Prattling before the Pratfall

The prodigal apprentice had returned. My first thought when hearing that Ted was at the front entrance asking for me was, “seven years.” It had been seven years since Ted was allegedly involved in a car theft. The statute of limitations had expired.

Was it a coincidence that Ted had appeared the day after I was back working in Cambridge, for the first time in six years? Or had Ted been in contact with someone in the company? Those questions didn’t occur to me right away, but I did wonder why Ted was there. He was apparently alone, but that didn’t mean his intentions were good. I told the receptionist I’d be right down.

Ted was very pleased to see me. When I saw him smiling with his hand extended, I was pleased to see him, too. We shook hands and sat in the lobby to talk. I told Ted that I’d been working at other company offices for six years, and I’d just returned to Cambridge the previous day. From Ted’s reaction, it was obvious he had shown up when he did purely by chance, hoping I’d be there.

I told Ted about the police call, without asking him for details about what he and his cohort had done. Ted admitted he’d screwed up and made a big mistake. Knowing the police were looking for him, Ted had made his way to Haiti, and that was where he’d been for the past seven years. So what had Ted been doing, and why had he made a point of stopping by to see me?

Ted said he started a business in Haiti, specializing in data communications and computer networking. The business was doing well, thanks to everything I’d taught him about the technology and troubleshooting. Ted was there to see me simply because he wanted to say thank you. We shook hands again, wished each other good luck, and said our goodbyes.

I’ve thought about what happened with Ted many times over the years, and thanks to the “all’s well that ends well” finish, I decided to finally tell the story. The End!

On LinkedIn, I told some war stories about my old job. This is something I wrote about Ted’s replacement, who fortunately was already working for the company.

Continue reading Ted Talk – Final