PA ST E L ES ?

If they don't have jobs, let them start 

a corn or cake business.

Secretary of Employment

I simply obeyed the regulations... What a thing, right? There came a time when it did not matter where I made the request, there was no raw material or credit with the producers... but I am innocent: I made the requests, the warnings and the minutes, the cash flow simply stopped. You are authority, we know, when the demand for raw material increased because of the food panic it was the boss who said: "sumptuous does not go out of fashion", that is why and although the demand for long-life bread (economic, nutritious and easy to make) skyrocketed, our stock was sold even when it increased more than 10% of its real value in the market, the profits were good... it was the last month we could say that.

The second month we had planned to increase the production of bread and the immediate suspension of cakes and derivatives, the marketing department already had nutrition campaigns, but our boss indicated that it would continue to be sold only as a measure of additional income; to tell the truth it was an additional income; it was designed to be so because it was left over from the basic diet, the food that the government provided without distinction, the food that was given to us in tax refunds; only the surplus of the weekly production was sold. The boss adhered to the standards of the crisis and sent the advertising department announcing big discounts on the best desserts. "What crisis?" the commercials read. That week we lost more than just our assets, the grain reserve was wasted by more than half.

Throughout the following weeks we tried everything, or rather, the boss did what he thought was convenient: we lowered prices; we acquired debts; we fired personnel and nothing, nobody wanted to buy those damned desserts... I admit they were rich but they did not last a day; they were an ephemeral pleasure, for that simple reason we sold them: because they were part of the reigning philosophy, which says that everything that lasts only becomes obsolete. 

Shrinkage was one of our greatest enemies, in fact it was what drove us out of business. The director we had (we all pray that someday he will return) never allowed shrinkage, everything was selling; now, for the first time since I started working, products were piling up in the cold stores; the government and private individuals were asking for more bread, but production was the same, what we earned selling it was lost in the fancy desserts. Until one day the boss came and talked to us.

He said that the economy was in trouble, that it was important now more than ever to have committed workers.

Important now more than ever to have committed workers, we all agreed, there was no shadow of doubt, because we lived and would die for our beloved bakery division, but he did not want our deaths and said that because of the level of shrinkage, we would consume those products instead of salary.... The whole room was silent, no one said anything, we were speechless with surprise, some enthusiasts thought it was a good measure to obtain and consume desserts that equaled a year's income; I disagreed, my home and family could not feed on desserts as fine as the gauzes of heaven. We needed food, the bread we produced for the government was rationed and now we were really worried about the frauds of officials who were leaving less and less every week.

Things lasted only two more weeks, my account statements were charged cruel and repetitive taxes, there was no more income from me, my wife was supporting the children and I was bringing a dessert that we were getting more and more fed up with. In the company it was the same, nobody resisted dessert as a main course for so long, where was the beer? Where was the juicy meat? Could the high lifted eat this every day? It didn't even fill the belly. Then he came out to tell us the news that because of us this was one of the companies that would be liquidated to cover the exorbitant maintenance costs, that we had let our boss down... That bastard! What balls did he have to tell us that? We knew that among the big shortfalls there was a lot of money taken out to benefit the boss and his family, but he no longer looked superior, he no longer had that air of presumption that characterized him so much. Apparently he had more to lose than we did, he spoke to us supervisors and privately informed us that he would take measures to protect himself, that his life was in danger.

Of all of us, the only one who held out hope was Julieta, head of supplies; we never understood why she continued to send out letters requesting payment for her suppliers. The peasants were going through hardship: they needed the money for the pieces they normally received from the government, the answer was no longer the usual shouting, now with her bodyguards we only received grunts and shoves. One day we saw Julieta's body with a needle bullet in her forehead, she was outside the refrigerators, we did not know of deaths in the company nor of her attempt to contact the deputy directors. We understood that diplomacy was dead, that night I did not eat a bite.

The secretary of the supply manager knew more than we thought, she was the one who told us about the reward. Apparently, the director's older brother was the one who was going to lead, but an accident with illegal substances put the younger one in charge; now the brother's son was looking for revenge, he was sure his father was taken out of the way and was offering a generous sum. That night we gathered together in front of the day's waste with our stomachs longing for food and a strange feeling in our chests, we all watched each other as the delicacies went down our throats and when the last of the day was left alone - even with that quality it was impossible to continue with the same ingredients, as they were no longer coming - something broke between us, that was when we betrayed him, we contacted thugs and told them how to get in; that day we left the shift early and slept peacefully. In the morning the body was in the fridge like a pathetic carcass. We never knew about the bodyguards.

With the income and the new leader we started to pay debts and to raise our beloved company, even when we ran out of food a few months later, there was always someone to pay for the head of whoever ruled and when we saw that there was no money or anything waiting for us we surrendered to the police; we confessed and were locked up in federal prisons, here they feed us and once a month we have beef; it is hot, all year long you are spied on and they tell you what to do, but we don't complain. Our suppliers were paid and the company died in the end; just for the record, we never touched the corpses of our bosses, because we are civilized people.