Person of the Year
A fictional short-short story
I was on stage to accept my award as Person of the Year. No, not TIME’s, the Association of Healthcare Salespeople. There was much I wish I had the balls to say but I decided to be gracious:
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“What an honor to be Healthcare Salesperson of the Year.” I glanced at my wife who pursed her lips — She knows how I actually feel about our “profession.”
“I think of all the people I helped get insured.” But I flashed on the cancer patient who called and cried, then screamed that the insurance company kept asking for more and more paperwork and then denied much of her claim. She died. To gather my composure, I stared at the ballroom’s back door, whereupon I saw the ghost of her in a wheelchair, wheeling toward me. I got dizzy, then crushing chest pain.
That was the last I remember until the paramedics wheeled me into the ER and the receptionist asked my wife, “Your insurance card?”
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 34 books including Work Stories. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
