Morning all. I hope you are having a fantastic morning. I am actually feeling pretty good today. I got up early enough to water before the day really started, which is nice. The air feels thick with moisture so perhaps today we will actually get some rain and I won’t need to water tomorrow morning. I am not counting on it. Lately the moisture just wants to hang in the air instead of fall from the sky, despite what the weather man says. Still the day is off to a good start. So let’s see if we can continue that into the morning prompt. Timers at the ready and off we go!
I actually like the sight of Calvin and his bobbing assistant in this. Even if I don’t use this story line, I may take them and put them in something.
Tuesday, May 16th: We must adapt.
“We must adapt,” Calvin said.
Laura nodded looking like a bobble head as she agreed with the statement. “Adapt,” she repeated. “Of course, that is exactly what we should do.” The nodding continued and Sarah wondered if her neck would snap.
Satisfied that his point had been made, Calvin turned and strode away. His hands were clasped behind his back and he had a satisfied air about him. Laura turned and trotted after him, her steps mincing so she needed to take five for each one of his long strides.
Sarah sighed. This was not the first time she had been told to adapt. It was not even the fifteenth time she had been told to adapt. This year it seemed she had been doing nothing but adapting. She adapted when the budget was cut, finding less expensive materials that were still of the quality they needed. She adapted when the staffing budget was cut and people were let go. She adapted again when more people had to be let go. She adapted when shipping delays caused problems. Each time something out of her control happened, she adapted.
The problem was that she was rapidly running out of ways she could adapt. This budget cut might just be the straw that broke her department’s back. She had no excess staff to cut. They had been paired back to a skeleton crew already. And then they became a skeleton with a few bones missing. She now had the lowest cost for their supplies possible. She cut anything even remotely considered excess from the budget months ago. In fact there were a few things cut that probably shouldn’t have been, but it was the only way to keep moving forward.
‘And now this,’ Sarah thought. She glanced down at the paper. She saw the numbers. She saw the percent reduction. She swallowed back several rather unsavory words. It might be possible to adapt again. Maybe. An idea glimmered in the back of her head.
There were a couple of ways to possibly make it work. She swallowed back her frustration. She understood the need for a tight budget and had been doing her part. She just wished that other departments could adapt as well. Just that morning it was announced that due to record profits the upper echelons of the office the VPs, the CEOs and their assorted staff were getting bonuses for jobs well done.
And extra budget cut on top of that news was a hard pill to swallow. Sarah retreated to her office to work on shifting things about and getting the numbers to be where they were needed. The thought of it made her headache, but she knew it was a job her team needed.
Sarah glanced through the window to the floor and saw several eyes slide her way. They knew Calvin was here and they knew what his presence meant. “This is the last time,” she told herself. This was the last cut she could actually make and still have her division function. It would be rough, but it could be done.
“We just can’t do any more adapting.” Sarah shook her head as she powered up the computer and began to make the required changes. As she worked she knew that despite this being the last set of cuts she could make, someone would be sent down to ask her to make more. It wouldn’t be this week, but it wouldn’t be too far away. She wondered what would happen then.
Ten til Midnight 