Protected By . . . . . . . .!
All humans have something that protects them or harms them. What protects you from HARM?
Helen Francis, President of Stevens Industries stared at the nine males and nine females facing her around the long oval wooden table. She intends to remove Denise Hamil from her vice-president position. It was time for her to go. Clara, her best friend, was more than qualified for that position. She had the power to ask for her removal, but she needed the employees to vote against her.
“You know why I am here,” she said staring at them, trying to read their expression. Their faces revealed nothing as they nodded.
“Denise must go, and we can’t remove her without you. The vote doesn’t have to be unanimous. But the majority will be accepted,” she explained, handing out small pieces of white paper and pens.
“All you have to do is to write stay or go. No one will know who wrote what.”
Each employee took the paper and wrote on it without a second thought. Fold it and put it in the basket she passed around.
Tommy, the manager, took the basket and waited for Helen’s instructions.
She nods and he reads, ‘STAY’ eighteen times.
In shock, Helen demands, “What the hell is going on?”
“We don’t want her to go,” several employees said.
“But you complained about her and the things she did,” Helen protests.
“She isn’t perfect, and neither are we,” they explained.
“I don’t get it. You complained. I am doing something about it, and you go against me,” Helen questioned the results.
“What complaints?” someone asked.
Helen quickly grabbed a file on the table to her left and began to read.
“That was five years ago,” one employee notified.
“That one, is ten years ago when I was new, and we were just getting to know each other.” someone else explained.
“That complaint was a misunderstanding and I asked to have it removed,” another person states.
“All of those complaints are stale,” several voices inform in protests.
“Yeah, Denise is kind to me,” a female shared.
“She is very understanding of the problems that are affecting my ability to do my job,” someone else adds.
“That kind heart forgave me for being stupid and showed me a better way to do my job.”
“That angel picked me up when my car was in the shop and took me home every day for three weeks. I would have lost my job because I had no way of getting to work.”
“She took the time to explain things to me when I first started working here ten years ago.”
“My daughter got a job because of her recommendations and she doesn’t even know her.”
“My son got an A in math thanks to her son tutoring him for free.”
“My daughter too and he helped her to score high marks on her SATs.”
“She got an internship for my boys at the prestigious Lane’s Law Firm.”
Helen listened in shock as each employee praised Denise for her kindness to them and their family. Anger and disappointment tearing apart inside of her, she shouts, “You are protecting her?”
“We don’t have to,” someone said.
“She is already protected by love, kindness, thoughtfulness, understanding, forgiveness, and all of the good things she does for us,” someone explained.
“She isn’t perfect, and we do have our fights, but her heart is in a good place. With the people who work for her.”
“Yeah,” someone else adds. “She takes the time to know us and our needs. We never see you. Now you want us to help you to destroy her?”
Shock held Helen, as fear swept through her.
“She is protected by the good she does. You can’t touch her,” someone in the audience said.
“If anyone must leave, it’s you!”
All humans have something that protects them or harms them. Good deeds, actions, choices, decisions, intentions, etc. will protect you. The opposite for the bad ones.
For 2024, what protects you from HARM?
A Kinder New Year to everyone!
Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoy it and will savor more from some talented writers on this platform, whose links are below.
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