Concrete cream doesn#039;t rise
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Concrete Head, as the name would appear to imply, was not one of the swifter members of our modern society.
As a matter of fact, Concrete's origins were suspect, and questioned by many.
To what species he belonged was a matter of debate among his associates.
This modern day throwback, hauty by nature and smelling strongly of eau de cologne at all times, was granted the classification of humankind, charitably.
Where he came from, no one ever knew or cared, and where he went when he left, his co-workers never were interested enough to ask.
This scarecrow of a person who had been hired from some obscure daily newspaper, where his duties must have been limited, was made the darling of a rich, stupid publisher and placed in the position of managing editor (ME).
The ME on large dailies, such as the one that contracted for his questionable services, is responsible for the entire news content of the newspaper, including features, national wire service news, state and local news, society and sports.
To throw a person of Concrete's qualification into such a breach is not the wisest move ever made by his particular employer.
It's not only not wise, it's both tragic and criminal.
Everyone covered as well as could be done for this poor geek.
But the inevitable, as is always the case in these matters, eventually happened.
It was discovered, soon, in the upper echelons of the business, that old Concrete Head was immeasurably underqualified for the position he had been assigned.
Then it didn't take too long for management to do what they felt they had to do – place old C.H. on the scrap heap of human failure, and seek out someone really qualfied.
The only redeeming feature of this grim story is that management did not invoke the Peter Principal, that eventually would have resulted in Concrete's elevation to the top job in the organization.
The people responsible for the operation of your newspaper, hopefully, are of a higher caliber than Concrete and fit most of the job specs involved.