Hey Kids,

This past week was Inspection Week. In my line of work, we have a few of them throughout the year. But they really don’t last a week.

First there’s the walk-thru. Then the check lists, the punch lists, the follow-ups, the do-overs, the forgots, and the “how did we miss that” on the morning of.

Everything gets cleaned, polished, re-cleaned, and re-polished.

The paperwork is looked over, corrected, and forged; just to make sure all is correct.

The people are drilled, grilled, and pressed cleaned.

The rust is sought, fought, and painted over.

The water spots are rubbed down to the support structure underneath.

The answers to possible questions are practiced and recited; all to be forgotten if asked.

The morning comes. The inspectors show. The preparations stand ready.

The inspectors wander around, nod their head, and glance up to the ceiling often to avoid eye-contact. They ask no questions, they don’t look into the dark corners (where nothing is hidden of course), and take no notes.

The week-long inspection is over in 5 minutes. At least for our part of the facility.

Now if only the work week lasted 5 minutes.

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