Ransom Paid

I've been told that as soon as you start blogging, everyday occurences suddenly become fair game for future posts. One such occurence happened today that actually has quite the funny back story. It all began a little over a year ago...

It was late June and our editor-in-chief Stacy Croninger had a birthday coming up. She had always admired my autographed Matthew McConaughey photo, so I thought I would pull a few strings and have my people talk to his people (yes, I have people!). Anyway, a couple weeks later, Stacy's very own 8" x 10" glossy arrived in a crisp envelope. I put it in a black frame and brought it into work.

I thought long and hard about the perfect way to present it to her. I finally decided to wait until she was in a meeting and then snuck into her office and hung it on her wall, right above her computer. And then I waited for her response.

We were all in the break room and she came running in screaming, "Is is real? Is it real?" After I assured her that it was indeed very REAL, she grabbed me and gave me a big bear hug. Mission accomplished. If I had only known then that this photo would later star in its own dark, sinister plot of mystery, intrigue and 204 chocolate chip cookies, I might have rethought my gift. But, back to the present day...

Stacy is now working with our events department and sits on the other side of the building. I guess some of her new team members decided to play a pratical joke and kidnapped her beloved Matthew picture. Distraught over his disappearance, she started questioning everyone about his whereabouts. Since her new team was having way too much fun, they took it to the next level and started sending ransom notes outlying the "terms of payment".

Here's Stacy's two ransom notes. They demanded her to "pay" 204 delectable, chocolate chips cookies in order to liberate her favorite guy.

And so all interested parties met today at 3 p.m. Sure enough, Stacy kept her word, came alone and brought exactly 204 chocolate chip cookies.

Back in Stacy's arms, the duck tape was removed from Matthew's lips and the ropes were loosened. All is right again in the world of Stacy Croninger!

The moral to this story... If you ever get your own autographed Matthew McConaughey photo, either lock your office door at night or take it home!

PK