The Mind Creative
We live in a 25 storey apartment, serviced by three temperamental
elevators. But we do have the services of a concierge, who
maintains vigil from 8 in the morning to midnight—in two shifts.
One of the gentlemen used to be a young, friendly fellow. Let us
call him Joe. Joe was paid the massive sum of 11 dollars an hour,
which would bring him, after taxes, a net salary of $1120.
Considering that the cheapest accommodation in Toronto would
be at least be 700 dollars, he was left with 420.00 for his living
expenses.
Our apartment has residents who own dogs. These dogs are
cooped up inside the whole day but have the luxury of getting
fresh air once a day for a few minutes. During these precious
minutes they don’t get to run around and frolic; instead they look
for the nearest lamppost or tree trunk. In many cases the owners
are too lazy or too busy to take the poor animals out, and so they
hire people to ‘walk’ their dogs, and for this they pay 15 dollars
an hour. Of course, the dogs don’t get to enjoy fresh air for an
hour. (It’s a dog’s life!) Anyway, Joe was a dog walker for a few
families and thus he could
boost his income. He
needed the extra cash
because he was getting
married.
Then one day he got a stern
warning
from
the
management saying that
the concierges are not
allowed to seek extra
income by doing anything
outside
the
exact
parameters of their job
description. Walking dogs was not one of the duties. The fact that
he was doing this in his spare time and did not, in any way,
interfere with his duties at the front desk did not faze the
management. Policies are policies, they said.
It might be interesting to go into the ‘pathology’ of the situation.
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