you a hearing, and the only thing you can do is learn to live with it.
But suppose someone comes along with a similar sort of product, only stripped of all the features that were built in to protect people from undesirable side effects. The product is cheaper, so a lot of people are going to be tempted. A lot of people are going to find, to their cost, what it means to have full-fledged prostitution going on right in the heart of their office. A lot of people are going to discover, too late, just what kind of effect that has on staff morale. They’ll find out just what it means for people to be working on a daily basis in that kind of degrading environment.
Gradually, word will get around.
Before you know it, you’ll be able to point to the unholy mess that ensues when you cut corners. The fact that you charge twice as much shows that you are offering a quality product, a BMW instead of a Datsun.
What Joe saw, in fact, was that the appearance of this sleazeball on the scene was the one thing wanting to give Lightning Rods, Inc. respectability. It wasn’t just that it would be the lesser of two evils. It would be seen as the champion of family values, of corporate ethics, of responsible business practice. Companies that might have hesitated to even let Joe in the door because of what people might think would now be calling him up. Because the fact was, he had a product no company could afford to be without. Now they’d be able to admit that.
What he saw was that this was his chance to be part of the mainstream. Because let’s face it, nobody likes to be a pariah. Nobody likes to be someone people can’t afford to be seen in public with. Nobody likes having to arrange a convenient time to meet when there’s no one around but the cleaners. Nobody likes having to lie about what they do.
What this cheapskate was doing was letting Joe off the hook. Joe had been carrying the can for close on four years now. He was almost thirty-seven. If he played his cards right, there was no reason why he shouldn’t spend the rest of his life as a respected member of the business community.
You can’t put a price on something like that. Once you’ve got enough money so you can have whatever you want without counting the cost, you don’t need to keep piling up more. You don’t need the business of 100% of all the companies in America; if you had it, you wouldn’t know what to do with it. Once you’ve got the money you need, you can start to think about all the other things that matter. For instance, suppose you could appear on the cover of Newsweek or Time magazine as Businessman of the Year? Suppose you could get an honorary degree from Harvard? You can’t buy something like that. You have to earn it by being perceived to be an outstanding individual. It’s not enough for you to be outstanding—other people have to recognize you for what you are. And here this piece of slime had upped and handed Joe a life of distinction on a platter.
Well, thanks for the favor, buddy. Sayonara, and see you in St. Louis.
Joe came out of his office when he had finished looking through his mail, and did his best to reassure Mitch. He didn’t say anything about the honorary degree from Harvard, which might not carry that much weight with Mitch—Mitch was a nice enough guy, but limited in his outlook. But he gave an inspiring pitch about BMWs and Datsuns, pointing out that people had never really fully appreciated the BMW until the Datsun came on the scene. He pointed out that Playboy had never really been seen as all that tasteful and intellectual until Hustler came along.
“I guess,” said Mitch.
“Mitch,” said Joe. “I want you to do something for me.”
“Sure, Joe,” said Mitch.
“I want you to go out and buy a copy of Playboy and a Hustler and read through the magazines, comparing the two. Look at the type of advertisers they’re attracting. Look at the type of article they’re running. And what I want you to do is ask yourself what type of reader each magazine is catering to. Then I want you to ask yourself what kind of implications you think that has for us. If you’re still worried, come