Wheeldon on tour

Here is a set emails between me and a guy who works in the office. Just to put it into context. I'd had a bad cold and throat and could barely speak. This makes my job of talking to large groups of kids awkward!! Also, the others on the tour have to work harder to cover for me. We were staying in a posh hotel with a PGA golf course and leisure wing (pool, gym etc)

"Adrian and Nicos decided they were fed up with carrying me through the workshop so they wanted to solve my vocal problem. We ended up going into the exclusive spa in the leisure suite. There was loads of different rooms with steam, vapours and stuff. Because it was to help me regain my voice we decided it was a tour expense, so we're going to claim the £30 each it cost. Is that OK with you?"

Response

"Apologies for not getting back to you sooner but I’m not sure how I’ve missed this email.

To be really honest, we wouldn’t usually cover these expenses as they are not a direct tour expense and it’s quite a lot of money especially when we’ve already provided an expensive hotel. However on this occasion we will as a good will gesture but I need to keep things fair across the teams, so unfortunately couldn’t honour these costs in the future. Sorry for sounding so negative (but I’m really not) but it’s all about keeping things fair and square."

Not only did we not expect any money at all, but we snuck into the spa without paying. I assumed he'd assume we were having a laugh.

About a month ago my boss rang me and asked me to come down to London for a meeting with a guy from a company whose software we use. They were going to show me the new features of the software and make sure I knew how to use it, as well as answers any questions I had about it.

I arrived, and after a very short period of time, it was obvious that there were no significant developments, and things that had changed were simple enough for me to have worked out on my own. Still, I sat there, listening, and left two and a half hours later.

This cost the company my time, travel to & from London and a hotel for the night.

I don't mind going to London much, but it can be annoying when you appear to have wasted your time.