Alpha Males

Kirk was something of an exotic species at his new job. The majority of people he worked with had gone to college, moved on to the rarified world of business school, and then joined the work-force. They had spent their adult lives learning and practicing the vital truths of Running a Corporation, Motivating Employees, and Furthering the Corporate Philosophy. They could quote 'Who Moved My Cheese?' and list seven effective habits word perfect after tossing back three shots of Stoli (for all I know they did... rather sad thought), but almost none of them had experiences like Kirk.

He quickly made friends with one who did - a Gulf War veteran who had flown helicopters in Iraq. The other guys were slightly wary of them both, something Kirk didn't realize until a month or so after he started. There were about five of them walking across the courtyard when Kirk's friend's phone rang.

'See, man, that's why you two are scary.'

'What do you mean?'

'Every time X answers the phone he puts it away like it's some gun he just fired and cleared.'

Kirk looked at X - 'Got you there dude, I've even seen you slap your hip like you're checking for a side-arm.'

'Yeah, well you're worse, look at what you're doing with your umbrella. You look like you're about to demonstrate some CIA secret commando technique.'

'That's ridiculous,' Kirk flipped the umbrella again. 'I mean, I suppose I could demonstrate it, but then I'd have to kill you.'

In a world where the pecking order is established by the institution name on your MBA , sometimes it's nice to shake things up. Just a little.