Oops! Her boss forgot something

There seemed to be only one woman in the copy room who was fully dressed and only a handful of women who were not fully naked. Most of the women in the department were permitted to wear shoes -- especially tennis shoes, Alicia noticed. In a way, she was relieved. She had been nervous when she had undressed earlier that she had forgotten to ask if she could wear her shoes. The prospect of spending the rest of the day had been daunting enough -- but the idea of spending it barefoot...

But, alas, she had no shoes with her. She started to turn to her boss -- but she was too busy talking to the other only fully dressed woman in the room to respond.

Then the other woman -- a tall blonde who wore a name badge that said "Herrin". A given name or a job title? Alicia wondered. Though she did not know enough German to know exactly what the word meant -- like most people she knew, Alicia got most of her German vocabulary with old Hogan Heroes reruns and various World War II movies -- there was something ominous about it that made Alicia so nervous that ironically she was almost afraid to cover.

Perhaps I'm starting to get used to the idea of being permanently on display, so to speak, she thought. Oh, God, is that what this is? Is there a part of me that is getting used to this? Or worse yet, wants to get used to this? Well, granted, I always did sometimes hate having to wear a long dress whenever my family and I went to Mass in the summertime and of course, I always did hate the bother of having to wear a wet bathing suit... Wait a minute! This is not me! And surely things have not changed that much since I was a little girl, right? Right?

The tall fortysomething blonde whose name badge called her "Herrin" took one look at Alicia and told her boss, "I can't use her."

What? thought Alicia. Perhaps she would not have to start work in this department after all.

"Not like that, anyway," Herrin continued. "She needs to get an I.D. badge first. I know it's only her first day but I can't have her wandering all over the building without some form of visual identification."

"Oh, right," said her boss with an enigmatic expression on her face. "I forgot. Herrin, would you be a dear and handle that little detail for me? I have so much to do and I've already spent more time with Alicia here than I intended."

"Well, I don't have time to do it," said Herrin -- an odd thing to say, Alicia thought, since Herrin did not seem to be doing much right then save for standing around and gazing at naked women -- "but I suppose I can have my assistant do it."

Then Herrin turned and called to one of the younger naked girls -- a short blonde woman who appeared to be just a five years younger than Alicia. "Oh, Renate!" she called.

The woman named Renate ran over to Herrin.

"Yes, Herrin?" she asked with an attitude so breezy one would almost think that she lived to follow orders.

"Alicia here needs to get an I.D. badge before she could start work," said Herrin, pointing to Alicia. "Would you be a dear and escort her to the security department so that they can get that little detail sorted out?"

"Sure thing, Herrin," said Renate, somehow managing to click her heels despite her wearing black tennis shoes. "Only..."

"Only what?" asked Herrin with a slight air of impatience.

"Am I allowed to wear panties this time?" asked Renate. "Because I don't want the girls in security to accidentally mistake me for the newbie like they did last time."

"No, you are not yet permitted to wear panties," said Herrin. "Nor a thong. Nor underwear of any kind. That is not yet permitted by your job description. I've told you before that I will tell you when that changes and it's not changing today. However, I will allow you to wear an armband."

"Cool!" asked Renate. "Can I wear my usual armband?"

"No," said Herrin. "It's against company policy. However, if you wish to wear two of the official black variety, please feel free to knock yourself out."

"Jawohl!" exclaimed Renate.

"Renate, what did I tell you about using foreign words in my presence?" said Herrin.

"Sorry, Herrin," said Renate."But it's Aryan Pride Month and you know how I always get around this time of year."

"Yes, I know," said Herrin with a roll of her eyes. "Now go get ready so that you can hurry up and finish this assignment I just gave you."

"Of course, Herrin," said Renate.

Renate clicked her heels again and gave Herrin a quick version of the Roman salute. Alicia fully expected Herrin to say something about that but Herrin just smiled and laughed as if Renate were just another naughty child.

Alicia just blinked after Renate ran over to put on her black armbands. "You're encouraging her to act like a Nazi?"

Herrin and her boss just stared at her.

Then finally her boss said, "The Romans used that same salute too. And anyway, do you really want to get a reputation for being a bigot on your first day, Ms. Fuller?"

"But..." Alicia started to say but she could find no words.

"I'm back," said Renate.

And sure enough, in addition to her black tennis shoes, her gold clip-on earrings and the I.D. badge that hung on a chain around her neck, Renate was this time also wearing two black armbands, one on each arm.

"Good," said Herrin. "Now take her to the security office and when you two get back, do not permit Alicia here to wear any shoes. Since she did not bring any with her today -- and since she back talked me in your absence -- I wish for her to spend her first day of training entirely barefoot. And you can be her trainer. Now go!"

"Cool!" said Renate with a little more enthusiasm for her task than Alicia would have wished to hear. "Come along, non-Aryan."

"Renate?" asked Herrin with a raised eyebrow.

Renate paused and said, "Oh, right. Strength Through Diversity, Diversity Through Faith. Very well, Herrin. The company prevails."

And with that and yet another Roman salute aimed at Herrin, Renate escorted Alicia out the door of the copy room.