Rule 93. Identify the People Who Count

I once made a bad mistake—well, I’ve probably made lots, but this one is relevant and sticks in my mind. I worked for a company and we had a maintenance man. At the end of each day, we wrote in the maintenance book anything that needed doing, such as changing light bulbs, and plunging toilets, and Harry would do it. Mending broken chairs, that sort of thing. We had two offices, and I used to get quite cross that Harry seemed to spend more time down at the other branch than at our place. Harry was never anywhere to be found.

My notes in the maintenance book grew terse and sharper, but it didn’t seem to do any good. I would have rollicked Harry in person if ever I’d have been able to find him. He came in after we had gone home and did the maintenance work in the evenings. The other office was getting all their repairs done, and we were getting nothing done. It was intolerable, and I resolved one evening to wait for Harry.