(Reproduced As Read – in a personally meaningful way – please read the end)
The Senator’s car stopped at the porch of this best 5 star hotel in town… the immaculately dressed organiser of the symposium was waiting at the porch… she opened the car door and the senator stepped out with the usual pomp and gaiety of a celebrity… a status that he did not accord himself… but one that the world that adored his seat of power adorned him with…
The organiser took the Senator to the backstage… offered him the best coffee… and in a CERAMIC CUP (Made in China, of course) that befits the stature of the Senator… after which, the Senator delivered the Keynote speech, which he was invited to… the 500 participants present in the room clapped to no end… gave him a standing ovation…
The Senator was then escorted back to the porch and was given the ceremonial send-off…
3 years later…
The retired Senator’s car stops at the porch of this best 5 star hotel in town… nobody was waiting… nobody opens the door… nobody takes him to the backstage… because he was now retired…
The retired Senator quietly slips into the crowd of 500 invited as participants to the symposium… goes to the Coffee Station in the corner… picks up a STYROFOAM CUP from the stack and fills himself the regular Coffee from the machine… attends the symposium… claps for the Keynote Speaker… and goes back to his car at the porch… for an unceremonious departure…
Friends…
After 34 years of no-break working in Corporations, I am ready for my Styrofoam Cup… I will be taking the proverbial retirement from a Corporate Life at the end of July this year…
So, when we meet soon for a cup of coffee… let’s make sure, the cup is bloody well… CERAMIC!