Corporate Entertaining or Corporate Whining?

Below is a letter I submitted to Crain's Chicago Business in response to a recent article. The article can be found at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=27976

I am writing to comment on the story entitled Courting Clients Takes a Toll that appeared in the June 18 2007 issue of Crain's Chicago Business.

I must say that I absolutely pity the business people interviewed for this article. Life must be so rough for them; having to go to the best restaurants in Chicago, sit in the best seats at sporting and other stadium events, and all on somebody else's dime. Compared to them, my problems such as unemployment and underemployment, caring for an aging parent, and trying to prepare and plan for an uncertain future pale in comparison. I am so glad I don't have to deal with those problems.

I all seriousness, where do these people get off complaining about going to places that most of us cannot or probably will never be able to afford to go? Professional sporting event and headline concerts have become out of reach financially for most families in Chicago or any major market and fine dining has become the exclusive domain of the very rich and those on expense accounts.

I would make a challenge to any of the high priced whiners profiled in this article to swap places with me for one week. I would be very surprised if there were any takers among them.