Perfectly Legal

It was a great job. It began like this:

“Hi.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

 “Here’s your first project, a new program called The American Dream Loan. The Board will be announcing it tomorrow and they want you guys to make sure to set it up so that it’s perfectly legal.”

 

It ended like this, many years later.

“Hi.”

 “Hey, what’s up?”

“Things haven’t gone so well recently and the Board has decided that we have to make some hard decisions. I’m really sorry, but that means eliminating a lot of key positions.

You’ll get a nice severance package. You’ll be just fine. Trust me. I tried to save your spot. It’s just business. You’ve done a great job for us.

Come on, I’ll walk out with you. Security, you know. We’ll pack up all your stuff and send to around to your house, but leave your key card, your laptop and your cell phone on your desk.

Oh yeah, before we go, pull out all the Dream files, I’ll need them today.”

As it turns out, it all was all perfectly legal because (strictly speaking) that’s about how you do something not why you want to do it.

Making money isn’t a crime.

“Goodbye,” said the Fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; that which is essential is invisible to the eye.”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry