Statue of Liberty

This story takes place around 4 years back. At that time your's truly was employed by THE MAN (or WOMEN) and therefore had the opportunity to partake in such office gatherings like birthday parties (Yuck !!!), lunches (Sign !!!) and the obligatory going away drinking sessions (Yipee !!!).

As with any corporation we had our share of newbies that migrated from small town to the Big Apple with only hope in the heart and dreams in their head. I took it upon myself to shatter such hopes and dreams and reminded them that they were but cubicle slaves and that their opinion mattered to no one.

Such a girl landed in our company and managed to get to get an apartment in the city, which I am sure she was sharing with 10 other girls. Every day we had to hear how she woke up to the view of the Statue of Liberty and how that alone made it worthwhile for her to commute all the way to Connecticut She also manged to entrall or bore us about new restaurants or night club that she went to, somehow she was always on the VIP guest list.

During I such inspirational speech, I interjected her and told her she is lucky enough in one year to see the full Statue of Liberty. Of course the group was confused with the comment.

I then proceeded to tell her that the following story which is a hidden gem and secret only to the New Yorkers.. The story is as follows:

When the Statue arrived on the shores of USA from France that there was a fight to which side the statue to face. The New Yorkers of course wanted it to face them while the rest of the country wanted the butt to face New York. Glover Cleveland, the US President at that time, came with a decision to put the Statue on a rotating base and it would rotate at the rate of 1 degree per day. The idea was that at the end of year both sides would get the front and back view of Lady Liberty.

She was a smart cookie, she challenged me saying that there are 365/366 days in a year and only 360 degrees in a circle. My response was, "Good question, the statue doesn't rotate during New Year, President's Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also during leap year the statue doesn't rotate during February 29th".

With the new found knowledge, she decided it is time to enlighten her fried who are born and bred New Yorkers about this story.

The following Monday she came charging into my office and told me, "You know you are as ass h---! I told that story at a party this weekend and was nearly laughed out of New York"

I listened to her outburst with a smirk on my face and nearly unfolded the "Mission Accomplished" banner in my office.

She was smart, came from the right school (read Ivy League) but not very good in history or research.

From that day on she never ever gave us updates to her daily life as a New Yorker. Some of us missed it, but to the rest she was another naive child you got a rude awakening to the corporate world