To this day, I can’t say who caused the snafu that they uncovered
at work next day. Almost everyone received some blame. I didn’t, for I had
nothing to do with it. As I’ve reported, we had a total of 17 projects due in less
than two months, and I had finished two of the smaller ones with no problems.
It seems the staff had assembled a complete plan for one of
the cities involved and had taken the first bound copy to Tom for review. I can
imagine the head drafter placing the document on the desk of his boss like a
second lieutenant placing his first set of battle plans before the commanding
general.
He walked back into the drafting room with a slight swagger.
He sat astride his drafting stool and took up a Leroy Lettering Pen. This was a
small ink pen held in a device that rested comfortably in one’s hand. Two metal
inserts fit into a ruler into which letters had been formed. By positioning the
front insert, or scribe, one could guide the ink pen into the form of letters,
numbers and symbols. The rear insert, or tail piece, kept the lettering
horizontal. It was an invention spawned in Hell.
But that is how you added verbiage to ink drawings in that era.
Different rulers allowed for different fonts and sizes. And of course, what you
saw as you touched the ink to film or paper was what you got. It could be anything
from precise lettering to a glob of India ink spreading across your drawing. At
this moment, the drafter carefully wiped its nib on a tissue, relaxed his
shoulders and leaned forward to place the pen in its guide.
It never reached it.
As his hand descended, there came a volley of oaths from Tom’s
office so loud and clear that I imagined those in the building across the street
could hear it. They ended with a call for the head drafter to “Get in here.”
There was no problem it seemed, with the drafting. It was
clear, fine, and precise. He was one of the best drafters I have ever known. There
was nothing wrong with the maps at all as for as the quality and workmanship
was concerned. They were works of art.
The problem was, they were for the wrong city.
And some of the printed pages were in backwards.
This presented a high degree of concern. Tom expressed it in
clear terms. The drafter blamed his assistant. She blamed the drafter. Then the
drafter blamed the printer and the photographer at the blueprint company.
Somehow in the melee, word of this got back them and they were swearing that
they would never do work for the company again. Tom and Jim even had words.
I tried to make myself as small as possible, a trait I had
picked up in the Navy and one at which I excelled.
The furor raged for another day while they took corrective
action. The intensity lowered more from exhaustion that from satisfaction, and
I completed another of the simpler documents. Three down and 14 to go. After
proofing it at least 20 times, I presented copies to Jim and Tom. Tom flipped
through his in an abrupt manner, snorted, and said, “Thanks.” I fled as he rose
and started toward Jim’s office.
I was sitting at my desk grappling with the fact that I was
about to run out of the “easy” reports when Jim appeared in the room asked if
they could see me for a moment.
Oh hell, this was it. Somebody’s head had to fall and it
would be mine. The money saved from my salary for a month would just about pay
for the cost it would take to fix the recent problem. Oh well, easy come, easy
go.
We went into Tom’s office and he motioned for me to take a
visitor’s chair. Jim took the other. Tom took a deep breath and said, “How long
have you been with us now, nearly a month?
I just nodded. He could fire me, but I wasn’t going to help.
“He picked up the three reports I had assembled and waved
them at me. “In that time,” he said, “you are the only one who has completed a
goddam thing.”
I relaxed a bit. Jim looked out the window.
Tom pointed to a report cover. “And these are the first
things produced from scratch that I didn’t end up doing myself.”
Maybe they weren’t going to fire me after all. I relaxed
even more as Tom nodded to Jim, who turned to me and said, “What we would like
to know is if you would be willing to take over all production in the drafting
room and see if by some miracle, we might get these projects done on time and
done properly. You would be totally in charge.”
I couldn’t speak, But Tom did. “It will mean a hundred dollar
a month raise immediately, more if things work out.
I said yes, of course. I would to anything to help the
company.
But, I thought, this wasn’t going to go over well.
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| Designed by the Dark One, manufactured by his minions, and avoided by the faint of heart. |
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