Атлант расправил плечи

           Hedoesn’twanttoruntrains—hewantstopleaseJim.Hedoesn’tgiveadamnwhetherthere’sasingletrainmovingornot,solongashecanmakeagoodimpressiononJimandontheboysinWashington.Sofar,Mr.CliftonLoceyhasmanagedtoframeuptwomen:ayoungthirdassistant,fornotrelayinganorderwhichMr.Loceyhadnevergiven—andthefreightmanager,forissuinganorderwhichMr.Loceydidgive,onlythefreightmanagercouldn’tproveit.Bothmenwerefired,officially,byrulingoftheUnificationBoard...Whenthingsgowell—whichisneverlongerthanhalfanhour—Mr.Loceymakesitapointtoremindusthat‘thesearenotthedaysofMissTaggart.’Atthefirstsignoftrouble,hecallsmeintohisofficeandasksme—casually,inthemidstofthemostirrelevantdrivel—whatMissTaggartusedtodoinsuchanemergency.Itellhim,wheneverIcan.Itellmyselfthatit’sTaggartTranscontinental,and...andthere’sthousandsoflivesondozensoftrainsthathangonourdecisions.Betweenemergencies,Mr.Loceygoesoutofhiswaytoberudetome—that’ssoIwouldn’tthinkthatheneedsme.He’smadeitapointtochangeeverythingsheusedtodo,ineveryrespectthatdoesn’tmatter,buthe’sdamncautiousnottochangeanythingthatmatters.Theonlytroubleisthathecan’talwaystellwhichiswhich...