All Comments on 'Following Laura's Footsteps'

Charles Dickens would be pleased with this.

nice scrooge story version loved it but should be in romance cat but glad it wasnt might have missed it lol ty for the read

This clown raised the bar on "self-absorbed". I would love to say it's just a story; people aren't really like that. Unfortunately, I have worked in the corporate headquarters of four Fortune 100 companies, plus one world-famous art museum/foundation, all of whose names you would recognize instantly, and the bosses are EXACTLY like that. If you will recall, a famous fast-food giant (one of my former employers) was notorious for coaching its new employees to apply for food stamps to supplement their less-than-living wage. I guarantee the people who set those policies never suffered the same fate. Will they ever be visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future and see the light? Nah, but it makes a good, if fictional, read.

BTW, have you ever seen a company build a helipad on the roof of corporate headquarters so the CEO can fly the company helicopter directly from his office to his weekend/summer home in the next state? I have. Not quite the same as buying most of a Hawaiian island for one's own private retreat, but hey; times change.

Was that supposed to be funny? It was just dumb and boring.

Combined with a poor plagiarism of Dickens adds up to a two star score.

Couldn't get past half the first page, who wants to read about a pompous, arrogant, rich man who brags about buying $50k bottles of scotch and all his other expensive shit. Story line has been done before and much, much better than this wannabe writer.

A modern day story of Scrooge without the ghosts, but a hard hitting little woman! Great story.

I agree I was put off by his bragging but that kept me reading to see if there is a point. But quickly I started to do the math on his age. He is so young to have clawed his way to the top. Some rich young entrepreneurs happen to stumble on a gem like facebook, for example. This guys business is not known so for me if he were older it would have been a better fit.

Loved Mamma!

But anyhow, a nice twist on old christmas tales. Fresh start of the day compared too the other stories this week or month.

Just rolled over in his grave and whispered ," God bless us all, everyone".

You'd better not shout

You'd better not cry

Youd better not pout

Im telling you why, capitalist

Bernie Claus is coming to town!

Too bad this kind of thing doesn't happen in real life. Too bad that person who is already making fists full of cash has to make more at the cost of others. Too bad that the greedy of others has a tendency to blind one's view of what got them there. Too bad for the lack of reality that this could possibly happen. That said, I liked the story.

Good take on a classic. Maybe not the right category, but that doesn’t detract from it being a good read.

So I made them spend a week cutting grass on one of my golf courses.... so who am I?

Seriously a good story, but how he went from the comfort of an air conditioned bus to shivering waiting for the next one still concerns me

Over the top silly. Could have been very good.

Mamma prevents this story being a Hallmark Holiday special. Great character. With the exception of the generosity that would get the MC fired in real life, I could see a boss becoming really enamored with his assistant and have no clue how horrible her life was because of how he treated her. I definitely can see the assistant accepting it out of a crush on her boss- I sadly knew women that has happened to. Maybe it is the wrong category, but its a great story - mostly because of Mamma.

The many comments covered the story well. I can only add my sincere Thanks for your take on this sad situation. There is too much truth in it for comfort. In a real situation parallel to this fantasy a boss would, almost certainly have 'circumvented' the non-fraternization rules, lots of stories in LW to testify to that! Great Job 5*****

This started out as a story called The Rich Man. I was intending to take a shot at companies like Starbucks, McDonalds and others that pay their employees an unlivable pittance. I may still write that story someday.

The Winter Contest called and it occurred to me that "The Rich Man" could be altered with a Christmas theme to become an entry.

So I started re-writing. 8,000 words became 9,700 words. When I added the Christmas elements I started to realize the similarity to Christmas Carol, except Cratchit now has tits! A nice improvement in my books :-)

Anyway once I realized the similarity I had to gussy it up in that direction. The three buses were already in the story, but they had to change. And so it went.

It was never intended to resemble Dicken's work but I'm glad it did. It fits right in with the season. I've watched A Christmas Carol on TV almost every year since I started watching TV. Decades now. That anyone would see such an awesome story in mine and like it, is the highest compliment I can imagine. For those of you that didn't care for it, or lack any apparent attention span (anon two paragraph I'm looking at you) ...Oh well.

