Silver Linings and Bipolar Bonuses

The picture in the paper was taken at 1:00am and showed me with my hands on my head looking in disbelief at the mangled entry doors to the mall.

Thanksgiving was 4 days away and the timing was horrible. The only witness was the guy in the parking lot sweeper who said, "I thought the headlights were my own reflection until the doors exploded and this little gray car drove out of the mall."

The story in the paper went on to explain that shortly after midnight a car crashed through the automatic doors of the east entrance drove the length of the mall, running into holiday displays, vendors carts, food court tables, before exiting through the west entrance and escaping into the night. The only evidence was a gray driver's mirror at center court.

It had already been a tough year. Traffic and revenue were down because of a new mall in the area. My year end bonus was tied to annual revenue. It was an "all or nothing" bonus system. If I fell even five dollars short of budget, I received nothing. By the end of November I was looking at a forty thousand dollar short fall.

And now this...
We spent the night getting the mall ready for the next days shoppers and the following afternoon we had a visit from our insurance claims adjuster. Damages were estimated at about $40,000. And the "silver lining light bulb" was lit over my head.

In a few weeks, the insurance check was collected, repairs were made, and the bills were paid. Who would notice or even care if the check was deposited on December 28th and the bills weren't paid until January 8th?

I made my bonus with $850 to spare.

They later caught Adam, a 19 year old kid who was off his medication for a bi-polar disorder. During a manic episode he felt compelled to take a driving tour of our mall and never could explain why.

Sometimes you have to get creative but there are opportunities or silver linings in every crisis. Thanks Adam!