FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for September 14, 2020

who — in the real, nonfictional world — would use number two and one-half pencils anyway?

Jason would like her. She looks like an iguana with a wig.

I have drawing pencils that are No. 2 but they also say #333 on them so I thought they were No. 333 :P

I’ve seen #1 pencils and #3 pencils. I’ve never heard of a 2 and a half pencil.

In my experience, “efficiency consultants” don’t quibble about pencils, they’re brought in to to tell you who to lay off.

I once worked for a company in Seattle, a city where coffee is a religion. We had our break room stocked with the coffee that was most popular with the software developers (we were as software development company). We also had free soda, also stocked by popular demand.

We were then bought out by a big company CA – no not in California, that was the company’s initials.

The decided that we needed to be on the same national contract for coffee as the rest of the corporation and we then had our coffee supplied by ARA – the same company that supplies coffee to the airlines.

So instead of the developers going to the break room, grabbing a cup and going back to their coding, developers would get together for a morning and afternoon break at the coffee shop downstairs and half the department would be gone for about 30 minutes on each break.

The company estimated that they saved about $60 a month on coffee. Actually, they saved more since nobody drank what they provided.

My boss usually refers to himself as “cheap”, but sometimes I have to stop him from ordering something from the office to “save money” because, in the long run…it wouldn’t.

The last panel tells us why this lady is an ‘efficiency expert’.

She looks like a baboon with a wig on..

I don’t like the pens they buy at work (they’re cheap and don’t make a dark enough line), so I bring my own from home.

Anyone else notice how much the Bigwig looks like Jason?

This is more realistic that many people realize. Upper management keeps cutting our benefits, especially health insurance and retirement, while they keeping raking in huge bonuses, attend conferences in exotic locations, etc.. Our CEO likes to drop in using the corporate helicopter.

“Penny wise, pound foolish”

Someone who presses harder, presumably.

He should have said he bought it himself. But that probably wouldn’t be acceptable either.

“Umm… I brought that pencil from home…”

And what about the new requirement to take longer strides and fewer steps when going to the restroom? An accident waiting to happen!

This strip has a very realistic feel to it.