Thank you to all of you that gave it high marks and nice compliments. I appreciate it.

Gordo12

lawsuits are looking, and mom would be in jail if this was Trump, Gates or any other rich ahole

This was an over-the-top tour de force. How long did it take you to look up all those names and prices? From cars to scotch you found some of the very best things life has to offer the rich. A few problems. I don't think Momma ever gets into his building, regardless of whether or not she has Laura's keys. A little thing called building security. The first time she hits him, I think he takes his wallet, phone and leaves. What's she going to do? Beat him up? And while it has reached epic proportions of greed in this country, most companies (Google comes to mind) take good care of their employees realizing that it's the employees that make any company successful. But I liked your all-in attitude in this story.

4 stars

While it was a sappy version of Christmas Carol, it was enjoyable. Happy endings bring tears to my eyes.

“Cratchit now has tits”

would have been a better title

Just what we need for Christmas.

Loved it.

Specifically the bus part

but do you really expect us to believe a guy willing to drop 37,000 dollars for a half gallon for scotch, or nine grand for one single tie is going to think third rate meat from a discount store is too expensive?

That a guy who nets millions a year in salary is unaware that his right hand employee is living below poverty level, doesnt have a car, and hasnt bought new clothes in three years?

A bit to the extreme of a Christmas Carol and over the top, even with today's economy and traditions but you did make the point.

Too bad part of the story is, pardon my crass part, based on wanting a great piece of ass that overcame the concept of love in your story.

T.T.

The basic Christmas Carol premise was fine. The writing was generally fine. However, the build-up of what a self-centered rich guy he was far too long. The point was made --and I thought the guy was a total asshole--long before we stopped hearing about all the obscene things he bought himself. If you think about Dickens' work, we learn about what kind of guy Scrooge is in a very short amount of time. This occupied about a quarter of the story.

Also, I can tell that you pay attention to your writing but I suggest a proofreader. There are quite a number of typos that made me come out of the story and say, "Huh?" Some are clearly simply a mistake at the keyboard. Others perhaps are not. A second set of eyes would help.

Yes it was a bit over the top but the sentiment was good as was the writing. I'm now going to start on your previous stories and hope they are as good as this one.

No one could run a company like Chris did and get away with it. People would leave or at least scream bloody murder. Even a woman in love wouldn't allow her child to live in the conditions you describe just because she's got the hot for the boss. And the HR person would never allow this to happen because there'd be wholesale defections. The abrupt about-face only emphasizes the stupidity of the whole plot. I gave this a 2*, but I'm not sure why I was so generous. (And why was this in the Loving Wives category?)

Hearing how filthy ritch this guy was and that the worker bees made the company the money and he forgot about the men and women who made him who he is I found it unlikely they would have stayed working for him for the wages they could have made elsewere. It would have served him best if the business had faultered and closed. Sounds like Laura and her sone could have done better. Would be nice to here how the men bond from here on. Money may not buy me everything... But I would like to try

...but without some serious looks at revenue projections and the company sales figures, it'd be a short-lived fairytale!

then when he got punched I thought: "Now I know!"

It was a good, Christmas story.

A great feel good story, reminds me of some other christmas story with a few ghosts. But I like this version better. Mamma with a right hook is a classic. For those that think this is fluff... its what the author wants to write about. Nothing less. I gave it a five.... because it cheer me up after a long day. Keep writing.

Jealous much?

This is a modern version of Dickens' Christmas Carol. Momma was all three ghosts rolled into one. Enjoyed the story. 😎

What a delightful modern day retelling of a Scrooge story. You checked all the boxes for a wonderful Christmas story. 5* Thanks for sharing your story.

