I am back at my old consulting firm
As a new recruit
Along with a whole class
Going through a training exercise

We are all given slips of paper
With a particular business Case study
We have to solve

The trainer first calls
On a couple of smart college guys
Who give the textbook answer

He then turns to me
With a knowing smile
Showing me he remembers me
And suggests I merge my Case with theirs

I haven’t been paying attention
So I start talking
While rearranging my slips
I see and say the name
Of the client: Salomon Brady
And haltingly explain that
they’re missing $5.1 million dollars
Joking that is probably because
They (too) didn’t keep track of the papers

There’s two main possibilities
Deliberate fraud or sloppy bookkeeping
I explain to my two “colleagues”
Whom I pretend to meet
At the cafeteria there

I’m assuming they’ve already
Solved their Case
So I suggest ways that they each
Might help prove or eliminate
One of my hypotheses

They play along
In a rather condescending way
Which is only fair
Because I wasn’t very prepared
Since I wasn’t paying attention
Even though I mostly covered it up
By being smart and self-deprecating

Just like I use
Being clever and charming
To compensate for a lack
Of being emotionally available
In my closest relationships