A Dash of Bitters for the New Year

A nice perk if you can get it...

So there I was, knocking on the door of an après dinner Thanksgiving gathering in a house full of amped-up kids and their booze-and-tryptophan infused parents.  A man in his late 40’s/early 50’s opened the door with a genial smile, then introduced himself as he shook my hand and ushered me in.  A glass of wine was offered. Before I knew it, I was part of the scene. 

Talking later with this man – a charming, down-to-earth fellow – I learned that he works as a lawyer for Disney, and eventually it came out that the MausHaus had recently facilitated the purchase (or was it a lease?  Hey, we were drinking -- the details remain fuzzy) of his new company car, a shiny Porsche fresh off the showroom floor.   And by "facilitated," I mean Disney provided the twenty-five thousand dollar downpayment, and would also make the monthly nut of more than four hundred dollars.

That's quite a perk. 

I just grinned and nodded, like a brainless bobble-head doll.  Having been so graciously treated as a guest in this house left me no recourse, unable to express what I was thinking. 

I’m sure this very nice man is good at his job, and doubtless earned such a car for his years of service to the House That Walt Built.  Being a lawyer for a cut-throat, bottom-line obsessed outfit like Disney can’t be much fun, so I don't begrudge him driving a car that (depending on the particular model and options) costs anywhere from $85,000 to $155,000. But now we know what Disney – a fabulously wealthy corporate entity with enough spare change lying around to buy the Star Wars franchise of George Lucas outright for a cool four billion dollars late last year -- does with all the money they save by paying the crews of their many television shows 20% below union scale under the odious cable contract.  

They buy expensive European sports cars for their already well-compensated lawyers.  

That’s something to think about next time you’re on your knees shoving the last hundred pound coil of 4/0 into the belly of the electric truck at the end of another grinding cable-rate day.  At that point, your body wracked with pain and fatigue nearly fifteen hours after call time, the producers still won't suffer the Golden Hammer of double-time.

Just thought you’d like to know.