Manure a Plenty Chapter 2

Dude Highpockett was busy examining the product when he saw it.  It had almost escaped his view.  There in the middle of hi product from the Cherry Mill was a flaw.  It had been cleverly hidden in the midst of some mediocre product but closer examination revealed the full extent of the deceit.  There would be no more orders placed by Highpocket Industries and this entire shipment would be returned.

What price was paid for one lone error?  Or was it an error?  The morning the product was built there was no doubt that it was not an error in judgment.

As Mr. Appleblossom reported to work, he noticed the inferior raw material.  As he walked closer, he saw that it had been used to make up a number of the finished products.

The workers had been working by dim lights and had not noticed.  Most of the men on the early shift were new to the Cherry Mill business and were not trained to determine what was acceptable to use.  They relied upon the previous shift to lay out all the raw materials that went into the CM products.

Since Mr. Appleblossom was a man of integrity and the shift foreman, he ordered that the products with the inferior raw material be disassembled and the culls removed.  Mr. Appleblossom knew that Highpockett Industries was a very particular customer and would call this "unacceptable!"

As the workers diligently replaced the culls and reset the stacks, Jackal King walked in the Mill with Jackson Dumbfries the Chief Penny Attache.  Dumbfries noticed immediately that time was being wasted taking the bad raw material out of the finished product.  He became incensed and did his little twisty dance as he jumped and hooped about the Cherry Mill.

Mr. Appleblossom tried to no avail to show Dumbfries that the raw material was faulty and the Highpockett Industries would refuse the order.  But Dumbfries insisted that it would never be noticed and Mr. Appleblossom who had served the Cherry Mills well for more than 25 years was fired on the spot.

Mr. Appleblossom left shaking his head knowing what the consequences would be.  He had served Grand One and Grand Oneson to the best of his ability but the time when fairness, ethics and integrity were part of the business was a time passed.  Cain was taking over and the rules had changed.  It was no longer necessary to do a good job nor give the customer an excellent product.  An okay product would do as long as the customer did not find out.

Mr Highpockett was not just any customer and he would find the flaw and the product would be returned.  There would be no more orders from Highpockett or any of his many companies.