Mike Farwell

I’m still trying to figure out what all the fuss is about. Why do so many people seem so upset with Kitchener city council getting free tickets to the Elton John concert? There are six councillors and a mayor. That’s seven free tickets. Seven! And even if you want to factor in the 400 or so seats secured by the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium for staff, suppliers, and other vendors, I still fail to see the problem. I crunched the numbers. It works out to six per cent of the available seats. That left 94 per cent for you to buy.

I suppose most of the frustration stems from the fact that city councillors and staff had access to tickets that the general public did not. Boo-hoo. Do you have any perks at your job? Are you just jealous that the city’s perks are better? Just for a moment, imagine this scenario. Imagine that a developer came to Kitchener looking for prime real estate for his new business. Does it not make sense that the mayor, or the councillor in the ward where the real estate exists, should be able to take this developer to a hockey game — or concert — in the city?

I’m appalled by the coverage of this in the local paper. Being in the media, I can tell you firsthand about the perks in my business. They’re not great, but they certainly exist. I get tickets to shows on occasion. I have more “stationwear” than I can shake a stick at. CD’s? How many would you like?? Sometimes, if I do a particularly good job, my boss will treat me to dinner. And as a Rogers employee, I get a discount on all of my Rogers services, including cable and cell phone. Do you want to send letters to the editor about these inequities as well? Perhaps the columnists at the paper would like to come clean about the perks they receive?

Maybe perks in the workplace are a bad idea across the board. But they exist — everywhere. Whining about those that others receive makes us look like very petty people. If you really think the situation is unfair, apply for a job with the city. Or become one of those people who spend tens of thousands of dollars in advertising at the Aud. Those would be the people who get to take advantage of the 400 seats set aside by the Aud, by the way. Just remember that when you become one of the privileged few, you have to give back your concert tickets. Because you don’t deserve them, remember?