The Orchard
Jonah approached the office. The outside wall was glass and the door, also made of glass, opened automatically once he approached. He stepped inside and the glass door closed behind him. The office swallowed him up. It had a contemporary design. The floor was white marble tile and the desk was stainless steel. Behind the desk was a white chair with a very high back. Behind the chair the outside wall was also glass. One picture hung on the wall; a painting of a scene from Moby Dick. Otherwise the office was barren. Jonah looked around the office searching for signs of life, but there were none, not even a cactus plant.
“Welcome, please have a seat Jonah” said the man sitting in the white chair before he had a chance to introduce himself.
From his seat Jonah had a remarkable view of the orchard outside while facing the man sitting in the white chair. It was autumn and the apple trees were heavy with a new crop. Earlier, upon entering the building, Jonah smelled freshly made cider donuts and warm apple cider coming from the adjacent orchard. The sweet aroma reminded him of his childhood. He recalled apple picking in the orchard near his house on sunny afternoons each fall. From the office glass he could see workers harvesting ripe empires, ida reds, and honey crisp. They worked quickly and it appeared to Jonah that they were genuinely satisfied. The sun shone on their faces and the wind was at their backs.
Jonah was dressed in a sharp designer suit. He bought it for himself in the city about a year ago for an occasion just like this. He had his favorite tailor adjust the pants and jacket so that it fit perfectly. His white dress shirt was neatly starched and pressed, although it was a bit disheveled at the moment. It was evident that there was a bit of blood near the pocket. It was close enough to the pocket so that one could easily pass it off for an ink stain, if not for the small amount of dried blood at the corner of Jonah’s mouth. Jonah wore a pair of black dress shoes with laces, which were appropriate for the interview. He shined the shoes earlier in week; however there was some dried mud on the heels and around the toe.
“Jonah, I am so glad to see you. How was your trip here” the man asked.
He was a warm and kind man. Jonah could not recall meeting him before, however his smile was disarming and the tone in his voice made him feel as though they had been friends for a very long time.
Jonah replied, “Well, I was in a terrible accident on my way here. I was in a particularly foul mood this morning and I was speeding. Suddenly I saw a child crossing the road and I swerved in order to save her life. I lost control and my car ran into the ditch. I am surprised that I made it here alive. I drive a yellow Ferrari, which I purchased in Rome, on a whim. I saw the car through the window of the dealer there and I had to have it. It is a beautiful machine. I wish that everyone could own one! I have to admit, that car has taught me something. You can’t buy happiness. I think that I bought it to fill a void in my life. In reality, it is the least practical car ever. I hardly have room to fit a few groceries. Oh, and the insurance bill; they should prohibit the import of those cars! I’ve always felt like something is missing from my life, and I still do. The car was just an attempt to bring meaning to my life. I drive it in and out of the city every day. Everyone looks at my extremely fast car while we are sitting for hours in traffic together. When they look at the car, I am glad it has impossibly dark tinted windows, because they can’t see me inside. You see, I am the one on the outside looking in. On the drive home I see other men, in family cars driving home, and I think of what they have to look forward to. I have nothing. If they could see in they would be looking at a broken man”
With that, Jonah sat silent for a long time looking out at the orchard with a blank stare.
“I understand that you are interested in a new job. Try to tell me something about yourself that I do not already know” he said with a grin.
“I worked for a large bank in Manhattan. We financed those mortgages that you heard about in the news; the kind of loans that have an interest rate that rise over time. Eventually the interest rate becomes so high that only a wealthy man can afford to pay the mortgage. When families can no longer afford to pay the mortgage they are foreclosed and they lose the family home. To make things worse, the only people who even wanted those loans are those who didn’t qualify for a traditional mortgage. The bank identified the applicants as high risk, but they handed out the loans anyway because they were greedy. Of course, when the economy turned south and people started losing their jobs this just made the whole situation worse. The foreclosures were coming in so fast that the bank outsourced the paperwork process overseas. People were losing their homes and the bank was carelessly rubber stamping the foreclosures. One time they were so careless that they incorrectly foreclosed on a family that was paying on time! Every day I signed off on another foreclosure from my corner office on the 99th floor. I sold my soul because it made me wealthy. This morning I woke up and decided to make a change. I went in my boss’ office and told him to go to hell. I put the contents of my office in a box and pointed my sports car upstate toward the country and clear air.”
