The president's area of interest this afternoon was the conditions in the lower barns, and he had chosen the manager in charge of overall labor to accompany him. This year's president cut an imposing figure, well over six feet tall. His broad shoulders and slim waist and hips spoke of the summers he had worked on a ranch while getting an MBA. While he was equally comfortable in cowboy clothes, he felt that casual dress would diminish his authority around the grounds, so he was better dressed for today's tour of inspection. Now in his early 40's, his hair was jet-black where it was visible below his snow-white Stetson. He wore a perfectly-fitted suit from Sheplers Western Wear in a dark blue, with Western-style yokes front and back. His light blue shirt with darker blue pearl snaps was accented with a black leather braided bolo tie, set off with a large turquoise slide. His boots were dress cowboy boots, in the plain leather he had chosen today rather than fancy ostrich, alligator, or other exotic finish. They were old school, with very pointed toes and high, underslung heels, but the black finish was polished to a mirror shine. His management style was no-nonsense, and he strode rather than ambled, forcing the shorter, stouter manager beside him to almost trot to keep up. His eyes swept from side to side, taking in the appearance of everything, and as he walked, he made brief comments to his underling, mostly favorable. But occasionally his sharp glance spotted something which he felt needed improvement, and his comments on those items were dutifully recorded in his manager's mind, to be attended to later.
It was when they rounded the corner of the lower cow barn that he saw something which made him clench his jaw, and tighten his fists, and his face to darken in anger.
Ranny had just upended his wheelbarrow and dumped his last load of manure onto the pile. Another worker, a black man who had a pleasant personality, and who always got along well with his fellow workers, had also just dumped his load at a spot just next to, but somewhat behind, Ranny. As Ranny stepped back, he tripped over the other's wheelbarrow wheel, and fell backwards into the pile of hot, steaming, fresh manure.
Yesterday's run-in with the blond bitch, the distasteful work assignments, today's bad lunch, the remains of the hangover from last night's beer, all combined to push Ranny over the edge. It didn't help that his co-workers who saw his fall laughed - not cruelly, but just because such an unexpected fall, like those recorded on "America's Funniest Home Videos," always caused involuntary laughter. But Ranny took it the wrong way, and he snapped.