The story of the cupcakes . . .
My immediate supervisor, who does not live in the same state and has no idea what I do for a living, repeatedly mentioned that I have been using the word "emergency" far too often. A large portion of my average day is interrupted by crises in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Istanbul, Gdansk, Guadalajara, and some odd place called California. These crises directly affect our customers and our revenue stream.
My immediate supervisor did not like my use of the word "emergency", and required that I stop using that term, so I needed a more creative solution. I shall have no more emergencies; they shall be called cupcakes.
A cupcake is a situation in which a production line will come to an abrupt hault unless immediate action is taken.
A chocolate cupcake is a situation in which multiple production lines are at great risk; this is the plural of the standard cupcake.
A frosted cupcake is a situation in which a production line is already down, we are losing revenue by the minute, a slolution must come ASAP or sooner.
A frosted chocolate cupcake is a situation similar to the frosted cupcake, but affects more than one production line.
Any type of cupcake with sprinkles means that the idiots in upper management have stepped in to require additional reporting, thus taking the team away from what they need to be doing.
It took my supervisor several months to realize that I was saying the same thing with different terminology. Cupcakes are no longer in fashion. I might try donuts. That might keep him busy for another few months.
