David Wallace didn’t make it to Scranton very often, usually finding reasons to avoid the need for a trip there, such as sending Ryan instead or settling the issue over the phone.  He was tolerant of the Scranton branch and its manager to the degree he could be, but liked to keep his distance and thus his sanity.  Somehow, Michael Scott assumed this was due to his being allergic to local plants and trees and had over time sent Wallace various different allergy medications, suggesting he try them on his next visit. 

But Wallace still only rarely visited, despite these efforts. He was here today though, as part of a company-wide drive to improve sales and consider new ideas.  Over a period of weeks, he was traveling around to all the branches to hear in person what the employees had to say.  Anyone was invited to give an idea or opinion.

He dreaded it, but prided himself on being professional and tried not to let it show. He looked forward to seeing Jim Halpert again as the one highlight of the visit.  He viewed the young salesman as one of the few sensible people at the branch and hadn’t heard from him since a post-interview phone call withdrawing his name from contention for the job. But Jim was nowhere to be seen in the conference room.

Kevin had gone first with suggestions, urging that productivity could be improved if the accountants’ desks could be rearranged so that he and the head accountant were back to back, rather than facing each other.  Dwight had then stepped forward with his sketches of a paper-selling robot, the next step after a website, he claimed.  After him, Phyllis suggested issuing Blackberrys with bigger buttons, and finding a more objective way to assign new clients.

This was all pretty much as Wallace expected, and the only notes he took were of the highway routes he’d taken to get there, so that he wouldn’t forget and could get out of town as fast as possible once this was over. He was disappointed at Jim not showing up to make a presentation, though.

Finally, it was the regional manager Michael Scott’s turn and he made his way towards the front of the room, closed his eyes as if meditating for a moment and then said a single word.

“Blimps.”

After about fifteen seconds of ensuing silence, Wallace looked around confused.

“I’m sorry, is that all there is? Did I miss something? What about blimps?”

Michael smiled serenely, as if he had an ace up his sleeve. “Dwight?”

Dwight had been standing discreetly off to the side, and at Michael’s request reached down and pulled a large gray object from the corner and handed it to his boss.

“This,” Michael said, holding it up so everyone could see, “Is a scale model of a blimp. I have a vision of our beloved company having two of them in the sky above Scranton at all times, with the words ‘Dunder Mifflin’ on one side, and ‘Paper is Awesome’ on the other.”

Wallace cleared his throat and sat upright. “Michael, take a moment to listen to yourself. Do you really believe this would be a wise use of our resources?”

“Yes. Success in business is about making an impression, whether it’s in personal connections or your company’s image in the community. We have to get their attention before we can get their money. And two, big, expensive balloons-”

“Blimps,” Dwight corrected.

“Yes, blimps.”

“With full crews,” Dwight added. “And lots of technology.”

Michael looked at Dwight with one of his stares that implied he was finally starting to wonder why he kept him around, and then continued.

“With these floating above our fair town, they would get people to remember us. When someone thinks paper, they’ll think blimp and what is on the side of the blimp? Dunder Mifflin!”

 “Can you imagine how expensive that would be?” Wallace shook his head in disbelief.

“I already thought of that.” Michael handed the blimp back to Dwight. “We might have to close down Albany to pay for this but we could absorb the…. Albanians?

“Albandroids,” suggested Dwight.

“No. Albaniacs? That’s it. Anyway, there’s room.  We’re a welcoming family.”

Silence again overcame the room, until David Wallace eventually stood up and clapped half-heartedly a few times. “Is that it? Thank you for your input.  We’ll take it under advisement.”

“I hope so,” said Michael. “It took us all day yesterday to build that model. I had to let four client calls go unanswered to get it finished in time for this meeting.”

Wallace shook a few hands and made his goodbyes. On the way to get his coat, he spotted the missing salesman on his way in and met up with him near reception.

“Hey, Jim. Smart guy, being out on a sales call today.”

“Ah, you caught me.” Jim grinned, looking a little nervous. “No hard feelings, I hope? I just didn’t have much to add. And I really did have a sales call, though I suppose I could have rescheduled it.”

“It’s fine,” said Wallace, waving it off as a concern. “But I was hoping you’d make some suggestions too. I’m sure you have some good ideas.”

“Thanks. I don’t though.”

“You sure?” Wallace looked at him questioningly. Sometimes Jim was hard to understand. “I bet whatever suggestions you have are better than what I heard just now. Sometimes it seems almost like you don’t want to rise up.  You have a lot of potential.”

“Thank you.”

Wallace felt like he was being a little too hard on the young man. Jim probably didn’t want to withdraw from the interview last year but had to.  Maybe he’d been forced to return to his hometown due to an illness in the family or something similar.  It was the most likely scenario that would explain things.

“I understand how it is, though.” He gave Jim a friendly pat on the shoulder. “You’re probably needed here for now.  With your loved ones.”

A couple of feet away, the receptionist answered the phone, stating her name and company.  Jim looked over at her for a moment.

“You know what?” he said, facing Wallace again and smiling. “You’re exactly right.”