Just One of the Herd

Response to Medium Magic microfiction prompt: “You ate a food and are taking on it’s characteristics Willie Wonka style.”

“What a stupid Yid! I don’t know why I’d expect more from a Yid married to a Wop! I don’t know which of you is worse!” The man in the three piece suit strode from the room.

Once he’d gone, another man got up and approached a woman who was working at her desk, “Hey, Carrie. You never got back to me on the petition. After that last outburst, don’t you think we need to do something?”

“But Miles is our manager, our leader, Devon. Maybe he’s a little outspoken . . .”

“Outspoken? You call that outspoken? I really don’t understand you. You’re Jewish! You live in an Italian neighborhood, have tons of Italian friends. You know better. How can you not be insulted and offended by that?”

“He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just. . . passionate.”

“No, he’s a bigot and a narcissist who hurts everyone who works under him. The board needs to know.”

“But it’s an honor to work here. Not many people will ever have this chance. And they’re grooming Miles to take over as CEO some day. “

“I don’t care! It’s no honor to work somewhere where people are abused all the time. And we’ve only heard about his possible future as CEO from him.”

“I know there are others who don’t agree with you and didn’t sign your petition.”

“Carrie, you realize that he looks down on you, on anyone who’s different from him, right? He doesn’t respect you or Raul in accounting or John in HR. He hates women, anyone who’s born in another country, or over 50, or is a different religion than he is, or has a different skin tone than his. Do you really think that’s okay?”

“He doesn’t, not really. He’s just . . .”

“Passionate. So you’ve said.” Devon went back to his desk. He was disgusted when, a few hours later, Carrie joined a group of others who were on their way to hear Miles speak about how to climb the corporate ladder. “It’s not as if she’ll be given the chance,” he muttered under his breath.

He was eating lunch in the corporation’s upscale cafe when Carrie returned with the group of coworkers who’d also gone to the presentation. They were all talking animatedly. Devon hoped she wouldn’t bring them all over to eat with him and he was in luck. They all said goodbye to Carrie, (he actually snorted when he saw a few air kisses) and she got her lunch and sat down beside him, her eyes bright with excitement.

“Oh my God, Devon, you missed such a great talk! Miles was just brilliant! He shared his own history with us from his days at Harvard Business School to being hired here, right out of school. He made manager in 5 years, can you believe it?”

“With a Harvard MBA? Why did it take him so long?”

“That’s just sour grapes, and you know it.”

“I don’t think you’re using that saying correctly.”

“Oh, now who’s being insulting and a bigoted jerk? You think I’m stupid because I’m a woman . . “

“Hey, wait a minute. I didn’t say anything of the kind, nor do I think it! I simply was commenting on one saying which you actually were using to insult me.”

“Oh really? So you think I’m being hysterical? I don’t have a wandering uterus, I’ll have you know. Mine stays right where it’s supposed to, thank you very much!”

“What are you talking about? I never said anything about you being hysterical or suggested anything derogatory about you. I was just remarking on a silly saying, that’s it. Where is this coming from?”

“I think you’re jealous, am I using that word right? You’re jealous because I’m a member of the in-crowd and you aren’t!”

“Yeah, because I don’t want to be a sycophant to an egotistical bully who looks down on anyone who isn’t a wealthy white male! I hate to tell you this, but just because you hang around with a bunch of people who are following him around blindly like little lost lambs, doesn’t mean he’ll ever put you on track for any kind of promotion. Or haven’t you noticed there are no women and no minorities that are supervisors?”

“Because none of them has managed to meet the criteria. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

“Oh yes it does. At least it won’t as long as he’s here!”

Tempers were clearly running high, and the two silently decided to cut things short before they got completely out of control. Several minutes went by before Devon tried to break the tension.

“What did you get for lunch?”

“The lamb stew, you?” Carrie asked.

“The roasted goose. I’ll give them this, they sure do put on a spread for meals. Where else would you find goose for lunch?” Devon looked over at Carrie and became concerned. She didn’t look right, “Carrie? Everything okay?”

She looked at him, panicked, “I feel really baaaaad, baaaaad, bad all of a sudden.”

By then, Devon was feeling a bit strange himself. His neck was hurting terribly and if felt as if his arms were being pulled into his sides.

“I can’t stand up,” Carrie wailed.

Devon looked over then down to see Carry on the floor on her hands and knees. No, not knees. All of a sudden her legs seemed really short and they ended in. . . hooves?

He couldn’t concentrate on that though, because his arms now seemed attached to his sides somehow and it felt like someone had grabbed his head and was pulling it up, stretching his neck until it was agony. He tried to tell Carrie to get help but the only thing that came out was a strange sounding. . . honk?

Devon tried to look a plea at Carrie but was distracted by the shock of white, fluffy hair that now covered her. . . er, all over. She looked his plea back at him.

“Baaaaaaa!”

“Honk!”

By now the others in the cafe had noticed what was happening and ran for the door. This happened right when Miles was about to enter and he was practically trampled by the crowd rushing from the restaurant.

“What the . . .?” Miles started to ask as the crowd thinned, only to be knocked down by a large sheep running behind the crowd loudly baaaing as if trying to catch up to them. He started to get up, thinking the danger had passed, only to be pecked quite viciously by some enormous bird that had swooped down at him from out of nowhere, honking as it flew away and out an open window.

— — — — — — — — — —

In News Today:

Miles Smith, a manager at the prestigious Stardust Technologies, resigned yesterday after some sort of disturbance occurred at the corporate headquarters. There were reports that Smith had a psychotic break around lunchtime and had to be involuntarily committed to a mental hospital where he was sent for emergency treatment . The company spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

The space tourism company has expanded its operations to build a fleet of passenger shuttles after buying out SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, Orion Span and Boeing over the last decade. They will begin flights sometime in the coming year.

Most people are probably familiar with what is called a “herd mentality.” Sheep have an extremely strong herd mentality. Get one to go and they will all go. Sheep represent people who follow someone without thinking about it. Some people will blindly follow a leader and not change their behavior or opinion even when presented with strong evidence that counters the leader’s position.

A “herd person” doesn’t have a enough confidence or a strong enough will stand up to others. Herd mentality limits personal growth, self-reflection, deliberation and rationality. Sheep, will actually follow one another off a cliff. Seriously. In 2005, a sheep jumped off a cliff and over 1500 sheep followed! Unfortunately, metaphorically, so will people. The name of the character Carrie comes from Kari which is Estonian for herd.

A wild goose represents someone who is a leader. When a goose leads, they are bold and dominant, yet can easily get the entire group to work together and remain in the proper formation. People who are similar to geese are quick to have others follow in their footsteps because they respect and admire the leader’s actions and views.

“Geese people” feel secure in their choices and ideas. At the same time, when the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and lets another goose take it position. This represents a person who is confident in their ability to lead and not so egotistical to think that others can’t lead as well. They understand that it pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As a totem, the goose represents spiritual enlightenment.

I had trouble coming us with a normal sounding name that translated into goose. Ending up taking a rather circuitous route. I learned Goose is actually a surname in England, spelled Goce, Goss, Gosse, Goose, (and others) which is associated with Devon and Cornwall. So I chose Devon.

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