OFF THE RECORD
FOR many a year these two couples were the best of friends sharing holidays, dinners and sporting pursuits. They all enjoyed each other’s company, their children grew up together and they were the epitome of friends for life. Then something changed, some private conversations, secret glances and before you could say, “progressive barn dance” there had been a permanent switch in the domestic relationships. Sadly the friendships have long gone but the two new couplings are very happy.
THESE blokes have long enjoyed a regular poker game where they would take it in turns to host and provide a supper at their home. Usually it was pizza, pies and chips until last month when the wannabe trendy host decided to provide spicy South American food. It went down a treat until about an hour later when a foul odour filled the room. Men gasped for breath, the budgie wobbled on its perch and the dog wisely left the room. Yep, the spice had really struck. Blazing Saddles had nothing on the eruptions as stomachs unused to such food responded in the timehonoured way. What followed was gas warfare of epic proportions as salvos were silently exchanged in retaliation. Breathtaking is certainly the word.
THIS could explain why this place has difficulty in retaining good staff. When a delegation featuring overseas guests came for a tour of the facilities one of the executives decided to hand out basic brochures as a memento and to help explain what the company does. No harm, you would think. Wrong! The next day the executive received not one but two calls from senior executives based in Sydney complaining about wasting company money. Nothing to do with good thinking, congrats for building goodwill or enhancing the company’s brand to overseas markets. Nope, just abuse for spending money without authority.
THE weird thing is that this exact scenario was predicted as soon as news came through about this person’s ascension to the big chair in the corner office. Long-time staff who had laboured long and hard to ensure this joint was finally going ahead in leaps and bounds have been told by the new boss that they are no longer needed. No reason other than the old faithful – “we’re going in a different direction”. Time will tell, of course, but a lot of the replacements come from far afield and have no knowledge of who is who in the Gold Coast zoo.