You’re Invited

Dear friend, reader, wonderful person. 

Yes, that’s you!

You’re invited. 

Fruitloop, Brida’s brightest resident, Bohumila, Brida’s resident poet and I, the democratically unelected Mayor of Brida are inviting you. 

To what? 

We are inviting you to step into a different world.
Totally different.
Really different. 

Our resident poet will seduce you in the beauty of Haikus, not in Japanese, but in English. Because the Mayor needed her vote on the Brida Council, she gave him clear instructions. Behind the scenes, she had lobbied Fruitloop, and instantly Fruitloop was on her side. Two pronged pincer attack, democracy at its best – the power of the people and all that. Mayors are supposed to have strategies, visions, cheerio stuff. 

So, they build things, enabling the Councillors to stand in the limelight and bask in the applause. And you know when the campaign is a success when all the residents really like it. The Mayor spent a week speaking with several residents about Haikus, even helping them to write them. Fruitloop ordered back the builders (there was room in the council budget for that) and up went a Japanese Tea Room. The interior decorators did a superb job too and after the briefest of ribbon cutting ceremonies, the residents stormed in and posted their Haikus wherever there was space. The Resident Poet told the Mayor that other promotional channels are available. 

However, Resident Poet was a little put out by Mayor’s market research and mentioned ‘You don’t need me”. Luckily, Mayor’s skills in international diplomacy managed to come up with something about finding where the market is so that you can offer the right service at the right time in the right form at the right price to the right people. He got a thumbs up. But, soon the other shopkeepers, especially the manager of the Librairie des Collines, that cosy bookshop in the Brida hills, started complaining bitterly that the Tea House was sucking away all his business. 

Yes, the Mayor said, we want more residents, and the council was going to start a campaign. What are you going to do, he asked? Between you, me and the gatepost, the Mayor had a half-baked idea, but he was swinging on a twig.

He continued explaining to the bookshop manager, that the typical Cheerio style council meeting Fruitloop, and he avoided (Managing by WhatsApp seemed to be the more effective option, and anyway, Fruitloops can multitask) was going to be relaunched as a joint potato peeling session, on air, discussing thingies that the residents want to and need to hear, as well as thingies, they shouldn’t hear as well. The manager was not entirely convinced, but he gave the Mayor about half a nanosecond grace and walked off, presumably to read The Art of War, plotting his downfall. 

Campaigning is important, and even if one only has half-baked potatoes. Residents, mildly amused by the Council’s activities, watch what happens next. Which leads to the Lunch meeting on Thursday. The irony of this meeting was that the only people at lunch were Fruitloop and Mayor. The resident in Brazil was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and started wandering around the place in search of coffee, mildly creating havoc in the process. And on the other side, in Seoul, the residents had eaten dinner, and the day was winding down. Other residents sent their apologies, clearly a sign that the Mayor’s ratings were slipping. Must try harder. 

Fruitloop had her own axe to grind, the Mayor clearly wasn’t batting for her, so she started announcing her Crème Brûlées, for sale, every Wednesday evening at 8pm, Only Brida Time (OBT is now an official time zone). The doors will be flung wide open starting June 04. And could the Mayor please get his butt into gear and promote her world-famous desserts. 

Councillor Fruitloop, on Thursday, told the Mayor that she was going to have a slower day. Anything that NEEDED doing? Like, don’t really bother me with Cheerio stuff. One tiny suggestion which was not urgent. The WhatsApp Message Counting Index (WAMCI) was in steep decline. The Resident Poet was off radar, and the occasional desultory comment from Fruitloop lit up the screen. But there was method in Fruitloop’s madness. Early evening, in popped the message of the day. Fruitloop had lobbed something into the Coffee Tin. Only about a zillion Invite Cards for our events. Go look.

It was a beautiful contribution, Mayor didn’t really know where to put himself. So, he did what had to be done. He slept on it and in the morning, sleep drunk and in need of coffee, started plotting the “You’re invited campaign”.

The moral of this week is that Councillors have brilliant ideas. Their votes are dependent on the whims of the residents and the Mayor has to, somehow, overnight, add a little Brida magic and make all this work in a world run by Cheerios, staying within budget and yet, exceeding expectations. Maybe the Saudi Arabian resident can come in as a consultant?

But there is the magic of teamwork, a Brida Council that sings from the same page. A Haiku transforms the town, invitation cards launch the idea of a new residency drive, desserts get sold with charm and the magic that is Brida gathers speed. 

Luckily, the Mayor has a few other ideas which will take shape next week. The Brida Café needs a serious makeover.

Thank you, everyone, for participating. And if you want to join in the fun, Fruitloop and Mayor will welcome you with open arms.