Theresa Lewis

One of my brothers is a technical writer. He applied to a company in France to bid on a contract. When it came time to go for his interview, he wanted to impress them so he went shopping for a new suit, shirt, tie, and shoes. He wanted to appear as professional as possible. Unfortunately, the day he took his flight to Paris, he felt like he was coming down with the flu. He didn’t have much choice in the matter so even though he felt worse as the day progressed, he had to keep his appointment.

The big-wigs from the company took my brother with them when they went out for lunch after their interview. My brother told me he wished he could have just gone home and crawled into bed, at least until the fever passed.

After lunch, they were all walking along a very busy street that was crowded with pedestrians. He was trying to focus on the conversation, and he tripped, over nothing.

My brother said he let out a mighty roar and shot his arms forward. The people who were walking ahead of his group turned and saw my brother running at them with his arms forward like he was going to attack them. They scattered. As my brother kept running and trying to right himself, he lost the struggle. He said he ran a good hundred feet with his nose two inches from the sidewalk and then he finally went splat in front of everyone. Because he was running quite fast when he fell, he slid a few feet after hitting the ground. The people he was with were concerned for his welfare and ran to assist him.

Just as they approached my brother, he let out a huge fart and couldn’t stop laughing. When he got up, he realized that his new shirt and tie were in tatters, his pants had the knees ripped out and his new shoes were all scuffed. He told them he was sorry, but he would have to go back to his hotel and change his clothes. He also mentioned that he was feeling sick and had a fever. The people graciously understood his predicament and told him to take a rest for a few days and they would call him with their decision.

He got the job in the end, but they dictated the payment and my brother agreed. Normally, he negotiated his contracts himself, but feeling less than dynamic at that time, he agreed to their terms. He was grateful to have won the contract, especially after having made a spectacle of himself in public after lunch.

The End