Once upon a time in the Shire, the government decided that
it wanted to stop investing in all machinery (snow ploughs, pneumatic drills,
electric kettles, paper shredders etc) and instead wished to commission the
invention of seven kinds of service to deliver the outcomes that the all the
machines used to deliver. All the manufacturers and service providers in the
Shire spent all their time for months and months for there would be no more
purchases of machinery and adapting to this new environment would be the way
their businesses would survive and the way that they would keep jobs for their
staff. However as time went on, the requirements of the Shire kept changing:
The new purchase must be suitable in the light, in the dark,
in the summer and the winter, in urban environments and rural communities. Manufacturers
and service providers came from far and wide to see if they could meet the
challenges and win the prize of investment from the Shire. Artizans across all
the towns and villages in the Shire sat up late at night and slaved over
candlelight to come up with plans, designs, costings and risk analyses for all
possible eventualities. They knew that Artizans and mythical beasts called bid
writers across the country would also be competing for the same prize.
When the time came, they all submitted their plans to the Big
Hall in the Shire and anxiously awaited the results of the government’s
consideration. All were worried that the Shire government would decide to
invest somewhere else and leave their workers jobless and at risk of their
families being turned out on the streets. After some time three local lucky
businesses were told that their plans were the best and that they were
successful. In these places, there were parties with much fizzy pop and cakes
as workers celebrated that they would have job security in the business that
they worked in as their skills, hard work and industriousness was so obviously
appreciated and rewarded by this success. For those that were unsuccessful
there was sadness as in the few weeks before Christmas redundancy notices were
handed out. Workers went back to their families and shared the bad news of
their impending unemployment. Crisis plans were made to buy less presents for
the festive period and turn off the heating more often. Some looked to find
support from credit unions and foodbanks.
It was a Shire divided of those who were confident and had
glasses full and those looking to the future to find a way of putting bread on
the table anxious about making ends meet today. To those that had little to be
hopeful for it was a time of great stress with little to look forward to.
Children were told that there would be cut backs, mothers and fathers discussed
how economies could be made in the household budget and wondered how they would
cope with new babies and older relatives that had recently become ill and could
no longer contribute money to the housekeeping.
Then suddenly on the Friday before Christmas there came the
news that the government in the Shire had changed its mind and was thinking of
a completely different plan. The politicians and the mandarins had decided the plan
they had before was not the right plan. Instead, new plans included the
selling off of the Big Hall and all the machinery for all the services.
Instead, there would be big purchases of four magic beans and 95% of the people
working in the Big Hall would also lose their jobs. Suddenly Christmas looked
bleak for an awful lot of people. Suddenly all in the Shire were united by a
future that looked bleak to all.
