The "Scruples Methodology"

Chapter 1. The Article

Tom Flanders laid the copy of the newspaper he had been reading on his desk. He leaned his head back into his chair and it caressed him. He closed his eyes and he said to himself, "Shit! That could have been my name in that article."

Reading the paper at work was a luxury Tom normally didn’t allow himself. In fact, he couldn’t ever remember doing it before. Had it not been for Tom’s wife, Nancy, he wouldn’t have done it today either. She had blocked his way out this morning and thrust the paper at him. As she did this, she said, "You better make sure that you read this before you come home…If you can’t be a part of your son’s life then at least read about it in the paper."



She had been livid that he had not kept his promise to watch their son Eric play in the annual grudge match against Munsy Junior High. By the time Tom had arrived home last night, the game had been over for almost two hours and Eric was already asleep.

Unfortunately for Tom, Nancy wasn’t. She let him have it. It was the type of conversation, if that was what you wanted to call it, they had been having with greater and greater frequency, since he had taken his new position. Nancy would rage about how unfair he was being, that he was missing out on Eric’s growing up and that he didn’t seem to care about the family. Then, after this tirade, she would retreat to the bedroom in tears, slamming the door on her way.

Tom used to follow her in and try to comfort her. However, lately, he would just issue his rebuttal to the closed door. He would explain to the door that sacrifices had to be made so that they could get ahead and that he was doing it for them. Then, as if the matter had been settled, he would head off to the guest room to spend the night.

Early this morning, after showering and shaving in the guest bathroom, he crept into the master bedroom to get dressed. He was a little taken aback to find that Nancy wasn’t in bed as usual.



The thought briefly crossed his mind that she might have gotten up to make him some breakfast. For a brief moment, he longed for that possibility. However, he quickly put it out of his head and began to worry about the possibility of a confrontation instead.

When Tom saw her in the living room, he winced. He didn’t want to deal with her this morning. He just wanted to get on the road before the traffic hit. He decided to try to avoid her and he proceeded straight towards the door.

Seeing him come, Nancy got up, shoved the paper towards him, and said, "You better make sure that you read this before you come home." Then icily she added, "If you can’t be a part of your son’s life, at least read about it in the paper." Tom was going to make a reply but her eyes were puffy from either recently crying or not getting any sleep, or maybe both. He shoved the paper under his arm and said, "Okay" in a very neutral tone, as he headed out the door.

During the day, Tom had been so busy dealing with the McDougal account fiasco that he had actually forgotten about the paper. The final decision on the McDougal account had only been reached 45 minutes ago. Exhausted, everyone else but Tom had already left the building. He was just finishing up his paperwork and was putting more in his briefcase to take home when he saw the newspaper again.



Warily, Tom picked up the newspaper and began to scan it. Suddenly he was filled with pride as he recognized the picture of his son Eric, jumping up between two defensive men to head the ball. It was one of those rare shots. You could see the determination on his face and almost hear his grunt, as his forehead made contact. The article had gone on to state how Eric had almost single-handedly led his team to victory through the intensity of his play.

Tom’s chest swelled up and a broad smile spread across his face. He started to get up to show everybody but stopped when he remembered that there was no one around. His smile then turned serious and he concentrated on re-reading the article. This time when he finished the article, he thought to himself, "Man, that must have been something, I wish I was there."

After he made that statement, he felt a deep loss. He exhaled and his chest was now so deflated that his shoulders hung limp. Suddenly, the sparse detail in the article wasn’t nearly enough information. He began searching the paper for more. That was when he saw it, the second article.



For Chapter 2 click here