Occasionally, having to run is the only available option.
As was with our situation this morning. A customer had given us a tight but achievable deadline for the manufacture and delivery of their Expand a Sign WondaSigns and Expanding Backwalls. A smooth transition from artwork approval to production and despatch, with an air freight of the branding yesterday evening before our customer’s event at 9am today. Our regular Cape Town driver and delivery man, Bob*, is otherwise occupied this morning and so cannot travel to the airport to collect and deliver the customer’s banners.
In swoops Paul*. Paul is a keen fisherman, great father, and epic Expand a Sign Sales member. He could sell underpants to a nudist. Which is fairly irrelevant, as the quality of Expand a Sign products mean that they almost sell themselves. So, Paul states that he will gather these banners from the airport and transport them to the client. Paul’s a nice guy like that.
With minimal time available until the customer’s event and with a monster road traffic collision along his regular route, Paul opts to navigate into a suspicious area in an attempt to miss the congestion. This is a calculated risk. Badly calculated, unfortunately – at a red traffic light, a gang of undesirables tear the back of the bakkie (truck/lorry) open and hasten away with 2 WondaSigns. Now, we know the beauty of these original branding products but never expected the criminals of the Western Cape to share our sentiments. In a burst of adrenalin, Paul flings his superman cape on and chases the offenders down the road. At some point they realise that they are going to be caught (Paul was once a Pro soccer player and can evidently run faster than the bad guys) and they drop the WondaSigns. When Paul strides back to the bakkie, banners in hand, a new band of delinquents surround him and begin jeering and taunting. At this point, Paul swaps his superman kit for an F1 race suit and propels the vehicle over a few pavements, swiftly hightailing it out of the dangerous location.
He is back in his work attire by the time our customer receives their goods – none the wiser to what we go through to keep deadlines.
All in a day’s work for Expand a Sign.
*Not their real names. Our superheroes require anonymity.