“Tell me, what are you strengths, and what are your weaknesses”?
Jonah took some time to think about his response and then he said, “I am ambitious and driven. When I was younger I wanted to be successful within the corporation. I learned that we live in a society where the ends often justify the means. Often the bank took advantage of good people. Businesses used to keep customers happy with reasonable prices and good service. It was my job to build a long term relationship with those customers. I was successful when the interest rates were low. As soon as those interest rates started rising and people started losing their homes my job became very difficult. It was impossible to keep the customers happy. Unhappy customers meant that by boss was constantly breathing down my neck. It wasn’t long before the bank started the layoffs. Some of our former employees even lost their homes after they became unemployed. Here you had people who spend 25 years serving the bank and one day they go to work and they lose their job. They were out on the street; just like that. Those same people were the ones who honored those long term relationships with important customers. Unfortunately, in the end, the bank never honored the relationship that they had with its long term employees. Over time, I realized that I could no longer work there and maintain my core value of integrity. I would have spent my whole life climbing the corporate ladder. Recently I realized that my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. It’s just a business. At the end of the day, when a man who served the bank for 25 years is out on the street, it’s just a business. I want to believe that it wasn’t always like that, but I’m not so sure.
“What did you do before you were hired at the bank?” The man said.
Jonah, answered, “I graduated from Cornell with a degree in accounting and later received an MBA, but that was after I changed my major”
“Why did you make the transition? What was your original major?” he asked.
“Horticulture. Cornell has one of the best horticulture departments in the country. I grew up on a farm so I thought that it would be a good fit. My father worked the land and he taught me the meaning of an honest day’s work. Numbers aren’t really my thing, but I changed my major into a field where I thought I could work less and make more money” Jonah replied.
Once again Jonah looked out into the orchard.
He added, “Before I left the bank I bought a hundred acres in Saratoga County, not far from where I grew up. The bank foreclosed on the property and I bought it for a fraction of what it is worth. Although I have never seen the land, I know that it is good farmland. It is seeded with timothy hay and harvested twice a year, in order to pay the taxes.”
The man interrupted, “I can tell that you were not very prepared for our meeting today, but that it understandable. Not many people are prepared to meet me face to face. I know that you have been walking down the wrong path, but I have something to show you” he said.
He stood up gracefully and motioned to the sprawling orchard that dominated the landscape.
“Others may ask you, where you want to be in 10 or 15 years. I am telling you, this is where you need to be now” he said while pointing to the orchard.
He added, “You may ask, what work or jobs I have done to qualify me to do this?” Then the teacher said, “I can tell by your frame that you are a formidable man. You have able hands and a strong back. Your father taught you to work with what you have been given, and everything has and will be provided that you need”.
With that Jonah stood up to walk out of the office. The jaws opened and he was spit out onto dry land. When he opened his eyes he knew immediately where he was. Although he had never been there he recognized the landscape as the land he purchased. It was situated at the top of the hill, about half a mile from the village below. He was not far from the road and the ditch where his car stood, one wheel off the ground and two front tires buried deep in thick mud. The sun was on his face and the wind was at his back. Clouds were scrolling by gently. Jonah was sitting and he was thinking about what he just experienced. At that moment he realized why he was there. He reached into his pocket and found some apple seeds there. He parted the earth with his bare hands and planted the seeds in the dirt there. He thought, it isn’t much, but it’s a start. By now someone made his way to the scene.
He asked, “You’ve been an accident, do you need a ride?”
Jonah nodded and walked over to the truck. It was an old red farm truck. The body of the truck was like a pair of well worn work gloves. It was dirty and rusted. There were holes in some places where the rust ate through. It probably had about 200 thousand miles on it, but it fired right up. Jonah jumped in and sat down. He sunk deep in the well worn cloth seat. To him it felt like a pair of comfortable jeans. It had been a very long day and Jonah was very tired. The trip north crash had taken its toll. Jonah sat in the truck very silent. The man with the truck sat there with him very silent for a long time looking out at the field and the village below.
He said, “My family used to own this field. They sold it just before the bank foreclosed. So, what do you do for a living bud?”
Jonah winced and said “I’m a farmer now”
“Do you need to make a phone call?” he replied.
Jonah said “No, I just spoke with my father”
