There was a chap who used to work at our company. His name was George. He was the manager of one of the departments in our office, and I wouldnt say he earned badly, but thats just how it was. He drove a rather nice car, always dressed in smart clothes from well-known High Street shops, and was generally very well put-together. But he had one big flaw: he was tight-fisted about absolutely everything, particularly when it came to food.
During our breaks, George would slowly wander through all the offices and past everyones desks, scoping out where there might be something to nibble on. Then, as if by accident, hed settle in, start eating without being asked, and whenever food was around, youd hear classic George lines like:
Ooh, something smells lovely in here! or Wow, is that chicken wings? Fancy letting me try one! and, of course, his trademark: What have we got here then? And before you knew it, hed already helped himself. He never spent money on colleagues birthday presents, but he was always right there passing round the card and tucking into the celebratory food as if he had.
We all noticed how he constantly charged his phone at work to save on his own electricity at home, and he never left the office at the end of the day until hed visited the loo, because he didn’t want to be the one to use up his own water. Honestly, he was a proper penny-pincher. George called it being sensible with his money.
At our last office party, George had rather a bit too much to drink. When one of the lads asked if he was planning to settle down, George replied, slurring a bit:
Why on earth would I want a wife? Shed just nag me for money for food and new clothes. And if she had a baby, it would bleed me dry! I dont need all that expenseI’m perfectly fine on my own.
His mate, half-joking, half-serious, shot back, Yeah, youre doing well enough, thats truebut only because youre living off the rest of us.
Thats when George lost his temper completely. Exactly, and Im clever about it! Ive got a flash car, my homes immaculatewhat can you boast about? You waste all your cash on food! After that, the whole department had enough. No one wanted to work or even chat with him anymore, so in the end, George had to move on to another company.
