WTF money story



  • Good morning all.  First post here.  Love the site. 

    Several months ago we met to discuss some employee issues.  Last on the list was a complaint from a security guard.  This particular guard worked in a standalone building checking in trucks and logging trailers that come onto our property.  During her check-in, the driver had to give the guard his manifest so she could log it.  Then, she handed him the manifest and was required to sign a slip of paper.  All this document exchanged was done through a window, the driver sitting in his cab and the guard standing in her building.  When it rained, she complained about the papers getting wet. 

    How could we deal with this?  This is horrible!  Ideas were thrown back and forth ranging from giving her an umbrella so she could keep herself dry as she walked outside in the rain to making the driver come inside the building.  Finally, it was decided.  We would build a $15,000 awning that wrapped around the roof's perimeter in an effort to keep the papers dry.  As everyone nodded in agreement my boss was about to end the meeting. 

    "One suggestion, if I may?"  I spoke, holding in my horror at the $15,000 "solution."  "What if we put the papers in some sort of folder?  Maybe one of those plastic ones for $1.99?"

    The silence was incredible.  My boss considered it and concluded that though it would work in the short term, but it wasn't a viable long term solution because "those folders have a tendency to wear out," and ordered a quote on the awning.  I couldn't bear to tell him that they make more than one of those folders. 

     



  • Well, he's right!  Let's see.  Those $2 folders might last a year with heavy use... so after 7500 years the awning will have practically [i]paid for itself[/i]!  He's a forward-thinking executive.



  • [quote user="mattd"]

    Good morning all.  First post here.  Love the site. 

    Several months ago we met to discuss some employee issues.  Last on the list was a complaint from a security guard.  This particular guard worked in a standalone building checking in trucks and logging trailers that come onto our property.  During her check-in, the driver had to give the guard his manifest so she could log it.  Then, she handed him the manifest and was required to sign a slip of paper.  All this document exchanged was done through a window, the driver sitting in his cab and the guard standing in her building.  When it rained, she complained about the papers getting wet. 

    How could we deal with this?  This is horrible!  Ideas were thrown back and forth ranging from giving her an umbrella so she could keep herself dry as she walked outside in the rain to making the driver come inside the building.  Finally, it was decided.  We would build a $15,000 awning that wrapped around the roof's perimeter in an effort to keep the papers dry.  As everyone nodded in agreement my boss was about to end the meeting. 

    "One suggestion, if I may?"  I spoke, holding in my horror at the $15,000 "solution."  "What if we put the papers in some sort of folder?  Maybe one of those plastic ones for $1.99?"

    The silence was incredible.  My boss considered it and concluded that though it would work in the short term, but it wasn't a viable long term solution because "those folders have a tendency to wear out," and ordered a quote on the awning.  I couldn't bear to tell him that they make more than one of those folders. 

     

    [/quote]

     

    But that would make too much sense and help out their bottom line. You should know better than to think logically and provide better solutions than the gods, um bosses



  • i have to agree, there's no way to justify $2 folders. when an "enterprisey" $15,000 solution is proposed...



  • Equally wtfery is that the guard didn't start brain cell 'A' chatting to brain cell 'B' an come up with a the plastic folder idea herself, without sending the 'problem' all the way to upper management.

    We've always wondered where Paula ended up.....
     



  • The guard & the driver were within arms length of each other to be able to pass the papers.  Just how hard does it rain there that the papers get sufficiently wet to cause any problems?  Also, if they were attached to a clipboard then the solution would just be to turn the clipboard over.

    At the risk of spoiling an entertaining story, could the problem be that the guard was complaining about the rain blowing in on her while the papers were being passed?  In that case, the awning solution is the most practical.  Shame the company didn't think about prevailing wind direction when building the guard post, though.



  • The $1.99 plastic folder is a current expense and comes right out of the manager's budget.  The $15,000 awning is a Capital Improvement and the money comes from Somewhere Else.

    You need to explain the tax advantage of buying the plastic folders, which can be expensed this year (especially the ones that wear out in a few days), vs. the awning which must be amortized over 30 years.  But this is only an advantage if the company is making a profit this year.

     



  • [quote user="mattd"]

    Good morning all.  First post here.  Love the site. 

    Several months ago we met to discuss some employee issues.  Last on the list was a complaint from a security guard.  This particular guard worked in a standalone building checking in trucks and logging trailers that come onto our property.  During her check-in, the driver had to give the guard his manifest so she could log it.  Then, she handed him the manifest and was required to sign a slip of paper.  All this document exchanged was done through a window, the driver sitting in his cab and the guard standing in her building.  When it rained, she complained about the papers getting wet. 

    How could we deal with this?  This is horrible!  Ideas were thrown back and forth ranging from giving her an umbrella so she could keep herself dry as she walked outside in the rain to making the driver come inside the building.  Finally, it was decided.  We would build a $15,000 awning that wrapped around the roof's perimeter in an effort to keep the papers dry.  As everyone nodded in agreement my boss was about to end the meeting. 

    "One suggestion, if I may?"  I spoke, holding in my horror at the $15,000 "solution."  "What if we put the papers in some sort of folder?  Maybe one of those plastic ones for $1.99?"

    The silence was incredible.  My boss considered it and concluded that though it would work in the short term, but it wasn't a viable long term solution because "those folders have a tendency to wear out," and ordered a quote on the awning.  I couldn't bear to tell him that they make more than one of those folders. 

     

    [/quote]

     
    I think constructing a large dome to completely cover the entire complex would be a better idea.  One with a retractable roof, of course.

    Good story, a nice non-technical WTF, and a good parallel for simple solutions versus "enterprisey" solutions, as someone else mentioned...
     



  • [quote user="Jeff S"] 

    I think constructing a large dome to completely cover the entire complex would be a better idea.

    [/quote]

    Surely it should be cunningly disguised as a volcanic island?

    [quote user="Jeff S"] 

    One with a retractable roof, of course.

    [/quote]

    Of course ;-)


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