So, I've got this friend see, and he...

I have this friend who works for a funny bunch. Not funny in the sense that they tell humorous jokes that make my friend laugh, but funny in a way that something just isn’t quite right that leaves Pal-o-mine scratching his head.

He’s a writer with a number of years experience behind him, including a lengthy stint at a decent-sized newspaper. At his office, Pal-o-mine is often asked to write pieces for a variety of audiences – some times it is copy for the company Web site, some times he’s asked to throw together articles for outside publications. Most recently, they asked him to write the nomination of a fellow employee for a major award.

For years, the company has been nominating employees deserving of specific recognition. Each year, they return from the awards ceremony stymied that their own employee didn’t win. Pal-o-mine was asked to write something that would really sway the judges and give the deserving employee a better shot.

When it was completed. The acting big wig in-charge made numerous changes to the article. Not a single one was to correct factual errors, punctuation, spelling, and grammar or tense usage—those were just fine. Rather, the big wig decided he would change the style. Within minutes, the stripped-down nomination had become bland and whitewashed. Since he doesn’t know anything about the editing process, the bigwig asked to see the boring document again. Then, he decided to have another employee without a writing background re-edit the piece because, “the sentences were too long.”

Disgusted, pal-o-mine washed his hands of the whole affair by telling another big wig he wished not to see the final draft before it was sent out.

“It’s going to have the warmth of a hospital floor so I have no interest in seeing it,” Pal-o-mine said. “When it comes time to selecting nominees, this employee will be seen by judges as a faceless, one-dimensional bureaucrat spewing industrial jargon and the same old company line.

“It’s no wonder we never win.”