Yes, the idea for this story was hatched during several extremely boring meetings I was forced to attend. No, they weren't safety meetings; they were far more bureaucratic and far more useless than a safety seminar would be. Contemplating this story was my RL equivalent to Lois and Clark's poke-paper polka.

I had gotten the idea for this story several months ago, but hadn't had time to write it up, but I couldn't let this month's comedy challenge go by without contributing a story.

As always, all comments welcomed.

Joy,
Lynn

Liked this, but you're wrong to say health and safety courses would be more exciting. I'm a lab technician and possibly the most boring courses I've ever been on have been health and safety related. You haven't lived until you've heard an instructor who probably handles chemicals once a year teaching a class of laboratory technicians (who probably do it every day) the correct way to dispose of a chemical spill...

Perhaps they would have more luck of having the material stick if they made Lois and Clark TEACH the course instead of just attend it.

That was great! Especially the ending line! And it's all Lois' fault, too!

My favorite?

Right. That'll work. He might as well tell Lois not to jump in before checking the water level. It would have exactly the same effect: none whatsoever.

Marcus, I find it hard to imagine anything more boring than some of the meetings I have attended on quality assurance (which is more like quality prevention the way my school does things), but if your health and safety courses really are more boring -- or even just half as boring, for that matter -- then you have my sympathy.

Virginia, a good thought, but probably futile. Lois would just tackle it as if it were an undercover assignment -- she'd play the role she needed to get the job done, but it wouldn't really be her, if you know what I mean.

Terry, I agree completely. This is just another example of upper management not knowing anything about the people under them or what they actually do. And I'm sure that if by some miracle Lois actually did start to play it safe (I know, I know -- It would never happen. Just humour me.), the paper's bottom line would plummet, since she wouldn't get the scoops necessary to sell the papers. To take a RL example of this, we are being required at work to spend so much time jumping through quality assurance hoops that we don't have the time we used to have to do the job right, and quality is suffering. And to add insult to injury, the QA exercises we are doing aren't even effective.

Yep. Writing this story was a bit cathartic for me.

Thank you all for taking the time to leave feedback.

Joy,
Lynn

Lynn:

Working for a pharmecutical company I couldn't agree more! The head honchos upstairs do not have a clue about importance of our work, yet they send countless hours (and dollars) trying to tell us how to do our jobs.

RL work can sometimes be very ______ fill in the blank!

This fic really does capture the boredom and bureaucracy of health and safety seminars *extremely* well! As someone who has her annual Health and Safety seminar coming up, this was also extremely cathartic to be able to read!

Believe it or not, I actually do have a friend who attended a rather exciting one of these seminars. The speaker was talking about how to safely handle chemicals and was demonstrating with (don't ask me why) a capsaicin solution. Apparently he left the solution on the bunsen burner just a *little* too long. It boiled over, and filled the room with -- you've got it -- pepper spray!

-- Ultra Lucille

Morgana, I'm too polite to say aloud the words that immediately pop into my mind to complete your sentence, so instead I'll just fill it in with "frustrating, fruitless, and futile."

Ultra Lucille, good luck with your upcoming seminar. I hope it proves to be more interesting than most, but without any capsaicin catastrophes.

Thank you both for leaving feedback.

Joy,
Lynn

What she do? Got thrown out of a window again?

Michael

There is so much good stuff in here:


Masterfully done.

Bob

Yay! Darth Michael feedback! 100% guaranteed to bring a smile.

So true. Even to Superman.

</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thank you. I must admit to having been pleased with that turn of phrase.

What? You mean it's NOT appropriate to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils for one's colleague? Or to wear one's underpants over the rest of one's clothing for all to see?

Coming from the master of the rejoinders and one-liners, that is quite a compliment. Thank you.

Joy,
Lynn

Hi Bob ,

Thanks so much for the feedback.

I'm glad you liked it. When I write comedy, I know what tickles my own funny bone, but until I receive feedback, I have no idea of whether what struck me as humorous will fall flat when translated onto "paper."

And he actually has even saved her as Clark once or twice.

Thank you.

Joy,
Lynn

Hi Lynn!




Awwww, thanks But it’s kind of easy when working with good source material Michael

This is hilarious! I think my favorite part is that even though Clark has taken this course before, he's actually trying to be responsible and listen to the whole thing, and Lois just wants someone to listen to her complaints! So in-character but also funny! Favorite line is probably when Clark decides that he can avoid an extra poke even without super reflexes, surely!

Hi Anti-K,

Glad you enjoyed it. Just thinking about writing it helped me get through some pretty miserable meetings in RL.

Joy,
Lynn

Catching up on some reading - yay!

I believe it too.

Ha! Good luck with that! She doesn't even listen to Superman!

Um...yep. Have you learned nothing yet, Clark?

How cute! It's like they are in school!

Oh look! He *does* learn!



How fun! Thanks for the laughs!

Hi Deadly,

I love getting feedback a while after I have posted a story; it's always a wonderful surprise.

I also like seeing running reactions to the story. (By that, I mean running commentaries, not the reaction of running away from the story. ) Thanks so much for giving me such running feedback.

Joy,
Lynn