fifi’s graffiti

When you work for a big corporation and the national economy is in a downturn you don’t want to hear the word “consultant”. You know it’s a euphemism for a headhunter, and I don’t mean they’re looking to hire someone to oversee production, but rather some heads are going to be served up on a plate, probably those of us on the low end of the totem pole.

Several years ago the corp hired consultants to allegedly streamline production. What we got at the end of a long hot summer was a five-foot high mural depicting a train. It extended 200 yards along a row of cubicles and through the “windows” of the train could be seen caricatures of all the department heads, vice-presidents, etc., smiling and waving. We never did figure out what the “train” represented. Was it a Train to Glory? the Orient Express? the Love Train? Production methods were unaffected, so it must have been a Train in Vain.

This time around I think we’re going to have the Freight Train Blues. Someone in upper management needs to justify their existence, and when the layoffs come the blame can be attributed to the consultants.

Time to dust off the old resume.

Here are some more songs about trains.