The scene ….. it’s 24 hours till Red Nose Day events get underway at LB Law and Manisha is on her fourth coffee
Sitting in a bath full of baked beans for 12 hours. That early suggestion now seemed such an easy and relatively comfortable option. Instead, Manisha was trying to simultaneously chase up clients who had been invited to the quiz, invite more clients to the quiz, prepare the quiz questions and herd the trainees (who were being more hindrance than help). Not to mention trying to keep some delicate negotiations on an employment dispute from going off the rails.
LB Law had always marked Red Nose Day – mainly at the insistence of managing partner Natasha. She had always taken CSR seriously and wanted to inject a bit more energy into the firm’s activities. This year, what the firm was going to do had turned into a surprisingly heated debate. It was certainly a surprise to Manisha after she had (been) volunteered to organise an event.
“A cake sale, now that’s a great idea”, “Oh yes, let’s encourage people to eat even more sugar”, “Let’s all dress in red for the day”, “I’m not going to dress like an idiot for anyone or anything and I have a client meeting”, “Why don’t we all just donate a fiver” ….. and so it had gone on. But it really took off when the new trainee, Alex, had a sudden and passionate outburst. “Forget all these stupid ideas and just handing over money. Why don’t we actually do something useful ourselves? Look, there’s the homeless centre in town. Have you read about the state of it? Well I’ve volunteered there and seen it! We could go in for day and do some cleaning and decorating. Maybe take some blankets and useful things that the people there actually ask for, like toothpaste and deodorant. That’s making a real difference!”
A pizza and quiz evening involving clients had been Manisha’s compromise suggestion. The proceeds would be split between Comic Relief and the homeless centre. Plus it would be suggested that the firm and its clients have a joint “day of action” at the homeless centre later in the year.
For a moment of distraction, she called Jordan, her new best friend at FFS. (If they were going to merge firms, Manisha was determined to get networking early.) She told him about the quiz. “A drinking competition at a rugby international would be a more popular choice here” was his response. The concept of “lack of cultural fit” flitted across her mind.