After a hard week of work, I find myself at the farmers market, to restock my food and also to face the people who have just been laid off, after the collapse of the Lozenge Corporation. I find a place to park my pickup truck and I lift my cart out of the bed. Then I go shopping, pulling my cart and tapping along with my cane.
I get to a stand where, despite the season, they have some nice Idaho potatoes. I buy three pounds and put the potatoes in my cart.
I am then braced by Portia and Carol.
Carol snarls, “Well, you got your revenge against Denny. As a result, now we have no jobs.”
I sigh and lecture the ladies, “I did good work for the Lozenge Corporation and for Denny. Denny then fired me, refused to sign me out of a government security clearance, refused to pay me for the last two weeks of my work at the Lozenge Corporation and, at least, made it very difficult for me to get another job. I complained to the State Labor Department about my missing last two weeks of pay, my accrued pay in lieu of vacation and, as it later turned out, a couple of dollars of miscellaneous. The State Labor Department then summoned lawyers for the Lozenge Corporation into a State Labor Department hearing. The lawyers for the Lozenge Corporation then cited habeus corpus, ipso facto, a fortiori and possibly more. The State Labor Department guy said, not in Latin, ‘Cut the jive and tell me if Jason Marr got paid the money he was due, or I shut the Lozenge Corporation down.’”
“The lawyers for the Lozenge Corporation then said, not in Latin, ‘The Lozenge Corporation is going to pay, but it will take a couple, three weeks.’
“The State Labor Department guy said, “It will take twenty-four hours, or I shut the Lozenge Corporation down.’
“The lawyers for the Lozenge Corporation then said, not in Latin, ‘But, but.’
“The State Labor Department guy said, ‘Butter me no buts, it will take no more than twenty-four hours for Jason Marr to get paid, or I shut the Lozenge Corporation down.’
“The lawyers for the Lozenge Corporation then said, not in Latin, ‘We got a strong case against Jason Marr for piracy on the high seas.’
