“I suppose so. But it’s cold. And sad.”
Speaking
more softly
louis vuitton damier ebene
handbags and with some affection, Mrs. McBee had taken him into her
confidence: “It is sad. The boy is a lamb. But the best that all of us can do is
be especially sensitive to him, give him counsel and encouragement when he asks
for it or when he seems to need it but won’t ask. An actual unexpected Christmas
gift might be well received by Fric, but I’m afraid his father wouldn’t
approve.”
“I sense you mean he wouldn’t approve for some reason other
than those in Standards and Practices.”
Mrs. McBee had brooded for a
long moment, as
chanel bags outlet though
consulting [282] in memory a version of Standards and Practices much longer than
the one in the ring-bound notebook that she presented to every employee.
At last she’d said, “Mr. Manheim isn’t a bad man, or heartless, just overwhelmed
by his life ... and perhaps too in love with the flash of it. On some level, he
recognizes what he’s failed to give Fric, and he surely wishes that things were
different between them, but he doesn’t know how to fix it and still do
everything he needs to do to keep being who he is. So
ugg boots
clearance he pushes it out of mind. If you were to put a gift under
the tree for Fric, Mr. Manheim’s guilt would surface, and he’d be hurt by what
your gesture implied. Although he’s a fair man with employees, I wouldn’t be
able to predict what he might do.”
“Sometimes, when I think about that
lonely little kid, I want to shake a little sense into his old man even
if—”
Mrs. McBee had raised a warning hand. “Even among ourselves, we
don’t gossip about those who buy our bread, Mr. Truman. That would be ungrateful
and indecent. What
chanel handbags outlet I’ve
said here has been by way of friendly advice, because I believe you’re a
valuable member of the staff and a good example to our Fric, who is more
observant of you than you probably realize.”
Now, in her memo, Mrs.
McBee addressed the gift issue once more. “She’d had the day to reconsider her
advice: As to the delicate issue of an unexpected gift, I find that I want to
qualify what I told you earlier. A small and very special item, something more
magical than expensive, if left not under the tree but elsewhere, and
chanel bags
outlet anonymously, would thrill the recipient in the way that you
and I recall being thrilled on the Christmas mornings of our youth. I suspect
that he would intuitively understand the wisdom of discretion in the matter, and
would all but surely keep the existence of the gift to himself if only for the
sheer deliciousness of having such a secret. But the item must be truly special,
and caution is advised. Indeed, when you have read the last of this, please
shred and eat.