Cranberry Red: A Novel

49. Beth Wins Osborne Award

After the initial hullabaloo about the Cranberry Red–treated cranberries , Ben’s office returned to some degree of normalcy, although Ben had yet to decide what normal operations might be. It seemed there was always some crisis to contend with. If it wasn’t something that Brittani had said to someone that ticked them off, it was the constant reminder from Osborne’s business office that their earnings weren’t what was expected of them. Ben counted one minor success. He did not hear from Joe Evans that he had been charged for their brief office conversation. On the downside, Brittani barely spoke to him after he threatened to fire her. Nonetheless, she kept a constant vigil on Ben’s billable hours and continued to send out invoices and evoke the wrath of his clients. Slowly, it seemed to Ben at least, the people in Ames County were beginning to understand that if they wanted help from Ben Wesley, it would cost them money. Of course, some never accepted that reality. For them, Ben would always be their ag agent and his services free. Brittani had an uncanny ability to schedule these people on Ben’s calendar, and after Ben had met with them and they received their bill, they hit the roof. Just last week a big, burly beef farmer from Link Lake had an hour-long appointment to talk about how to improve the quality of his cattle feed. He and Ben had chatted for no more than a half hour. Ben had even sold him a bulletin on beef cattle management for five dollars, which he didn’t mind 208 Beth Wins Osborne Award 49 209 Beth Wins Osborne Award paying. But when he got the bill that charged him “One hour consulting time—$100,” he blew his cork. He came stomping into the office waving the bill in his hand. “Ben, what the hell is this all about? You charged me a hundred bucks for a half-hour conversation and ten minutes of that time we talked about the weather.” Ben tried to explain that everyone was charged for at least one hour, no matter how long they spent in Ben’s office or he spent at their farm. “Ben, it just ain’t right,” the man argued. “You got to do something about this or none of us is gonna darken this damn outreach office door again.” He stormed out of the office, still waving the charge statement in his hand. “What was that about?” Brittani asked, after the man had slammed the outside door. “Another billing problem,” Ben replied. “ We’ve got to do something about this.” “Nothing we can do,” Brittani said with her all-knowing tone of voice. “Billing procedure is written right here in the rule book. Black and white. Nothing to change.” Ben decided that one of these days he needed to visit the business office in Oshkosh and try to explain that for folks out here in the country not everything is so cut and dried. Country people aren’t accustomed to all this timekeeping. For many of them, it’s why they live in the country and why they try to make a living farming. They don’t do their work by the hour; they do it according to what needs to be done. Sometimes that means spending a long day on a project, even several days. Other times, a project may take only a few minutes. When Ben arrived home that early December evening, he had a headache , something he never had when he worked under the old county agricultural agent system. He kept reminding himself that he must learn how to adapt to his new job. He was trying, but he never realized how difficult it would be. Beth greeted him with a big smile and a kiss. “Guess what I found out today, Ben,” she said. Ben couldn’t remember when he had seen her happier. “I’ve won Osborne’s Outstanding Returning Student Award.” “The what?” “Osborne University’s Outstanding Returning Student Award. They’ve invited me to attend graduation ceremonies in Oshkosh to receive the award. It’s a big deal.” “Well, good for you, Beth. I know you’ve been working hard.” “It’s such a good program, Ben. I do everything right here on the computer. And I’ve been...