I am Brainy Smurf

After more than 25 years, you’d think I’d have lived down that reputation, but no.

As with most elementary school children, I liked the Smurfs for a while. The main thing that annoyed me (other than not knowing how Smurfette never ended up pregnant) was on the teaser for the show, when they played Brainy saying, “I was right. I was right.” (There’s an intonation there you just can’t get from the written word.)

I have been very circumspect about describing the end of our contract with our former client, other than telling people, “It was bad.” Today, I will break that silence a bit. I will reveal that, at the very end (less than two weeks remaining), Static asked for me to be fired. Boss’s boss refused and offered a compromise. Static refused that, so Boss’s boss told me that I would be “working from home”. I did some work via phone and e-mail, but basically I was paid to play computer games and look for my next job.

I won’t describe the silly reason Static contrived; I will tell you the truth. I discovered that Static appeared to be using money from our operating account improperly. (There are layers in there, but let’s keep this simple.) I called him on it via an e-mail and copied Boss’s boss. Static sent an e-mail to everyone who didn’t need to be involved that made it sound like I was interfering. I replied to said e-mail -- and copied everyone who didn’t need to be involved, as well as Boss’s boss -- and provided the text of my original e-mail, which Static hadn’t bothered sharing because it shed light on everything, including his suspect behavior.

A couple of days ago, Thing One and Worker Bee (who are working on closing the account as the client’s fiscal year reports are updated) called me, ecstatic. They told me that I was right on the money (pun intended) about Static’s behavior. They discovered two charges that he tried to slip in at the very end, which add up to over thirteen thousand dollars. (We will bill the client to get that amount returned to us.)

Sometimes it is oh-so sweet to say, “I told you so.”