Equality... On Our Terms

From The Daily Mail:-

She broke down as she recalled how she tried to avoid going to the Spearmint Rhino flagship club in Tottenham Court Road with her Norwegian client and Mr Whelan in August 2007.

She said: 'I told Danny that I did not want to go to that sort of establishment but that I was happy for the two of them to go on without me and I would return home.

'Danny responded by saying that was not acceptable and that I had to accompany them as it was my responsibility to entertain clients. I therefore felt I had no option but to go along with them.'

Once inside, she grew uneasy at being surrounded by strippers. She said: 'I realised that I was the only female in the audience, a fact which made me very uncomfortable.'

Of course, there's now a tribunal going on.

I don't really have any sympathy. If you're involved in selling to middle managers in large corporations, you're not really selling on price or service, but on perks. They don't care that your services cost more than some small company down the road. They don't get to keep the saving, so they might as well go with you on the basis of the perks.

Those perks might be a day at Twickenham, a trip to see the suppliers offices in the South of France or in this case, some half-naked women*. And whichever one thinks might float their boat, you take the opportunity to be there to sell or learn something about your client. Quitting because you feel uncomfortable means you aren't doing your job, that the business could go elsewhere.

I'm not sure where all this entitlement leads. Probably to people doing more work offshore or more independent businesses where they don't have to worry that they might hire some whiner for an employee.

* I've honestly never been in a lap-dancing club. Are they half-naked or fully-naked?