Correspondence: May 20, 1997

To Director of Alumni Programs, The Paideia School

After two downsizings this decade, I have finally settled as Sales Assistant at the Jack Morton Company, a corporate communications firm with offices across the nation. (I’ve been through one acquisition since I’ve been here, but this time I made the cut.)

I have my own desk which is home to my own day planner, my own toys and my own phone with lots of buttons. It is distressing to look back and realize that I started my life as Calvin, but I have ended up as Dilbert.

I recently moved so I could be closer to work, I can’t get a date and I spend my spare time watching my hair turn white.

Let’s Talk about Atlanta

While much of the country is just now shaking free of winter’s icy grip, our city is in full flower. Our tree-lined streets are blooming one after the other in a Driving-Miss-Daisy chain of greenery. Landscapers with necks the color of red clay are putting pansies on every corner and pruning until they are bushed. Clouds of yellow pollen are settling on the city like some great Dustbowl of fertility. And, for those who suffer from allergies, our heads are about to explode.

Atlanta’s Jack Morton office is enjoying a similar Spring. After long lying dormant, our office is germinating with new faces and new perspectives. An eager and enthusiastic group suddenly finds itself part of a fecund company rich with talent beyond all imagining. The flowering of ideas resulting from this cross-pollination is unlike any seen in Atlanta for years. Our office is burgeoning with creativity, and our ideas — like those peach trees you hear about — are blossoming and will soon bear the fruit of our labor. We’re inspired. We’re excited ... and our heads are about to explode.