The next day I came to work a little late. I had a short meeting with a corporate client who likes to do business directly with me, much to the dismay of my commissioned sales staff.

As I walked into the building I was in a kind of happy place in my head, whistling as I walked, and not really paying too much attention to anything. It really was amazing the effect that seeing Becky Lawrence naked yesterday had had on my personal morale.

As I entered our offices though, some chatter suddenly stopped, I looked up and noticed Ryan Smith sitting behind his desk. At first it looked like he just had no shirt on, which seemed odd in itself, but as I got closer I could see a little behind his desk and noticed he was naked. I stopped short in my tracks, and uttered some guttural noise, then followed Ryan's eyes over to Stacey Williamson. She was standing and getting some pages off the printer. She was also totally naked. I don't know why I didn't see her first, but I guess it didn't matter.

I scanned the room, and saw everyone else dressed and apparently hard at work.

I looked at Becky. She was fully dressed and was looking at me, smiling, with almost an I-told-you-so look in her eye.

"Okay, Becky, Ryan, Stacey, in my office, right now," I commanded.

"Margaret," I shouted loud enough for her to hear through her closed office door, "I need to see you too."

I walked directly to my office, unlocking it swiftly as I removed my coat and hat and continued my walk to my chair.

As I sat, Stacey, Ryan, and Becky, we're already at my office door and coming in.

Stacey was a pretty girl. She was nearly thirty years old, bleached blond, and stood about five feet six inches tall. She had a very thin body with "A" cup breasts and she had very little hips. Her white skin didn't conceal her even whiter bikini lines, or that she was totally shaven down below.

Ryan, at about five feet eight inches, and 160 pounds, was an athletic twenty something, who clearly shaved everything except his face. His manhood was a little longer than average, and it swung from side to side as he walked.

"Hey, this isn't a birthday parade," I said. I didn't even know what that meant exactly; the funny things that come out of our mouths sometimes. "Get out, and get some clothes on!"

Ryan and Stacey turned on their heals and walked straight back out again.

Becky was dressed in a smart looking dress that closed at the front. Her pretty face showed a deep concern. "Good morning, Harry," she said, though I knew there was a lot more meaning in those few short words.

"Becky, get a couple more chairs and bring them in here," I directed.

"Margaret..." I started to shout, just as Margaret walked in through the door. "Oh Margaret, you're here," I said. "I need you to take notes. Get Bill in here too, two of these three people are his."

A few minutes later I sat at an impromptu meeting with Margaret, Bill, Becky, Ryan, and Stacey.

Bill Walker is a little older than me and is the assistant manager in charge of sales and marketing. He is a professional salesman from way back and often talks with great pride about having once sold a refrigerator to to an Eskimo. I have never believed that, in fact I have thought it a trifle racist, but he did always impress me in his salesmanship. Ryan and Stacey worked under him.

"Okay," I started, "we have a problem."

"You're damn right we have a problem," said Bill. "I heard how you threatened job action against Becky yesterday," he said.

I was a little taken aback that Bill wasn't on my side.

Margaret jumped in saying, "You seriously think it's okay that these three have been naked at work?"

"All I'm saying is, this isn't a question of clothing or no clothing, it's a question of productivity, and I say, if it works for them, then fine, do it," said Bill.

"I think we are getting way ahead of ourselves," I said. "Becky, Ryan, Stacey, what's going on?"

Ryan and Becky both started to talk at once, but Ryan went on, "Stacey and I are just trying to show support for Becky's argument. I'm not really a nudist, but it does feel nice to be free. I understand where she is coming from and I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Yeah," Stacey explained, "I can't believe I was naked at work today. It was surprising, I felt a little uncomfortable at first, you know, right out there, exposed and all, but after a while it just felt natural. Why do we have to wear clothes all the time, I wonder? I never thought I'd try this, but now, I don't want to stop. I just feel so alive."

Then Becky spoke, "I didn't put these guys up to this, but I love them for the support. Look, I said yesterday that once people get used to it, it won't interfere with anything. You've got to believe me, it'll be better."

"I don't totally believe it's better yet and I have a bottom line to consider," I said.

"You can't seriously be considering this?" Margaret asked me.

"I'm not seriously considering anything right now," I answered. "Margaret and Bill, stay in here with me and we'll talk more about this. The rest of you, I'm sure you have a lot of work to do."

