Stitch Together (part 7)

The Minnow Sewing Machine Company is comprised of three departments. I chose the flavors of Neapolitan ice cream because it's a colorful way to distinguish between them. The sales and marketing department, of which i was part of was located on the south side, in the pink section. Machine production was in the middle of the shop on the ground floor. On the north side of the building was purchasing, shipping and the parts department. In reality, there was nothing sweet about Minnow, it was more akin to rancid, curdling milk- make you wanna vomit.

Now as I was saying in part 6, the thin facade (or chocolate shell, since we're on an ice cream metaphor) was melting away fast, once Josh (the fashion designer) started working. Josh was a great guy, very humble, sincere, and funny. He fetched a ride in with Rick and Lolly (who all lived in Providence). Josh was working three days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and wasn't even making enough to pay his bills.

By this time it was around Thanksgiving and we were all looking forward to a long weekend to get away from the chaos that we called work. On the Wednesday before the holiday, Josh, who wasn't doing anything anyways (because Todd didn't have anything for him to do) decided not to come in and rejoined us, on the Monday after turkey day. We all came back to work, rejuvenated after our holiday and ready to deal with another week of madness at 8:00 am. Geoff and I were the first in the pink section (besides Todd) and we were settling in when Rick, Lolly and Josh arrived a few minutes later.

Josh's dark room "design studio" was attached to our office space through a door, that was in direct line with Todd's office. As soon as Josh walked through the door, Todd caught a glimpse of him and charged after him, like a man possessed. I knew it was going to be drama, by the look in his eyes and the fervor with which he stomped in there, slamming the door behind him. We actually nicknamed Todd: Stompy, because he acted like an enraged rhinoceros, stomping around the office, displaying his (pseudo) prowess like some wild animal.

About five minutes later, Todd came out of the dark room and seated himself in his office not saying a word. Then, about half an hour later, Josh comes through the outside door with his girlfriend, who works in Providence!!! I'm thinking: "what the hell is going on here?" I later found out that Todd cornered Josh and demanded to know where he was the prior Wednesday. Todd stated, he didn't come in because he didn't have anything to do. This infuriated Todd and he blew a gasket and fired Josh on the spot. Showing his true colors, Todd told him to leave through the side door, so as not to let us know what had just transpired. But it came back to bite Stompy, because Josh had to collect all his belongings and get a ride home (because he carpooled). So, when Josh walked through the door with his girlfriend, the cat was out of the bag and we all knew what happened. Todd's plan for a clean break was up in smoke.

Now we, on the pink side were a tight knit bunch, who looked out for each other. After seeing what happened to Josh, I almost blew a gasket myself and gave Todd a piece of my mind. I was ready to quit on the spot to vindicate my friend Josh, but I couldn't- because I needed the money and I didn't have any other job offers. So, I bit my tongue and bid Josh a happy farewell. But as the proverb states: "he who laughs last, laughs loudest" and I knew I would have the last laugh in the end...