SHORTCHANGED

A librarian working in Cairo was annoyed when he didn't receive his monthly salary as usual and contacted the office responsible. However, not only was there no record of him on the payroll system, the clerk also told him she couldn't find any record or even barest mention of him anywhere on file. He protested that he had worked at the same library for over ten years, but to no avail. The clerk just replied: "Sorry, we have no record of you or your employment," and hung up. Thinking that this was a temporary error, the librarian borrowed money from a friend and looked forward to being paid two months' wages at the end of the next month. When the next month came and he still had not received any wages, the librarian was furious. He phoned the office again, but the clerk just repeated what she had told him the previous month and hung up. Flabbergasted, the librarian went to the office in person to sort it out once and for all. He shouted at the clerk, "Here I am. I exist. I've been working at the Central Library for over ten years. Here is my contract. I want my money!" Undaunted, the clerk replied: "I'm sorry. We've found your file now." Pointing to a rather short woman at the back, the clerk continued, "Our new assistant couldn't reach her desk, so she took a pile of files to sit on and one of them was yours."

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