Peter sat at his desk, folded his arms, and looked out the window. This was the coveted corner office view he'd always dreamed of. From the ergonomic cocoon of his Herman Miller Aeron chair--a luxury only bestowed upon upper management types--he could gaze down upon the parking lot to see his car in a newly reserved parking space that was much closer to the main entrance. All of this just for speaking up. All he had done was make one small suggestion at a routine weekly meeting.
How could they improve the bottom line? How could they maximize their return on investment? Jennifer had suggested National Landlords Day, but Shelly and Mike disagreed on the gender neutrality of the word "landlord" while Quentin reminded them that in some markets homeowners greatly outnumbered renters and they would not be able to sell as much product as a result. But police officers, he continued, were everywhere so why not launch a Law Enforcement Appreciation day? Jennifer and Shelly, in retribution for the attack on their Landlords Day idea, pointedly asked Quentin if giving gifts to a police officer might constitute a bribe in some areas, and if this was all just part of a scheme to keep his car from getting booted again for excessive outstanding parking tickets.
Finally, Peter spoke up. He had been surreptitiously working on his deep breathing exercises all throughout the meeting, and saying his affirmations in his head. He would be assertive. He would speak up. He would stop being a wallflower.
"How about National Send Someone A Greeting Card Day?" He said.
One of the advantages of always being so quiet was that few the times when he spoke Peter commanded everyone's attention.
One by one, all of them agreed that it was a fantastic idea. Anyone could send a card to anyone else for any reason. It needn't be based on relationships, religions, job titles or the time of year. Recipients could be young or old, married, single, divorced, widowed. It could even get some of those cards that were blank inside off the shelves! And what is a card without flowers or candies or fruit baskets to accompany it? There could be hats, mugs, t-shirts, a website, maybe a television special...
And so, sitting in his new office ready to reap the benefits of all the flowers, candies, fruit baskets, hats, mugs, t-shirts, websites, and a television specials his idea would sell, Peter decided that National Send Someone A Greeting Card Day was his most favorite holiday of all.
