Idea Man
People paid him megabucks for his ideas
He was the Idea Man.
People came to him for ideas they could use to do what they wanted to do or get what they wanted to get.
Even if they didn’t know what they wanted to do, he’d give them ideas to find out.
He was expensive but worth the price — $8,500 per hour!
But what an hour it was!
He’d sit there quietly for 50 minutes, not saying a word — just listening as a client told him everything about what they were seeking.
Then, in the last ten minutes, he spewed out so many ideas that his clients would make a recording (which was allowed) of what he was saying.
No one could write that fast even if they were the rare client who knew shorthand.
On average, he’d fast-talk hundreds and hundreds of actionable ideas, all of which could potentially solve the person’s dilemma.
Meanwhile, I decided that I needed his services.
After saving my money and cashing in my collection of old Archie and Veronica comic books, I made an appointment to meet him.
My dilemma was that I had too many ideas.
I was never able to decide which one to go with, kept changing course every few days, off on another project I’d seldom finish.
So, I showed up on time for my appointment.
I told the idea man about every nook and cranny of my problem, explaining my plethora of ideas that kept me changing course every few days, seldom if ever finishing anything.
When my fifty-minute soliloquy was over, the idea man was ready to shower me with actionable ideas.
I had my recording device ready.
But I didn’t need it.
Instead of his customary and expected deluge of ideas, he looked me in the eye and said, “Come to work for me. I’ve been searching for another idea man.”
So, after weeks of intensive training on how to fast-talk, I was ready to be his right-hand man in the idea business.
It paid well.
Plus, it let me capitalize on my ideaphoria,* which in this job was no longer a problem but an advantage.
I was a natural.
So last week, the idea man (now known as “Idea Man #1) let me fill in for him while he took a much-needed vacation to the Bahamas. (I’m now known as “Idea Man #2.)
I only get to keep a quarter cut of the $8,500 per client, but hell, that’s $2,125 an hour.
That sure beats the pittance I got at my last job.
I’ve got to go now.
My next client is waiting.
—
- ideaphoria (Noun) an experience where one feels a constant onslaught of new ideas, creating a euphoric state of idea creation.
Ken West is the author of Fresh Squeezed Flash Fiction. https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Squeezed.../dp/B09PK5LFKL/
His next installment due out this year is Freeze Dried Flash Fiction.
