This time, her boss had gone too far, she thought, a little sadly. She had tried to warn him. He never listened to her. She was a woman, and he was old school. The boss knows what is right. Listening to anybody shows weakness. Especially a woman. The boss has to be strong. The boss has to be the leader. The boss has to be in control. When the boss speaks, you listen. Carefully. Or else. You never ever hint that the boss could be wrong.
She offered suggestions. She always made them as meek as possible, hoping he would take the hint. She had to let him think it was his idea.
Like the time she thought they should go after Macy’s as a client. She couldn ́t suggest that they go after Macy’s as a client. She had to be subtle. So she said to him, “Look at this new purse. I got it at Macy’s. My goodness, Macy’s is big.”
That planted the idea. Two days later, the boss came in and said, “We are going to go after Macy’s. They are very big and they carry purses. I think they are a perfect client for us.”
“Yes,” she said, “what a good idea.”
She had tried a similar approach today. They were driving out to see a client. Of course, they weren’t driving. He was driving. She was sitting in the passenger seat admiring his driving. That was her job.
Then he made a wrong turn. Because she had distracted him. So he had to turn around on a narrow road. She got out to direct him.
She tried to be subtle. “Oh, what nice turning,” she said. “You have plenty of room to pull forward.” But he ignored her and kept backing up.
She walked to the edge of the road and looked down. Hundreds of feet below, she could see the still smoking car. “Yes,” she thought, “this time, you really went too far.”
Spiritual questions:
- Do you listen to others?
- Do you really?
- Are you sure?
This is one of the Parables for the Spiritual but not Religious Series.
July 18, 2019 - This was written with the Roundhouse Writing Group in Santa Cruz, Guatemala, remotely from Guanajuato, Mexico. The writing prompt for the session was: This time her boss went too far.
The photograph of the man is by Hernán Piñera and made available through Creative Commons, some rights may be reserved.
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