“In your new role as department chief, you may require certain information about the department,” Ms Cobel says. She gestures to a small stack of papers on her desk. “These files may not leave this room, but I’d advise you to read them and familiarise yourself with the contents.”
Mark nods, sits down and picks up the papers. It’s slightly intimidating to read them under Ms Cobel’s gaze, but there’s no helping that.
Most of it is more or less what he’d expected. Statistics on absences, late arrivals, late departures. Productivity reports: Dylan consistently high, Irving occasionally variable, Helly currently an unknown. He has to wince at the line Mark is a solid and reliable worker but has never entirely lived up to the promise he showed on Allentown.
One page makes him pause. There’s very little text on it; it really didn’t need an entire sheet of A4 to itself. It’s headed Waffle Party Preferences.
Irving B.: has opted out of Waffle Party Perk (soft) Dylan G.: butter, maple syrup. Tempers: M, F Helly R.: has opted out of Waffle Party Perk (hard) Mark S.: chocolate syrup, strawberries if available. Tempers: F only
Petey must have had access to the team’s waffle party preferences, too. Did he ever look through them? The thought makes Mark a little uncomfortable.
“What does ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ mean?” Mark asks, looking up.
“A soft opt-out was requested by the innie,” Ms Cobel says. “A hard opt-out was requested by the outie and cannot be overruled.”
Mark looks at the F only next to his name again. “How do you decide on the Tempers?”
“New employees are asked to fill out a diversity questionnaire,” Ms Cobel says. “One of the questions relates to sexuality. It’s optional, of course.”
Mark’s wondered, occasionally, about his own sexuality. It’s not really relevant in here, of course. But it’s crossed his mind.
He’s straight, apparently. Or his outie said he’s straight, at least, and he guesses his outie would know.
Severance
“In your new role as department chief, you may require certain information about the department,” Ms Cobel says. She gestures to a small stack of papers on her desk. “These files may not leave this room, but I’d advise you to read them and familiarise yourself with the contents.”
Mark nods, sits down and picks up the papers. It’s slightly intimidating to read them under Ms Cobel’s gaze, but there’s no helping that.
Most of it is more or less what he’d expected. Statistics on absences, late arrivals, late departures. Productivity reports: Dylan consistently high, Irving occasionally variable, Helly currently an unknown. He has to wince at the line Mark is a solid and reliable worker but has never entirely lived up to the promise he showed on Allentown.
One page makes him pause. There’s very little text on it; it really didn’t need an entire sheet of A4 to itself. It’s headed Waffle Party Preferences.
Irving B.: has opted out of Waffle Party Perk (soft)
Dylan G.: butter, maple syrup. Tempers: M, F
Helly R.: has opted out of Waffle Party Perk (hard)
Mark S.: chocolate syrup, strawberries if available. Tempers: F only
Petey must have had access to the team’s waffle party preferences, too. Did he ever look through them? The thought makes Mark a little uncomfortable.
“What does ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ mean?” Mark asks, looking up.
“A soft opt-out was requested by the innie,” Ms Cobel says. “A hard opt-out was requested by the outie and cannot be overruled.”
Mark looks at the F only next to his name again. “How do you decide on the Tempers?”
“New employees are asked to fill out a diversity questionnaire,” Ms Cobel says. “One of the questions relates to sexuality. It’s optional, of course.”
Mark’s wondered, occasionally, about his own sexuality. It’s not really relevant in here, of course. But it’s crossed his mind.
He’s straight, apparently. Or his outie said he’s straight, at least, and he guesses his outie would know.