Mr. Duck, Primitive Office and Obsolete Methods 1

Mr. Duck is person who has no caliber worth the name. He works in an office with primitive operational methods. But he has tremendous luck. He survives on this single strength outpacing all his rivals. He gets promotion as Senior Executive. Messages of congratulations pour in. Requests for parties and dinners reach him. But he holds all of them in abeyance.

He is shifted to a new location as his office. An old building with poor flooring where sunlight shivers to enter, a rickety fan spraying more dust than circulating air, table with no cloth to cover and an ordinary chair present before him a shocking picture. All along he had lived with a revolving chair. Now he could not afford to miss it. How can he compromise his status? He could not sit without running the risk of a somersault. His woes do not end there. While he takes his seat the chair withdraws, slides and he nose dives on the hard floor.

He regains his composure and entrusts the task of getting a good chair to his secretary who is now in another office. The latter stealthily removes a revolving chair from a room where the official had gone on transfer. Mr. Duck takes his seat with all enthusiasm but soon finds himself catapulted to the wall. Poor man was not informed of the technique of sitting in the chair. Only if a person sat in a particular angle without leaning too much he could avoid a somersault, .He tries to rescue him by firmly grasping the conduit pipe which slips and strikes down the office boy standing nearby.

Recovering from the fall he absentmindedly orders the chair to be subjected to disciplinary action .On realizing his mistake he sends for the person who ordered procurement of the chair. To get another chair is a time consuming process. So he sends some one for the chair from his previous office allowing for expenses of the escort. He is keen to make himself comfortable in his office so that he can work.

Meanwhile the second in command in his previous office usurps the chair during the interval between his departure and the assumption of office by his successor. Sentimental reasons on the part of Duck strongly advocate possession of the chair. In anticipation of some one pressing a claim, the second in command sends it to a workshop under the pretext of repairing it but actually to delay and side track the issue. Ultimately Duck orders the transfer of the officer who had developed attachment to the chair. He gets the chair released.

Duck now turns to the table. Papers and files have piled up forming a heap. Each bundle is a cluster of papers of various sizes, color, and thicknes.His predecessor ensured security of papers by tying with a rope of multiple joints. He has not touched any paper after receiving orders of transfer. Duck goes through the papers. The topmost file gets his attention. (To be continued)