Man
Brings a Clown to an Employment Meeting
Why would someone bring a clown to a
business meeting?
If you are worried about a meeting then
who would you take to make you feel calmer?
Clowns are used for many reasons. Some of them have been chilling.
Mostly, they have been hired for entertainment. But have they ever been hired
during a time of distress? Probably never.
A man in New Zealand hired an emotional support clown to accompany
him to work.
Josh Thompson said he was invited to attend a meeting with his employer
where he would be told of some "bad news".
He was allowed to bring a "support person" to the meeting. In New Zealand this can be a member of a union, a lawyer, a friend, a family
member or a coworker.
Josh was expecting to lose his job. So instead he decided to hire a clown, to "spice
up the meeting".
His bosses at advertising agency FCB could see the humor. But that didn’t stop them from sternly talking to
him about his work quality. And it didn’t stop the clown making animal balloons
while they were talking.
The clown was making a lot of noises making balloon animals. So the
employers had to tell the clown to be quiet a number of times.
The soothing presence of an adult man in rainbow pants frantically
bending and squeezing balloon animals wasn’t enough to stop Josh losing his job.
But "Joe" the Clown (who can attend your meeting
for just $200) didn’t stop. He made the
choice to mimic crying while Josh was told he had lost his job.
Try to guess the meaning of the words in
bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right.
Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of
these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have
different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.
The answers are below the table.
Chilling
|
A
|
1
|
scary, frightening
|
Distress
|
B
|
2
|
To make things more
interesting/exciting/energetic
|
Accompany
|
C
|
3
|
To go to a place with someone.
To join
|
Spice things up
|
D
|
4
|
To make feel calm and relaxed
and at peace
|
Stern
|
E
|
5
|
To copy
|
Soothing
|
F
|
6
|
To do something in a big
rush/hurry
|
Frantically
|
G
|
7
|
Very serious and strong/tough
|
Mimic
|
H
|
8
|
anxiety, worry, fearful, a
feeling of being lost and not knowing what to do
|
A=1, B=8, C=3, D=2, E=7, F=4, G=6, H=5
Some example sentences using the new
words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help
you understand better.
I like chilling
horror movies.
The dog was distressed
because it was lost from its owner.
My mother and father
will accompany me to my graduation dinner.
Let’s spice
this party up. Let’s invite some fun people and have dance music.
She gave me a stern
look after I came 2 hours late.
Dentists play soothing
music to help you not to worry.
They were frantically
trying to find their ticket to show the airline so they could get on the
airplane.
Comedians are very
good at mimicking people to help people laugh.
Some questions using the new words/phrases.
Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.
If you had to go to a
meeting like the man in the story then would you have accompany you?
Why?
What
things/conversations would you find chilling?
What do you do if you
feel distressed? For example you failed a class or lost a job.
How would/could you spice
up a powerpoint presentation? For example, you must sell your company to
foreign investors.
Describe a stern
talk you experienced? How did you feel?
What do you do to soothe
yourself from stress?
What times in your
life have things felt frantic?
How do you use mimicking
to learn something?