"Report to Lakeside College at 7AM on Monday for advanced training." My supervisor told me on Friday afternoon.
I heard rumors about the company sending the team leaders to a training for leadership and management, but I'm not in a position that would warrant such training.
"What? Why would I have to go?"
"Came from the VP. Your name is on the list. You'll get paid to sit through boring lectures for eight hours every Monday for six months. I wouldn't argue."
"It's not the training I'm not happy about. It's the late notice and the hour drive each way. I'm not going to get any sleep the night before."
"I guess you'll have to work something out with your husband because we both know that once management has chosen you there's no changing their minds."
I don't know why my name was chosen. I'm just an old fat lady going about her life. I don't make waves, and I don't stand out. I do my best at my job, but I still make mistakes on occasion. I don't know of any mistakes I've made recently to warrant a punishment so I'm left wondering why. When I see the VP I ask him.
"You're basically the lead of the team so I thought it would help you better understand how to deal with the leadership aspects of the job. Not that you're doing poorly. As a matter of fact you're productivity is above and beyond."
I sigh knowing I can't change things and resolve myself to a very early start on Monday. My husband isn't happy with the news, and he can't change his schedule so I get a little less than two hours of sleep.
On my drive in I fight off my tiredness the entire way. Forty five minutes in a herd of deer run out on front of me making me slam on my brakes barely missing them. One large buck stops right in front of my car staring at me before running off into the woods running along both sides of the road. I'm fully awake for the last twenty minutes of the drive thanks to adrenaline.
Once I'm at the college at 6:30 I find I'm the first one to arrive. I find the room, take a seat, and get ready to start the day. It's quiet in the building. Almost eerily quiet. I hear the ventilation system running keeping the temperature comfortable as I wait. As the time nears I expect others to arrive, yet none do.
By 7:10 I'm checking the time and inquisitively checking the hallways. I look and listen feeling so alone and starting to worry. It's the right day at the right time, and in the right place. Slowly I walk the halls seeing nobody. After I'm ready to give up I think I see someone turn the corner ahead of me at the end of a long corridor.