BloggeRhythms

 A Ukrainian comparison.

Hired as a leasing sales representative by Continental Leasing Corp. of Bedford, MA for their  Metuchen, NJ office, having sold Allis-Chalmers fork lift trucks for the prior five years, a rise to “Regional Manager” came soon after.

Continental’s primary business involved day-to-day rental of electronic test equipment (oscilloscopes, wave generators, power supplies, etc.) customer’s immediate needs spurring linkage of several national offices. WATTS lines with high-volume speakerphones enabled listening personnel elsewhere to quickly fulfill equipment requirements, if needed.

Gearing for a for a public offering, required my boss, Paul Gass,  VP of Sales, attendance at due diligence meetings, thereby unavailable to me. A home-office Regional Manager, Dick Stetson, stepped in to help. Not the brightest bulb in anyone’s chandelier, Stetson soon discovered the speakerphone lines, using them to discuss financial information submitted to corporate credit regarding lease financing applicants.

Objecting strenuously, believing applicant’s information be kept confidential, certainly where potential overhearing existed in other national locations by employees, customers, or anyone else nearby, those calls went unanswered, immediately returned on a standard landline.

Speakerphone calls ignored, believing the negative “attitude” taken toward cost-effectiveness unacceptable, wanting to address the issue in person, Stetson demanded he be picked up the following morning at Newark airport, to discuss the issue face to face.

Next morning, proceeding to the NJ turnpike and the Metuchen office from Newark,  Stetson began listing attitudinal issues found unacceptable, fully expecting complete conciliation. Instead, refusing acquiescence to this self-impressed cipher, merely filling in for my actual superior, the reply was something along the lines of “Take a hike, you flea-brained clown.” Enraged, losing composure entirely, Stetson loudly squawked: “You’re fired!”

Upon those words, the car immediately swerved to a stop in the turnpike’s far-left hand service lane, half-way between exits 13 and 12, the area bordered by a virtual no-man’s land of Jersey swamp. There, Stetson was told to get out, words something like “This is my car you dunce, If I’m no longer employed, you can walk to Metuchen on your own.”

Parked alongside the median turnpike fence; the shocked Stetson was in quite a quandary whereas if he opened his passenger door a speeding semi would likely have torn off his arm. Yet, if he stayed where he was, in my car, I told him I’d break his nose.

Beginning to choke-up, Stetson’s supposed managerial superiority evaporating, the car was pulled over to the pike’s right-hand side. To be left there, standing on the bordering grass, belongings tossed alongside him.

To this day, whatever Stetson did next, where he went or how he got there, remains unknown nor cared about an iota.

Next morning, independently brokering the first of a slew of “deals, “things went straight up careerwise from there. Paul Gass called quite a few times after, labeling the whole situation a misunderstanding as Stetson overstepped his bounds regarding my employment, performance, or anything else of concern in any way at all. Responding that certainly no issue existed with Paul, thanking him for the PHD level education provided,  no real need was seen for working for anyone other than myself.

When advantageous, sales positions accepted over time, truly never “working” for others than myself, other “Stetson” types have been encountered along the way. Be that as it may, there are always ways to leave them at the side of a road someplace in the middle of nowhere (metaphorically speaking) absolutely, unequivocally certain that they knew who it was that did the leaving.

What does any of this have to with Ukraine? As mentioned here before, the U.S. budget currently exceeds 23 trillion dollars, while at the same time huge decisions are made by many totally inept, unskilled, inexperienced “managers,” literally experimenting their inane ideas while new to Congressional offices. In that regard, had an inexperienced, incapable Stetson not focused on the nickels and dimes of phone bills, but on transactions themselves, countless “deals” would have been done for Continental whereas my departure would not have occurred.  

Similarly, had the inexperienced, unprepared, incapable former Bronx barmaid not made irrational demands in Congress, shutting down U.S. oil production capacity, best and cleanest in the world, Putin wouldn’t have had the funds to invade Ukraine. The world would have remained safe, while inflation would be nowhere near 7% or more.

So, just like Stetson’s arrogant ineptitude caused a company’s loss of millions of dollars in productivity, forcing their top producers departure, the flea-brained beer-slinger and her “greens“ idiotically instigated the loss of Ukraine.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

PS: The Bronx barmaid’s brother died. A karate expert, he joined the army. The first time he saluted, he killed himself.