Overheard at a QANTAS/ASA/pick-a-company management meeting:
Boss: " How's it going?
Lone Voice in the Wilderness: " We're short of staff, the troops are working heaps of overtime, they're really starting to whinge"
Boss: " Is the job still being done?"
LVITW: "Yes, but things could get nasty"
Boss: "How?"
LVITW: "It's hard to keep the support up to the equipment, some of it could fall over"
Boss: "So?"
LVITW: "We might have to cancel flights!"
Boss: "So?"
LVITW: "The customers will be angry"
Boss: "So?"
LVITW: "We could get some bad publicity"
Boss: "So?"
LVITW: "We might loose some custom"
Boss: "Has Fluffy Airlines ever had a crash?
LVITW: "Yes, a couple in the last few years ... a few hundred dead"
Boss: "Are they still filling their flights"
LVITW: "Yes, they're quiet profitable actually"
Boss: "And you're worried about a bit of bad publicity about some cancelled flights and some dodgy satay?"
LVITW: "Sorry sir"
Boss: "And our bottom line at the moment? and our share price at the moment?"
LVITW: "Sorry Sir"
Boss: "Get back to work ... and have you gotten rid of those damn expensive pot plants yet?"