Rank has its privileges.
The first time I heard that I was working in a coal mine in Kemmerer, WY. It had to do with our local mine manager being able to take off early on a Friday afternoon, while the rest of us schlubs had to put in our full eight hours.
He said it gleefully, as he was walking out the door looking at all the young engineers, administrative staff, and assorted operators who were in the office at the time. It rankled, but was not devastating. But I made a vow to make sure that if I would ever be in such a position, I would not abuse it, but play fair with everyone in the company.
And that is why I work until at least 5:00 PM, even on a Friday before a holiday weekend. (I usually stay in the office until between 6:00 and 6:30. That has as much to do with traffic as it has to do with dedication)
But last night we had an interesting example of how RHIP works in a more banal part of our lives.
We were invited to a meal by some big patron’s of Doreen’s park. They donate a lot of time and money, and she values them as friends as well as donors. They are good people, whom you would expect to be just “normal” folks.
So it was interesting when they picked the latest “hot” restaurant in town – one which it is extremely difficult to get reservations for, even though it is just a Mexican menu.
We arrived at the designated time (I am sort of crazy about being on time) and gave our host’s name – assuming that they had made the reservations. There were none in his name. But Doreen noticed that his name did pop up on the reservation system. He must go there plenty.
As we were standing around wondering if we had the right night, a woman came up to the hostess and gave her name. She was told that her reservation was held for 30 minutes, and that since she was not there on time, they had given her table away. The woman protested (traffic, I don’t know what all) and complained, and left.
After hearing that I wondered what would happen if we really did have the correct night. So we went to the very crowded bar for a margarita and to wait. And I mean this bar was PACKED with people waiting for their tables.
Sure enough, about twenty minutes later they showed up. I was not really paying attention to what happened at the hostess’s station, but we were immediately (and I mean immediately!) seated. No waiting at all.
It must be nice to be an Alpha Couple!