Mr Scrooge loves his secretary’ but paid her a poverty wage. He loves her and I find it highly unlikely she would be so loyal to this man when she could not put food on the table. Then all of a sudden the mother intervened and he saw the light . Only in this Christmas story. Then he asks her to marry him as he bankrupts his company with all those perks and his super expensive lifestyle . It just to far out to be believable or even close.

she was the first employee he hired and she is living like that? her mother slapping him, mama at most would have been cursed out. Daughter lets her feelings for her boss stop her from asking for a raise? I don't usually comment but REALLY!!!!

then I read this comment.

by Anonymous

11/07/19

I’ve got a couple of guys like him who work for me?

So I made them spend a week cutting grass on one of my golf courses.... so who am I?

Seriously a good story, but how he went from the comfort of an air conditioned bus to shivering waiting for the next one still concerns me

I don't claim to be the brightest bulb in the lamp, but even I figured out that it was a metaphor for the the buses near the rich district grew worse the farther away you went and the closer you got to the slums. Gotta love city transit.

First things first. Even though I am an anonymous commenter, I try to write about the merits of the story. Second, I really like this author's stories But ... this is not one of them.

The story seemed forced from the beginning with the guy touting the prices of the items he has. I don't think CEOs really pay attention to the expensive his tie may be. I also have hard time wrapping my head around a CEO's executive assistant living in poverty. They tend to be well compensated. Entry and lower level one's do tend to be under paid which I think really sucks.

Another part of the story line that does make sense is how his company could be thriving with him severely underpaying his workers. If his payroll was that bad, he wouldn't be able to keep good people. The one's who stayed wouldn't be going the extra mile for him. Plus if he was that cheap, he probably wouldn't be throw around fifties for tips. Generally, a cheapo tends to be cheap with everything including with himself.

I wound up getting bored by the time I got to end of page one and started skipping ahead. I'm happy with the Cinderella ending. It just was a tedious journey to get there. In respect to the author I didn't score it. I hope his next submission will get back to storytelling instead of what seem to me of being overly preachy. (which I am probably doing now) :-)

a modern Christmas carol, very well written, please keep em coming

Your story would be a great basis for a Christmas movie! This would become a new Christmas classic. Think about it....

As someone noted, the lead in about a overly rich, self-centered executive was over the top, but it set the stage for a remarkable turn-around.

Many of us have worked for companies that approached this scenario -- the last one I worked for was classic. There has been no turn around there, so many poor souls are still struggling while the founder lives the good life.

This story was the ultimate feel-good, pre-Christmas, story and raises hope that selfish entrpreneurs may see the light and share their success.

THank you.

It seems from the emails and comments here that Mamma is a real hit. I must say when she popped up in the story I loved her myself. Maybe that came through.

A lot of comments about working for little money:

How about Internships?

Ask a counter person at McDonalds what they get paid.

Ask a Starbucks barista what they get paid.

Ask a restaurant waitress or line cook what they get paid.

Ask people working at start-ups what they accepted and what they expect in the future when the company makes it. Many work for just shares. Many for low wages. What happens when none of that pans out?

I talked to a Home Depot clerk. HD loves to hire retired, experienced trades people. What do they pay? 2k a month. Decades of experience in some cases for a pittance while the company makes millions on their backs!

Companies deliberately underpay their employees all the time. Dangling the "JUST DO THIS AND YOU'VE GOT A FUTURE" carrot hoping to get some competitive advantage. It's a business model as old as the hills.

A cool Christmas Story with no Red Rider BB gun...

He is nuevo rich. That’s how often you can tell them from the true old-money. Old money either doesn’t care, of know how de classe showing off money can be (though some of them still do it, though subtly.)

I have a friend who grew up upper-working class. Now that he has money (upper middleclass) he gets as expensive as stuff he can afford (often skipping over better, though less expensive things) then tells EVERYBODY how much he spent.

An old boss of mine came from old money. He drove around an almost 20 year old Jaguar XJ-6. But he paid $500/month (early 1990s) for a parking spot near work that he didn’t have to feed money into every 2 hours. When that car finally was on its last leg in the mid 1990s, he went looking for a new car, and paid by check for a new $60,000 Mercedes. From what his a.a. told me his suits (and I assume shoes) had all been tailored in New York (where he was from), or Asia (where his family was from). But you could just tell some of the suits were many years old. He just didn’t care, as long as it was still wearable. He bought quality, damn the cost, but never a label.

