josh brown, ken smith, and larry williams worked fin the a———— department of the z———— company. they usually took their coffee breaks at the same time, in the little company cafeteria.
they usually did not have much to say to each other.
one day a young woman from the company newsletter published a profile of ken in a series called “know your fellow employees”. in the interview ken expressed concern about the effects of climate change, calling it the “gravest threat to humanity in the history of the world.”
josh got on ken’s case about it several times in the cafeteria.
“i never knew you were a scientist , man. what’s a great scientist like you doing working with slobs like us in the a————— department?”
“hey, did you win that nobel peace prize for science yet? you should bring it in some time, show it to us. don’t be bashful. we’d like to see it.”
this went on for several months. ken would usually ignore josh, and keep playing mah jong tiles on his phone.
one day larry, who was reading the sports page, looked up and said to josh, “can you just give it a rest? i’m sick of listening to it. you’ve made your point, dumb as it is.”
“hey, i still have a right to express my opinion. dweebs like you guys haven’t taken the country completely over - yet.”
these harsh words were overheard by some other employees in the corridor outside the cafeteria. they were the closest thing to a fight in the company building in forty years.
the z———— company restructured and josh, ken, and larry, who had all worked for it for twenty years, were given modest severance packages. none were able to find other jobs.
josh bought a camper, and stocked it with guns and other “military hardware”. he travels around the country, hoping to rescue chlldren from pedophile rings, and to assist people, especially young women, falsely accused of crimes by the agents of the deep state.
ken looked forward to a peaceful retirement, gardening and watching reruns of his favorite shows, such as cheers and friends. but he developed early dementia and is not able to fully enjoy these activities.
larry and his wife moved to florida, where they keep in constant touch with their three children and seven grandchildren through social media, sending them many pictures of alligators, including some they take themselves.
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