Jason sat nervously waiting for his pitch to the board meeting. When he arrived in the waiting area, the receptionist, Lori, told him to sit next to a man in a clown suit.
“Harvey the clown,” the clown said, waving with a rubber chicken in his hand.
“Jason, junior marketing strategist,” Jason said. “What are you presenting to the board?”
“I think I’m here for some sort of kids’ birthday party,” Harvey said, shrugging. When Lori called for Harvey to go into the boardroom, his shoes squeaked down the hallway. He entered the room to laughs from the board.
Jason looked at Lori. She shrugged, “I don’t know why he’s here.”
The next few minutes were torture for Jason. Already nervous about his marketing pitch, the laughter from the board made his confidence dive. Who wants to follow a clown?
Then the popping noises started, causing Jason to jump up.
“Are they shooting at him?” Jason asked.
“No,” Lori said, looking at a message on her screen. “They’re popping balloon animals.”
What kind of schedule was this? Get everyone riled up and then present a marketing proposal? Jason didn’t want a warmup comic. He wanted the board to barely pay attention to him.
The laughter intensified. It was every worst nightmare that Jason could imagine—getting laughed out of a boardroom. At least the clown was used to it.
Then the clown came rushing out in tears as the board members threw wadded-up balls of paper at him. He didn’t stop but just continued down the hall, sobbing loudly.
Lori received an alert on her computer and looked at Jason.
“They’re ready for you.”