Stacey opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted and said, "Stacey, keep your clothes on."

"What about a trial period..." she started to ask.

"Stacey, keep your clothes on." I reiterated, "And get back to work."

"Okay, let's talk," I said to Bill and Margaret.

Bill was straight to the point, "I think Stacey nailed it on the head; how about a trial period?"

"I don't think that'll be appropriate," I said.

Margaret questioned, "You don't think that'll be appropriate? It's all about sex to you guys, you want it as badly as Bill does, and then you say that you don't think it'll be appropriate? I'll tell you it's not appropriate.

It was appropriate for Adam and Eve until they ate the apple. We all have to wear clothes now and be modest."

"Oh, I should have known it was a church thing for you," scorned Bill. "I don't care one bit what your church says. This isn't Sunday and we're not in church anyway."

"Hey, do I have to make you sit in different corners like a couple of school kids?" I asked. "We need to find some common ground here, and base our discussion from there."

"There is no common ground, unless you both think it's a total sin, and are totally opposed to it. If this goes on any further, you'll have my resignation." Margaret's line in the sand had been drawn.

********************

After that uncomfortable meeting was over, I thought quite a bit about it. Was it illegal? Was it immoral? Could it help productivity? Who was opposed? What were the consequences? My mind was racing. I didn't want to loose the loyal and dedicated service that Margaret had given me and the company all these years. But productivity had to trump everything. If she wasn't on board with what could make us great, would her departure really be a loss?

The first thing I did was call my legal advisor and laid it all out to him on the phone.

"Criminally speaking, it's not a public place, as long as you ensure the public isn't invited, then you don't have a problem there," he explained. "But there is still the staff and their morality." He added, "Have you considered the opinions of all the staff? This does effect them too."

"Well first of all, we are talking optional. Nobody has to get naked, ever," I explained.

"Well that is good to hear," he said, "but the staff will still be exposed to it. Many may be uncomfortable with that."

"What if I take a poll?" I asked.

Polls are a good starting point, but unless you have an option for those who don't want to be exposed to it, then you had better have 100% in agreement. Then, if you do pass it, there had better be some rules to protect those who are not part of it.

"And what about a trial period," I asked.

"Trial periods are good for testing productivity, but it will do nothing for the liability concerns. You'd better do your poll first"

********************

I called Becky, Bill, and Margaret to my office.

"Okay," I started, "Becky has brought us a proposal that has turned into a dilemma." I have done a little research on this, and am willing to explore this further."

Bill put his hand up to Becky for a high five, but before she responded, Margaret just said, "I was serious, I will quit."

"Margaret, I'm really hoping that you will see this exercise through. Please hear me out."

Becky was smiling as I continued, "I would like for us to take a poll of the staff. We'll conduct it as an election one week from today. Until then I want each viewpoint campaigned. This is where I need you Margaret, I need you to campaign for the 'no' side. Feel free to enlist any help you need. Becky, for the yes side, again, enlist all the help you need. The challenge for you is, you need 100% support after the poll is done and with Margaret already opposed, you have all but lost, already."

Margaret then interjected, "Don't worry about me, if she even gets 51%, I'll resign, I'll not work with a bunch of perverts."

"You know that really disappoints me, Margaret," I consoled. I did take her point to also mean she was willing to see this part though, at least.

"What about me?" asked Bill.

"You're only here because you are one of the assistant managers, so you need to know what is going on. Outside of that I don't have a task for you. You may choose to assist either of the campaigns if you like."

Then I continued, "Campaigning must be on your own time, it can't interfere with the work that must get done. Any questions?"

Becky then asked, "Why 100 percent? Why not fifty one?"

"Because we need to ensure that those who are uncomfortable with this are protected from it. Their rights are more important right now," I explained.

"Can't we just separate them from the rest of us?"

"How do we do that?" I asked.

"Well, what about the big room over there?" Becky pointed in the direction of the old board room. It had been mostly empty since the buy out. "Can't we put some computers in there?"

"There is a matter of projects and teams," I said.

Then Bill chimed in, "We have a lot of talent here, you could just reassign the development teams, based on the room they work from. As for sales, we can work from anywhere. Why I once even..."

I didn't let Bill finish - typical salesman and his ego. "That might be worthy of consideration," was all I said. "Any other questions?"

"Just one," Bill asked, "Which side are you on?"