Steven sat at his desk and looked around at the stacks of papers that were building up in his office, some sitting on top of file cabinets, others falling over the sides of trays marked "in" "out" "working". He had formed Gotcha! years ago when he discovered that the local banks were using companies from other bigger towns to repossess vehicles from delinquent payers. He had a good rapport with the managers of most of the banks, as he had been quite successful in retrieving the vehicles that his company was hired to find.
But now it was getting harder and harder to find the people and/or vehicles. The economy had taken a downturn, and people were desperate to keep their possessions at any cost. And Steven was at his wits end trying to stay one step ahead of the people that he was after. But he was running out of ideas. Most people already knew how to avoid getting things repo'd, and he was running out of ideas to get the vehicles back.
Steven's wife Darlene walked into the room and saw him staring at the walls contemplatively. Darlene kept the books for the business and she knew that the money had not been coming in as much lately since they were having such a hard time at the present. And the banks were not calling as often, causing her to worry that they could lose their business to someone else who was creative in their thinking.
"Sweetie, are you okay? I was just coming in here to work on catching up the books. You look like you're deep in thought. Will I be in your way?" Darlene asked.
"No my love, you won't be in the way", Steven answered. "I just feel so frustrated at not being able to complete the jobs like I used to."
"I think it is time that we bring in some new brains with new ideas. Sambo has just finished high school and needs to find a job. He's always been good at coming up with different ideas, even if it did land him in a bunch of trouble over the years. Maybe he could breathe some fresh air into the company."
"I had thought of bringing our son on board. Samuel needs to learn a trade, and I would like to have someone to take over the business and keep it going when we decide to retire one day", Steven said as he turned toward where his wife was standing. "But Denise has worked with me on repo's while she was in school, and Sambo was always too busy with sports to have time for the biz."
"So dear, why don't we bring both of them on board officially? Our daughter has a good business sense about her, and I could teach her how to take care of the financial end, as I want to be able to retire and enjoy myself one day, without the headaches that this can bring."
"Alright, we'll talk to them at supper tonight and see if they are up to it. I need some new ideas, and it will be great to work full time with my children", Steven said.
Darlene agreed that supper that night would be a good time to talk to them. And as they gathered around the table and began to eat their meals, Steven brought up the subject.
"Kids, me and your mother talked today at the shop. We want to bring both of you on board full time in the business. I am having a hard time catching some of the people that we are being hired to find their vehicles. I need some fresh ideas to catch these guys, and I am going to look to you to provide some answers."
Denise was the first to speak up. "Dad, I would love to work with you full time. We've had some good times over the past years with me helping you, so I feel like I know some of the job already, but I'm eager to learn more."
"I agree Dad", Samuel said, talking with his mouth half full, as was his usual custom.
"Well then, it is settled", Dad said. "We will meet at the shop at eight o'clock in the morning to start to work on the current case that I'm on. So put your thinking caps on in the morning and let's get this business back to making money again."
The next morning the family gathered in the office that was located inside of the warehouse that Steven had converted into a shop to house some of the more expensive vehicles that they repossessed.
Steven started out the conversation by bringing the family up to date.
"The local bank has called and asked us to catch up with a Ford F-150 Harley Davidson version truck owner who is three months behind on his payments. The bank has tried to find the vehicle, but the owner, whose name is Shelton, has it hid most of the time. The bank believes that he is thinking that he will eventually come up with a way to catch the payments up to date. But Shelton will pull out the truck out of hiding and he has been seen cruising around town sometimes on weekend evenings. By the time that the bank is alerted of each sighting, the vehicle is nowhere to be found. Shelton is a young college kid who bought the vehicle to impress the ladies and try to get more dates, but because he only works part time at a pizza eatery next to the campus, he cannot make the payments."
"Daddy", Denise speaks up first. "Judging from the picture that you have of him on his driver's license copy, he looks rather plain, and not much to look at. I bet he is trying to use the pickup to attract the ladies, which I don't think that he has a chance in hell of doing."
