Tales from the Camp Fire
This is a fictional story for your reading enjoyment
This is the story of Moon Beam Bagels
Once upon a time there was a local civil servant named Dogwood that worked in a local office for the director answering phone calls and directing people to the correct office. Dogwood was very unhappy with his job and everyone knew it. Dogwood's boss had a problem that Dogwood could help with. They schemed and found a way to make Dogwood’s boss happy and Dogwood would get a fake injury and collect workers comp to be able to leave his job and open his own business “Moon Beam Bagels” where he could be his own boss and not have to answer the phone any more.
Dogwood found a vacant building in midtown and opened Moon Beam Bagels. Dogwood did not think everything through. He was able to buy a Bagel machine that could make 50 bagels an hour and work four hours in a day and try as he might he was not able to make enough bagels to pay the rent and the staff and buy supplies. Dogwood worried about this until he was offered a deal he could not refuse. We like your bagel business and we will give you money for you to claim as income to keep Moon Beam Bagels open you just have to make us silent partners and hire who we tell you to. But I can only make 50 bagels an hour for four hours a day and this cannot be increased. Not a problem just do as we instruct. So Dogwood took the money added more space in the shop making it three times larger. Hiring the extra staff not to work and kept on making bagels. The money kept on coming in and Dogwood was happy. Dogwood even tried to expand the business to a new site. If I can sell my 200 bagels faster each day I will not have to stay open but during the morning.
Did I mention Dogwood was not a good business man and had no experience in a commercial kitchen? He was posting pictures on Face Book that showed that he did not understand the importance of using the right kitchen tools and keeping everything clean. Someone shared this information with the Health Department. Dogwood’s friend when dropping off some cash told Dogwood about the inspection. Dogwood closed Moon Beam Bagels on a holiday weekend to clean the shop so it would be spic and span for the inspection on Tuesday. The inspection was done and Moon Beam Bagels passed with flying colors, with instructions to remove the pictures from the web site and to be careful what he posted in the future.
The last time the person telling the story around the camp fire was in the store the floors were dirty, the place was understaffed, the bagels? Okay at best. The argument was given that they were busy and it was hard to keep the floors clean. The response “I was the first customer of the day.” There were no replies.
I hope you enjoyed this work of fiction. If it reminds of any business in Gloucester, VA it is just a coincidence since this story is made up?
Sincerely,
Alexander James Jay