Pulpy and Midge Read Online Free PDF

put him on my desk.’
    â€˜But it’s so nice and bright here, with the window. I think it wants to stay with me.’
    â€˜Well,’ said Pulpy.
    â€˜Besides, you have to get to the boardroom. It’s the new boss’s first meeting so you better hurry up. It’s an
all-staff
meeting, except I have to cover the desk. So now I’m not included in parties
or
meetings.’
    â€˜There’s a meeting?’ He rushed for the stairs, but the receptionist kept talking.
    â€˜Am
I
not staff? You would think when there’s an all-staff meeting,
all
staff would be invited. But I guess that’s not the way it works anymore.’ She looked at him standing there. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’
    He took the steps two at a time, certain that the fish was watching him go.
    â€˜We need a vision statement,’ Dan was saying when Pulpy tiptoed into the boardroom. ‘And we need it now.’

    Nobody said anything. There were about thirty staff members sitting in a semi-circle around the big boardroom table, with Dan at the head of it. One of Al’s red retirement balloons, now partially deflated, still adorned one corner of the room.
    Pulpy looked for an empty seat.
    Dan folded his hands in front of him. ‘So we are going to sit here and write a vision statement, and nobody leaves until it’s done.’
    There were a few murmurs at this.
    â€˜Are there any questions?’ Dan noticed Pulpy and nodded at him.
    Pulpy nodded back and sat down quickly between Roy from Customer Service and Carmelita from the Parts Department.
    Carmelita raised her hand.
    â€˜Yes?’ said Dan. ‘And what’s your name?’
    â€˜Carmelita,’ said Carmelita. “From the Parts Department.”
    â€˜Yes, Carmelita?’ Dan smiled at her. ‘Stand up so we can get a look at you.’
    She turned her head from side to side and then stood, slowly.
    Dan continued to smile.
    Carmelita crossed her arms over her chest. ‘What’s a vision statement?’
    Dan was silent. Then he put his elbows on the table and put his hands together and said, ‘Ah.’
    Carmelita sat down.
    â€˜I’m glad you asked, actually, because you all need to know the answer.’ Dan leaned forward. ‘A vision statement is the statement of a company’s vision, put into words. It’s about how the company sees itself. That’s the vision part. The statement part is the words themselves.’ He sat back, looking pleased with himself.
    Roy elbowed Pulpy. Pulpy didn’t know how to respond to that. Then Roy’s hand went up.

    â€˜Yes?’ said Dan.
    â€˜Roy here.’ Roy stood. ‘From Customer Service. Why, exactly, do we need a vision statement?’
    â€˜Why?’ said Dan. ‘I think that’s obvious.’
    â€˜Not really,’ said Roy. ‘Al never thought we needed one.’
    Pulpy sunk lower in his chair and there was some laughter around the semi-circle, but Dan wasn’t smiling.
    â€˜Al ran his show his way, and I’m running my show my way.’ Dan leaned forward a little further, and his broad shoulders cast a shadow over the table in front of him. ‘So like I said, we need a vision statement.’
    Roy sat down. ‘What do you think of him?’ he whispered to Pulpy.
    â€˜Oh, well,’ said Pulpy, sensing Dan looking their way, ‘I think he’ll do a good job.’
    Another hand went up. This time it was Vince from Archiving.
    Dan frowned. ‘Yes?’
    Vince stood up. ‘Hi, I’m Vince from Archiving. The thing is, Al didn’t –’
    â€˜Excuse me,’ said Dan, ‘do you have a job here?’
    â€˜Yes?’ Vince looked confused. ‘I’m in Archiving.’
    â€˜Actually, the answer to that question I just posed would be no.’
    â€˜Sorry?’ Vince half-smiled and half-frowned, like he wasn’t getting a joke.
    â€˜Don’t be