No. The sky is always silver with pink polka dots.

Tuesday I survived a meeting at work where I was threatened with losing my job. This was the second such meeting in less than a week. Why is this happening? Well, I'll try to tell you, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

D-Bag and I have been working on a project for about five months now. At the beginning of this project there was a kickoff meeting with another department where some key project details were discussed. This other department brought along a consultant to argue for them / protect their interests.

I don’t want to get into the tedious detail of what was discussed at this kickoff meeting, but let’s just say the meeting was very confrontational. I would say something like, “The sky is generally blue.” D-Bag would agree. Then this consultant would say, “No. The sky is always silver with pink polka dots.”

Again, the subject matter actually discussed at this kickoff meeting was tedious, but it should have been obvious to anyone who actually reflected upon what was discussed that the consultant did not know what he was talking about. The sky is not always a silver color with pink polka dots. It just isn’t. Case closed.

Anyway, despite my repeated attempts to correct the consultant at the kickoff meeting, my boss and his boss chose to believe everything that the consultant said. Why? I don’t know. Maybe because he was being paid twice what I am paid, and therefore the consultant should know what he is talking about.

So, the project started and it moved along for the past five months.

Last week at a meeting with my boss and his boss, I hinted that the sky is actually blue, and not silver with pink polka dots. My boss's boss got upset and said I could be fired if I spread such heresy without proof.

Tuesday, at a meeting with my boss and his boss, D-Bag and I presented concrete proof that the consultant had misinformed us during the kickoff meeting. It is one of the few times I can remember that D-Bag and I have been in complete agreement on something. That is when the shit hit the fan. My boss's boss flipped out and accused D-Bag and I of holding back information and that we could lose our jobs. When I reminded them that D-Bag and I had argued with the consultant about certain facts at the kickoff meeting, my boss and his boss refused to believe me. Selective memory, I guess.

I skated through today without much of a problem. My boss's boss stopped by my cube to shoot the breeze. I tried to be amiable, but I tend not to be buddies with folks who threaten to fire me because they were gullible / incompetent. And no, I'm not suddenly buddies with D-Bag. Don't worry. He is still a D-Bag to me.