“What exactly happened?” the highway trooper asked Robert.

Robert sighed and recounted the tale. It had started out as any other ordinary day. Robert woke up, got out of bed and dressed himself, shaved, and ate a rather bland bowl of Cream of Wheat before hopping in his car and initiating his morning commute. Today, a new sign cropped up: CAUTION, it read, MEN AT WORK.

Robert thought nothing of it—at first. When he actually saw the area where the said men were at work, his jaw hit the floor.

Instead of men in orange jerseys with jackhammers and backhoes, there were rows upon rows of executive desks with men in suits sitting at them. Some were on the phone; others were reading The Wall Street Journal, filling out paperwork, or sending e-mails. There were several water coolers, centers of activity, and at least one man was asleep, slumped over his desk.

It was at that point that a courier, carrying a manila folder of documents, decided to cross the road. Robert, otherwise occupied, didn’t heed the sign.