Something Lighter

At work the other day, Jimmy pointed at a list on the wall in the engineer’s room.

“Look at this! You’ve won something.”

It’s true, Ms J. There was a list of ten names under the heading “Christmas Draw Winners.” My name was there in the middle.

“I wonder what I’ve won?” I asked.

Jim said he didn’t know.

“A frozen turkey maybe. They gave away turkeys one year.”

On Friday, I went to the TMC and ventured upstairs to the office area where I found a secretary. Leslie is her name. She's really nice.

“Hi Leslie,” I said. “I hear I’ve won something. What’s this all about?”

“Oh right,” she said. “Your name was among those drawn for a gift certificate.”

“But I didn’t enter a draw,” I said. “I’m confused. How did I win?”

She reached into a drawer in her desk and pulled out a gift card from a local grocery store. $25. She smiled and handed it to me.

“Every year at Christmas time we put all the engineer’s names in a box and draw ten winners. We used to give away frozen turkeys but some of them thawed out before they were picked up. It was a mess. So this year, we’ve given gift certificates instead.”

Prizes, Ms J. CN fires people just to be cruel. Here at VIA, they give away prizes. Just to be kind.

Thank you, God. Thank you for delivering me from slavery at CN. I’m really happy here at VIA.

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