without a trace

Our inventory clerk, Lori, has suddenly vanished into thin air. She left no message, letter, or email to explain her disappearance. She simply stopped showing up for work, without even a kiss or wave goodbye.

As people around the office began scrambling to fill the void and seal the cracks that were left behind, it started becoming clear that Lori hasn’t placed any inventory orders for well over a month...which means that our company's 'just in time' inventory system has now turned into a 'not in time' system, and is headed for a 'don't bet your life on receiving your orders anytime in the near future' system.

With no supplies in stock, we are soon going to have many unhappy clients sending me many unhappy emails regarding their bill for items that they never received. And, as is the motto of stellar employees such as myself, 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going’...the 'get going' part meaning that this is the time when I would normally start using my vacation days.

Unfortunately, I haven't earned enough days yet to ride out the storm...thus, I'm stuck in the middle of it. Lori's position needs filled quickly.

The receptionist, Sondra, mentioned to me that she would much prefer doing inventory rather than answering the phones.

"Why don't you talk to the President and ask him about moving up in the company," I told her.

Sondra rolled her eyes at me and said, "every job in this place is just as crappy as the next one...you know that. The only 'moving up' I'd be doing is moving from my desk on the ground floor and into Lori's office upstairs."

She's right, of course. But still, I've always wondered how it would be at the top. Even if the top is only one flight up.