Okay for all you Bernie zombies. This is so much BS. No CEO has any direct reports living in poverty. Makes them to easily compromised for any number of issues from embezzlement to planting a virus. This just does not happen if the CEO is as successful as this one. Second, you can't just change HR benefits/pay any way you want. There are FEDERAL REGULATIONS in books that fill whole libraries that keep you from doing this. Also, for all of you who have never started or run a company. Most CEO's spend MOST of their time trying to figure out how to pay the bills. GM CEO once complained that he did not make cars, he ran the worlds largest health insurance company that had a side gig making cars. People are expensive unreliable and difficult to work with hence ROBOTS and AI are taking over the work place.

whimsical, strains credibility but like A Christmas Carol all was wrapped up well in the end.

Ok boomer

A Christmas Carol for 2019. I loved Mamma and I loved the story. Hard to believe some commenters can't even resist trashing a feel good Christmas story. I guess they prefer dancing Sugar Plum Fairies for their story. This was just a good story and a contender for the top Christmas story, even without Ralphie.

I used to work for a guy like that except he never figured it out. Good read!

It makes me smile about Mamma and shows how to treat your staff! OK its a fiction,but a nice one. And for Cristmas the right one😇

As someone already said strained credibility, was a bit sappy but that's a story.

Loved it

loved the story mean to give it 4 stars didn't know how to change it.. enjoyed it very much

Great story and got you a snort of laughter at the way Mamma handled him! I absolutely loved that part! Please keep writing!!

Realism Suspended and enjoyment embraced

Scrooged! Wonderful story, thank you for it.

This story is the only thing listed for 'callmesparky's" favorites which is what brought me here. Certainly it's a Hallmark story but with a twist. It fits with today's unfortunately greedy corporate philosophy but by the end it comes back full circle to the way he started out. With the changes he makes it also compares quite favorably with Q's 'Food Desert' and 'Air Possum', all unlikely ventures in today's world, but the way it should be. Signed: BTW

Some Mama's need to go slap the hell out of that Scrooge Bezos! To many of his employees at Amazon also need food stamps to make ends meet. There are to many companies in this country that only think of the bottom line, and not the people that helped get them successful. Great story!

Who just lets someone they barely know boss them around and insult them like that? Nope. Laura just got fired along with all of the employees that live in that neighborhood. Good work mamma.

.......and within six months Chris returned to being the same arrogant, self-centered prick as always......so Laura felt drawn to book more of those special messages from Michael down at the club.....Happy New Year

Good story portrayed so many corporations especially poverty central. Greed!! Don't ask me to give up my lifestyle I want more. Only have 3 mansions,5 cars, and on and on.. No only make 7 figures a year not counting bonuses and stock options etc. Peons can get by on change falls out of my pocket.

I just took the unusual step of deleting a comment. If you feel the need to discuss politics, take it elsewhere, please. These stories are fantasy and meant to be enjoyed as such. It's not a platform for your political views. Please be conscious of others reading here.

Well done and a very accurate glimpse into the reality of corporate life. it really was spot on.

Yes people will whine and cry about how the rich are mistreated, yup we know there are very weak minded lower income folks who will literally fall on their sword defending the rich, all the while barely having a pot to piss in. You opinions are all invalidated....its called being a sheep. And an extremely ignorant one, but being a dumb ass can and does make some very happy in life and thats why we dont listen to those folks.

I sent years working in a corporate HQ, and the top people did the least amount of work of anyone you will ever know. Yes they make the big decisions "What company will we buy, what department will be shut down" etc etc, yet they dont do any of the work involved in it. Others do, those lesser mortals figure out all the numbers and logistics, and get paid so much less. So yes, those who defend the rich are literally the dumbest shits God ever dropped on our planet. They didnt pay shit in taxes back then, even with supposed higher tax rates. Our VP had a security guard drive to the store to get a bottle of ketchup, come back hand it off to a pilot who flew the helicopter from the HQ about 90 miles or so, with just that bottle of ketchup aboard because his wife was too lazy to go out and get one during the day. The Corporations buy houses in the corporations name and after a certain amount of time "give" it to the executive who's lived there free all that time, they do the same with cars, boats, you name it. Yes, some of you are total f-ing idiots and should just stfu.

