Land of the free, home of the corporate perk
An amusing New York Times article on the Jack Welch sordid affair having exposed the one thing that New Yorkers love, perks.
These days, unpaid-for excess doesn't play well. Corporate sovereigns walk on eggshells. Faced with stinging criticism, Mr. Welch surrendered most of the perks, which he insisted had been exaggerated anyway.
Ouch. Snubbing perks is easy for Mr. Welch to do. Even without G.E.'s wallet, he can pick up tickets to the Garden, handle the TV bill, no problem. But what about everyone else? Suddenly that all-too-treasured and wonderful nicety of New York life — the corporate perk — is being depicted as a little sleazy, a little insidious, a little, heaven forbid, undeserved.
...I don't know if New York can survive without perks," said Howard J. Rubenstein, the Manhattan public relations man well schooled in the lore and love of perks.
In New York, if you have tickets to the World Series, people don't wonder how much you paid for them, they wonder if you paid for them. You rate only if you got them for zilch.