Overheard Starbuck

"They were lucky men. As their obsessions or addictions turned them into facsimiles of their former selves; frightened their family and friends and grieved their wives, girlfriends and mothers, the organization recognized the changes and promoted them to jobs which found best use for the forces at work inside them and upon them.
If they were forced to be truthful, they'ld say they were miserable but they had little incentive to change, to question or explain, to stop. They were well-paid and successful--at the top of their game. The company like clockwork acknowledged good work with letters of praise and generous bonuses of cash, coupons, women and the latest consumer electronics. They had all the right things, things they never imagined they'ld have: secure in the eye of the storm their lives had become."