“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.