Peter stretched himself out behind his desk. He hardly slept and it has been a very long day. His sixty-five-year-old body cannot handle a whole day of sitting anymore.
He just hoped and prayed that his hard work will pay off.
For the last two weeks he had spent every waking moment on this proposal. He
has been running a successful business for the last forty years and when his
son George finished school and got his degree in accounting, he joined him in the
business.
They couldn’t complain about the incoming work, but lately things have
changed. Peter was still old school and preferred working out everything by hand. In his opinion it was much safer, and he has never trusted computers.
George had been nagging him for years to computerize everything, but Peter
felt that the human touch was still a much safer option.
Peter sat back and relaxed for a minute. He thought about the importance of
this contract. He started to doubt his own reason, and wondered if computerizing wouldn’t be a better option. In some way, it will take away a lot of the pressure.
If they received this contract, it would mean the world to them. It will
generate a steady income for years to come and he would finally be able to
retire and hand over the business to his son. This would also mean that they
can start traveling like they always wanted.
During the past few years, they relied mostly on old clients. This was the
first contract they applied for in years, but the owners of that company wanted someone reliable and according to Peter there was no other reliable accounting firm in the area.
It took him nearly ten minutes to attach the scanned document to an email and
when it was done, he sighed with relief. At least he could do that properly although it took weeks for George just to teach him to send an e- mail.
He was just about to get up to search for some coffee when he got the
delivery message. It was now just a matter of hours before they will know the result and he could feel the anxiety creeping up.
Peter's legs felt stiff and he decided to take a walk in the garden. The fresh air
did him good and he felt happier and more relaxed about the whole
situation. Whatever will be will be kept on playing in his head and he smiled because this is what he firmly believed.
He hardly sat down at his desk again when the phone rang. He felt anxious but he quickly pressed the green button. It was George and he sounded very excited.
"We got it dad! We got it! We got the contract!"
"What do you mean we got it? I just sent the proposal through a few minutes ago and there is no way that they could have worked through it yet."
“They didn’t care about the proposal dad, it was just a technicality. It was
the human factor that did the trick here. You were right dad. Now you can
finally retire in peace and I will continue your legacy.”
Peter smiled and congratulated George. The directors had already signed the contract, so it was a done deal.
Peter smiled and took a sip of the steaming coffee Emily just brought him.
The human factor is irreplaceable.
He dragged closer the computer and opened his google search bar. With two fingers he typed in:
Airline tickets to Italy.
Perhaps it was time to embrace technology a little more. There was going to be a lot of travelling in the next few months….