You missed ringing the car dealer to replace the Ferrari order with an order for a people mover

Thankyou for creating this short brilliantly moving story.

I read this story a couple of years ago. It is one of the most memorable delightful stories I have read on this site.

Then, being old and forgetful, I forgot the title and author.

I am so pleased to find it again.

I was still moved to tears reading it through again.

A R W

Thank you for your comment AWR. Comments like that mean a lot to an author. It made my day. Make sure you read "The Bet" or "Homeless." They're written the same way.

https://www.literotica.com/s/homeless-4

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-bet-10-dates

This one is my all-time favorite Christmas story! Perfect! Thank you!

A better PA could have given herself a raise. He wouldn't know, and probably would not care.

Thank you. One of the best and most educational stories here. It was full of extremes - just like our corporate world. 5*

Beautiful 5/5

Average

As he makes Scrooge look kindly

Wait.. how you gonna be a PA for a CEO of a wildly successful, multimillion dollar company for almost a decade, and you can't afford a phone or rent?

I liked the premise until the "Grinch of Christmas present" vibes came out. It's not that it didn't work necessarily, just that it was so outlandish that it immediately sucks you out of the story. You kind of shake your head and go wtf?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I liked mamma more than the story. It was a little too convenient, but Laura's mother... her I get.

A lot of readers liked Mamma. I set out to write a story about her but it morphed from what you see here into something unrecognizable. It's too bad. I really liked the character myself. Maybe in the future, I'll try writing something else about her.

Thanks for the comment.

I enjoyed the story. I'll assume the math didn't add up because he gave her a huge raise not 30%. If she got a30% raise the end of the year and it was 100k back pay she was making 300k. You aren't living in the sound on 300k per year.

Didn't like the guy. Excuses excuses... He wasn't trying to pay down his debt when he was wearing 8000 usd ties and spending tens of thousands on alcohol. Sorry. He was just selfish and didn't give a shit about his employees.

Still enjoyed the story overall but not living wives... Maybe romance

Excellent piece.

A well done modernization of the venerable “A Christmas Story” tale by Dickens. Thanks for the timeless Christmas gift to me and your other readers.

Out-Dickensing Dickens :)

Where's Jimmy Stewart and his Angel when we need him?

We need more Mammas in both industry and politics.

6 Stars best story here . Well written and I did not see the ending coming

good story, especially reading Nov. 18th

He is a jerk? She could have left for a better job many times it seems. Why did she not leave? He is more important than her son? Odd story

Quite a fairy tale. Apparently his workforce had zero other options for some inexplicable reason.

Maybe a little over the top, but acceptable and very enjoyable!

I laughed at the beginning and cried at the end. Thanks!

Hollywood sweet, ugh! Thanks anyway ;-)

Oh, really fun story. Yes I laughed a couple of times! I recommend to read this and enjoy!! DerMtMan

I switched off when you kept mentioning the price of everything..

How unfortunate. There was a SERIOUS point to the price of everything. Had you hung in, you might have learned something.

When writing, we don't disclose everything in the first paragraph. We seed little clues all through the story. Those were BIG clues BTW.

Unfortunately, when his largesse was publicized (favorably) short sellers had a field day and the stock tanked. Stockholders don't care about Laura and Momma, they care about next quarter's profits, the stock price (which better increase), and rising dividence. The board of directors took an extremely dim view of his unilateral giveaways and offered him a silver-plated parachute. He can liquidate his wardrobe, cars, and real estate so he and Laura and David can comfortably retire in Costa Rica.

Yes, it's fiction, a fantasy, and I loved it. I should have made that clear.