Digital Tradition Mirror

Dodkin's Job

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Dodkin's Job
(David Diamond)

I was seated at my desk one day
Just sleeping off a nap,
And from the boss instructions came
And they were full of crap.
I stormed into his office
And demanded some relief.
He said he quite agreed
But these were orders from the chief.

The Bureau Chief received me
In an office rather large.
He said I was mistaken
If I thought he was in charge.
The Assistant Secretary's hand
Had signed the order sheet,
And if I had some questions
That was who I had to meet.

I stood knee-deep in carpet
In an office like a barn
The Assistant Secretary said
He shared in my concern,
But he'd passed on the orders
Though uncertain what they meant,
For he wasn't going to argue with
The nation's President.

How I got into the White House
I'm not allowed to tell;
I stood in the Oval Office
And I was scared as hell.
The President admitted
That he'd signed the bloody note
A favor to my Senator,
A man who'd had my vote.

The Senator was affable
He clapped me on the back
And though my name is David
He kindly called me Jack.
He admitted that he'd signed his name,
It made me want to laugh,
But the thing was a suggestion
From a member of his staff.

So I sat down with his staffer,
A lad of twenty-one,
And this job in the Senate
Was the first he'd ever done.
The idea wasn't his, he said,
But he had been inspired
By the aged office janitor,
A man who'd since retired.

So I took that job as janitor,
And chatter every day
With Senators and staffers
And they heed what I say.
I make a few suggestions
About how to get things done,
And now you know exactly how
The country's being run.

DD

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!