No free riders
Sitting among your peers, in a classroom. Or warming the bench with your hockey team; you come away with the impression that there’s always extra people ready for a given job. In real life, not so much. Keeping someone on standby is hardship, for your payroll.
This morning, we were ready for a long day in the city. Things to do, people to see. As I worked through my cup of coffee, mentally preparing for the road trip, our phone rang. And no, it wasn’t Amazon. I had a scheduled medical appointment. And the secretary was calling with regrets. One of their team was out, and my date with the doc would have to be rescheduled. Did it cause a problem?
Actually, no. The call had come in before we put in an hour of travel time, and if the team in the clinic was short of qualified technicians, that was beyond control; mine or theirs. Thank you, and we’ll get together in a few weeks. I still have coffee to drink.
My plans were chaanged, but there were other things to do in the city. I was not needed, and we would go with plan B (there wasn’t a plan B, but that’s a detail).
My day has gone well. Much like any other. I am reassured that this was not a medical emergency. My health is still OK. But it does point out that nobody can afford to keep surplus stall around the office, or clinic.
I imagine the same rules apply elsewhere. Does Big Mac keep extra burger flippers standing around, in case someone from the team didn’t come in? I didn’t think so. How about on an airplane? No way. Minutes are precious, when you have to cover them from the profit margins. I’ll go so far as to make a blunt rule of thumb. No free riders.
