificant report. I don't know why they wanted it since no one looked at it. My cube mate was bugging me for my input. It would only take 5 minutes to get it for him, but I kept repressing the need to do so, since it was such a waste of time anyway.

So today, he says, "Toady, when are you going to get me that information?"

"Twinkles," I say, "Why do you keep bugging me about this rediculous garbage?"

He answered: "I'm sorry to be such a pest, BUT I WORK FOR ONE AND I CAN'T GET HIM OFF MY BACK UNTIL YOU GIVE ME THIS STUPID PIECE OF INFORMATION!"

I gave him the info.

It wasn't funny at the time, but we had a good laugh over lunch.

See the 'toon at:
Work For A Pest; AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Pay Attention or Pay the Consequences

It was a good day, in a good week, until my dear mis-guided boss came in with a project he said would be perfect for me. We were ready to buy a new design from a new supplier. All I had to do was get engineering to sign off on some specs and order the parts.

It wasn't 5 minutes before the phone rang. Engineering wanted samples. I thought they had samples; "yes, but that so-and-so who was my boss knew a week ago they were bad and hadn't ordered any more." Now they had a deadline with the customer and the product wasn't ready to approve and if I didn't get them some parts the Sr. V.P. was going to shoot all of us. (Why me?)

The supplier feigned complete ignorance but managed to pull the proverbial rabbit out of their hat and after a significant amount of cursing, head knocking and grumbling we got the product approved only a few days late.

I went in to see my boss but couldn't talk to him. He was on the phone discussing his hunting lease. I know where his attention was focused. But I pay the consequences. AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!

To make matters worse, he took the VP hunting and still got his next promotion. (At least he was no longer my boss!)

Check out how I felt about it at Pay Attention or Pay the Consequences

Sheltered Shop Out-Performs The Birds

You can guess where this came from. We ordered some silk-screened t-shirts from a local (handicapped) sheltered workshop. The came back ahead of schedule and were perfect. Someone comented that we got better work out of them than we did out of management. Someone else pitched in with a why, and I was writing.

Future 'toons will be related to a local prison workshop and the chain gang labor which also worked pretty well.

Click here to see
Toady's cartoon about Sheltered Shops.

I Know Why I'm Having A Bad Day

This was a favorite line in one of the departments I worked in. Whenever someone was having a bad day, we told the victim he or she should have gone to church on Sunday.

Likewise, if something good happened we told the lucky party
it was a good thing they went, or if there was potential for a disaster we said we hoped they went.

It was always good for a chuckle in a tense moment.

I don't know where this originated, since they were doing it before I got to the department, but I give credit to one of my friends there. She said it before I did but we all used it sometimes. We had a lot of tense moments, but there was usually some fun to be had since the "root cause" was ALWAYS someone else. Little quips like: I hope you went to church on Sunday" helped keep things in perspective.
I should note that we rarely knew, or cared, who went to church on any given Sunday. It was not a religious statement, but thought of concern for a friend in a tight situation, and a subtle acknowledgement that with the right help we could always pull out a miracle for our crazy customers.

Repentance on a Bad Day Cartoon showing Toady under his problem bricks.