Joshua Brown emailed me this post from his blog, which is a hot tip for you NYC-ers who want a free lunch:
True story…I’m at Cafe Metro on 46th and Lex grabbing some lunch on a recent weekday afternoon. The place is packed with lines of 5 or 6 deep at the salad counter, the made-to-order pasta kiosk and especially at the cash register.
In front of me is a well-dressed, middle-aged man with graying hair and glasses in a conservative navy blue suit… Well, when Blue Suit stepped up to the register and placed his tray in front of the cashier, rather than take out his wallet or a $20 bill or a credit card or anything that resembled the currency us mere mortals are forced to exchange for goods and services, he simply parted his lips and said the magic word:
“CITIGROUP”
I kid you not, readers, he literally uttered the word “Citigroup” and his quesadilla was packed in a bag with plastic utensils and napkins, and he was out the door. No one asked him for ID or made a note anywhere of what he was eating that day. He just said “Citigroup” and bounced. I was on line to pay behind him with my own chicken quesadilla and a bottle of Diet Pepsi…cost to me as a non-Citigroup employee: $9.85 plus tax.
Sure, if called on it, Citi would hem and haw – comping their employees for lunch is important for morale, for retention, whatever. We’ve heard it before, and I don’t wanna go through it again. So, depending on your geographical location, you can either a) be all outraged that a firm at the trough for government cash is still coughing up for lunch for its rank and file, becaues that’s really all you can do; or b) go down there and try to get a sandwich on Citi’s account.
If anyone asks any questions, whip out a bandit mask and ask why they didn’t recognize you immediately.
TonyS // Jan 13, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Ugh this kind of attitude in Americans pisses me off.
“I’m really outraged that a normal corporate service is being offered to someone who isn’t me! So I’m gonna ruin it as fast as I can!”
Fail. I’m not angry at Citigroup for having contracts to get their employees free stuff at places. My company has them too.
alyx // Jan 13, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I’m angry because I don’t get quesadillas. Well, not really angry, but perhaps miffed, and I would be even more miffed if I worked at a financial company that could NOT afford to offer quesadillas to employees as a retention perk because they didn’t receive bailout money and, as such, had to watch the bottom line that much more hawkishly.
Nobody’s gonna jump ship from C because they stopped getting their lunch comped. They are gonna jump ship because it is a failboat.
Citi should at least practice the art of subtlety, and have stuff delivered.
CB // Jan 13, 2009 at 3:05 pm
we are now subsidizing a free lunch program for poor, disenfranchised bankers.
my brain is about to explode.
TonyS // Jan 13, 2009 at 3:14 pm
LOL Alyx yeah if I were working at C right now I’d be applying for ANYTHING else that I was possibly even close to qualifying for.
I just think that the punishment should be primarily directed at the jerks who did the crime… I think the heads of all of these companies should be jailed, and/or fined an amount equal to the bonuses they’ve recieved dating back to the beginning of the fail.
Like… if the worst punishment we can come up with for having wrecked the economy is “We’re NOT going to give you another $293M this year!” then something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Lolo, ESQ // Jan 13, 2009 at 3:33 pm
You can say it at Tosca in DC and get some free shit too
alyx // Jan 13, 2009 at 3:34 pm
if it worked at the sushi-go-round place, would you still work for them?
Lolo, ESQ // Jan 13, 2009 at 4:28 pm
lol nope but i haven’t been there in so long. i found ANOTHER one too, right where you saw that guy get stabbed
alyx // Jan 13, 2009 at 4:29 pm
lol dinner and a show!
The Reformed Broker Josh Brown // Jan 13, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Hey Guys, thanks for reading
TonyS, this doesn’t bother you? ok, i’ll sedn you a paypal invoice for my 3 year old’s birthday party…
OMFG, it’s YOUR tax money paying for this little nerd to eat lunch, it doesn’t bother you? cut down on the Welbutrin and get your anger back
thx Alyx for the soapbox
Lolo, ESQ // Jan 13, 2009 at 8:29 pm
citi is wasting way more of your money on their inauguration party!
kitteh! // Jan 14, 2009 at 4:39 am
i cann haz quesadillas?!?
TonyS // Jan 14, 2009 at 5:13 am
Sorry Josh… my tax money pays for all sorts of stuff, and given some of the other things it pays for, this falls well below the threshold of stuff I’m willing to get angry about. I don’t see the need to force the grunts at citigroup to assume a completely ascetic lifestyle to pay for the sins of their distant bosses. Again, I think the suits are the fuckers who need to be publicly drawn and quartered.
Totally cool if you’re mad as hell, though.