A Fine Wine

Recently I was talking to an acquaintance who formerly worked as an administrator for a large hospital and he related a story about life in the hospital Boardroom. The Chairman of the Board was a venerable gentleman of considerable means and great bonhomie. It was his practice to invite the senior staff and board members out to a dinner after the monthly meeting. He dined at only the best restaurants and the staff looked forward to a fine meal each month. However, there was a catch. The Chairman loved his wines and drank only the best on the rack, this being aged wines that cost anywhere from a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars per cork. The wine was very good and flowed freely as the wealthy older man entertained the board. But, after several glasses of the best the house had, the Chairman would fall sound asleep.

When it came time to pay the piper, the Chairman was snoring gently and none dared to arouse him. It was now up to the CEO or the most senior staff present to pick up the bill on the hospital’s account. The problem was that the auditors would track down these thousand-dollar dinner bills and raise Cain about there not being a budget for such extravagance. No one wanted to broach the subject with the Old Man, because he never seemed to remember the night of fine dining. The Chairman was always supportive of staff and everyone, except the auditors, wanted things kept quiet. My friend was suspicious whether the old man was actually sleeping, or only enjoying listening with his eyes closed as the junior staffers struggled to find a diner whose credit card could withstand the cost of the meal.

I asked if the Chairman did this intentionally so he could enjoy his fine wines at someone else’s expense and the answer was ‘likely – it happens all the time’. Which of course, started me thinking about our elected or appointed officials who dine high off the hog on the public or corporate purse. Not knowing of any such person, I moved up the line to governments that commit us to expenses that they will never have to pay. Known as election promises before they come into being, some of the programs we embark upon are just as unpractical.

What seems to be a realistic project at the time may have long-term consequences when it is time to pay the bill. Some people are concerned about the long-term costs of our new hospital, wondering no doubt how we are going to continue to pay for a ‘fine wine’ whose costs increase as the ‘wine’ ages. If there is a problem, the ‘Board’ will have dozed off and someone else will have to pick up the tab. How many of us are thinking, privately, that we won’t be around to pay the piper, so let us just get on with it?

Our friend to the south of the border started a war whose costs are escalating daily with no end in sight. I am sure that President George will breathe a sigh of relief when he no longer has to put his signature on the bill for the war. What he may have thought as a three-year commitment has turned into a quagmire with no exit in sight. Even our government is finding it tougher to keep the military commitments made, again with no end in sight. We embark on so many of these open-ended projects that one has to wonder how far we should be looking down the road.

Pension plans, health care, and social security are all great ideas but in many cases they are becoming a millstone around the neck of corporations who must compete on the world stage with countries like China and India who have not yet had to face these costs. The problem is that you cannot send the fine wine back after you have pulled the cork and sipped the elixir, and some of these companies simply fold their tents and steal away, leaving employees standing there with empty hands.

It is not only Hospital Boards, governments and corporations who are funding the future with someone else’s money but individuals as well. In our cash-less society and plastic card era it becomes too easy to order the best and hope to pay for it with yet unearned money. If things turn sour, there is the escape of bankruptcy, where eventually we all pay through higher costs. We are encouraged by the capitalist ideal of endless consumption and perpetual growth to buy and buy. Many of us seem to being doing a great job of it.

In the States the easy mortgage money problem has begun to have effects as the economy slows. People are beginning to question the cost of their taxes and where their money is going. As they tighten their belts and they add water to their wine, Americans are beginning to question why their governments have allowed jobs to leave the country. So many goods are now imported that Americans are starting to question qualities and costs. They are looking at free trade as a bogeyman, wanting to return to the days of isolationism, but I am afraid the cork has been too long out of the bottle.

Traditionally, as goes the States, so goes Canada – a few years later. Our economy is strong now but will it hesitate and follow the States? Should we be putting a few dollars away for a rainy day or has that old philosophy become passé?

Say, I heard there is a great ’92 Beaujolais on sale at the liquor store. I know they take Visa . . .