Green Greetings

A few years ago, I read a book about management, which pointed out that in business, it's necessary to be skeptical, but very dangerous to be cynical.

That made a great deal of sense to me, so I've attempted to draw the line between skepticism and cynicism, in both my business and personal lives.

Unfortunately, every so often, something comes along which pulls my inner cynic out of hibernation.

Such an event occurred this week.

Typically, at this time of year, I will receive holiday cards or e-mail messages from co-workers, colleagues, former colleagues, and a variety of people with whom I've done business in the past, like lawyers, bankers and brokers.

This week, I received an e-mail from someone, which stated "Due to our concern for the environment, we are sending out these e-mail messages, in lieu of the holiday cards we've mailed in the past."

Sure, it's the environment. Clearly, that's the only possible motivating factor here. It couldn't possibly have something to do with saving all that money on designing, printing and mailing holiday cards, could it?

Nah. Only the most cynical person would even allow such a thought to enter his/her mind.
Look. I'm all for saving corporate funds. But don't insult my intelligence by trying to wrap your company in a righteous, green cloak. I'm not buying it.

Perhaps there will be consequences to my cynicism. Maybe I'll find a proverbial lump of coal in my stocking.

Interestingly, shortly after receiving the cheapskate holiday greeting, I looked into my laptop bag, and saw a small, black, round, hard object. Could it be?

Turns out that it was just a prune.

It was also quite tasty.