Larry couldn’t tell if he was surprised by the sparse turnout to the middle manager luncheon or if it was about what he expected. The Ramada Inn’s third-biggest conference hall only had 22 people seated for the lunch conference.
Larry was sitting at a 10-person table with two other people very spread out. It was hard to talk to the other two people, but for Larry, it was harder to eat. He was supposed to speak about his experience as a middle manager, but he kept flipping through his notecards.
The lulling background music faded as the staff served lunch, and a 23rd person entered the room. Larry almost dropped his notecards out of shock. It was the famous Detective Rick Recluse walking towards the stage. Recluse was Larry’s friend who would eat lunch with Larry, get bored with Larry and solve some international mystery as a response to his boredom.
Recluse walked directly towards the stage, and a guy at Larry’s table whispered, “Is that the great detective?”
Larry ignored the man as Recluse took the stage.
“Thank you all for attending today’s middle manager luncheon. I want to bring up today’s speaker to give his great insights for our luncheon topic. I’ve known him for a long time. His name is Larry. Larry, come on up here.”
Recluse clapped enthusiastically as Larry made it up on the stage. There was small applause from everyone else. Recluse shook Larry’s hand as Larry whispered, “Did you pay these people to come to a luncheon?”
“No, all of these people just wanted the catered lunch that the Ramada Inn provides,” Recluse said, smiling. “You deserve to talk about middle management. It’s great.”
Larry wanted to run out of the room and never think about middle management again, but despite Recluse’s presence, Larry was a good soldier. He couldn’t let the audience down. Recluse took a seat, and Larry began to talk.
“I’ve learned as a middle manager that you’re in a constant game of tug of war. Actually, being caught in the middle applies to all levels of management. Everyone has a boss. Whether it’s your mother-in-law, the shareholders, a wealthy donor or your customers, we all answer to someone.”
Larry tried to start the next notecard, but it was out of order. He shuffled and fumbled for a minute. He improvised, “You know I started as a Carhop at Sonic. On roller skates. This one time…”
“Wait, that’s it,” Recluse said, jumping up from his chair in the front row. “There has to be a hidden third entrance! I solved the case.”
Recluse started to run out the door to enthusiastic applause from the 21 other hall members. Recluse stopped for just a minute to wave to the crowd before disappearing.