Page 31 of Tom's Chance
“The job I had had an exclusivity clause.”
“Meaning you were exclusive to them. In what capacity? Veterinarian or farrier?”
“Yes, and both. The people I worked for were an extremely wealthy couple, however, they were very, very tight fisted with their money.”
“Can you give an example?”
“They loved horses, and instead of purchasing their own, they had three different stables built for others to board their horses. As much as they loved them, they didn’t want the hassle of paying for the boarding, the vet bills, the feed. They devised the plan of building three of the most state-of-the-art, over-the-top stables you can imagine.” She looked at him and saw his frown.
“Okay, picture this. Each barn could house fifty horses comfortably in their own stall. The loft overhead held the hay.”
“Okay, that’s a typical horse barn. What made these over the top?”
Lorissa shook her head and sighed, but then chuckled. “Heated floors in the entire barn. Each stall had its own water cut off. Picture this, the hands only had to open the door and turn on the faucet to fill the water bucket.”
“For each stall?”
“Yes, and the stalls had those rubber mats in them that are usually used in the kitchen in a restaurant, or factories where people stand in one place all day.”
“For the horses?”
“Yes, they were of the mindset that if they went all out to pamper the horses, then the owners of said animals wouldn’t question the boarding prices. Because with all of that, the owners also offered free exercise for the horses. If they didn’t ride the horses every day, they had one of the hands do it, and they refused to pay the workers, yet the owners were paid extra to exercise the horses. Right at the beginning, I had issues with them, and I almost didn’t take the job.”
“May I ask why?”
“They tried to say that the vet and farrier fees were written into the boarding costs. When I pointed out that was fine and dandy, but that didn’t pay my salary, they couldn’t understand why I was upset.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. The owners included vet and farrier fees to the owners of the horses, and they would collect the fees, yet not pay you for the work you did?”
“Yes, what I failed to also mention that while they were both wealthy, and tight-fisted with their money, they were also clueless as to how the real world worked. Both husband and wife were spoiled golden children growing up and whatever they wanted, they got. How they held the jobs they did, I have no idea.Their parents were the ones that built the stables to the couple’s specifications. Even being the spoiled golden children, they still worked. They were some high-up executives, and they always wanted a request from me in the form of a written report. It was frustrating at times, until I went over their heads and would contact the horse owners directly via a phone call. I only did that when there was a concern for their horse, and I needed a quick decision made on their part. You know whether to do the treatment or not.”
“How did you get your pay resolved. Not that it’s any of my business, but I’m kind of curious now.”
“After I looked over the contract they offered me, I politely declined, and left. I was actively looking for employment when I got a call from her father. Apparently, she didn’t like being told no, so she went to Daddy to have him get what she wanted. She wanted me. I not only got a letter in the mail, but I also received a phone call to go to his office. I arrived and saw the couple, along with what looked like two powerful businessmen waiting for me.” She turned her head to look at him with a grin. “I tried not to let that intimidate me, since I wore my best jeans, cowboy boots, my normal white tee beneath a flannel shirt. It was late September, not that that matters, but that was my normal attire. I wasn’t going to kowtow to these people.Idid nothing wrong.”
“Wow, how did the meeting go?”
“It started out with her father asking me why I refused to work for his daughter, and the other guy asked the same thing, but he referred to the couple as his son.”
“I only asked them one question, and sat back and watched the fireworks for the next hour.” She laughed, “I enjoyed a pastry and about two cups of coffee while I watched the display.”
“Oh, god, I don’t know if I want to ask this or not, but what question did you ask?”
“I asked, and I quote, ‘How will I get paid for my services?’ End quote. I then took the contract the couple insisted I take with me and looked it over and I laid that on the desk before her father, and I had highlighted the part where it stated for pay, it was already included in the boarding fees.” She shook her head as she remembered that meeting. “After that hour, the older men were frustrated and asked if I was working anywhere else at the time. I was honest and told them that no, I was still actively looking. They asked me if I would stop looking for a couple of days so they could sort everything out. I agreed. Before I left, I gave them my current resumé that had my credentials on it, both my PhD in veterinarian medicine, and my AFA certification.”
“That’s from The American Farrier Association?”
“Yes, after I graduated and received my PhD, I went to Oklahoma to their school. I don’t know if you know this, but that program takes about twoyears to complete. Oh, and when I gave the fathers the contract, I had also highlighted that they would allow me to stay in a cabin, but I had to pay for the rent and utilities. I couldn’t stress it enough that I couldn’t pay to live there if they couldn’t pay me for my services. See, they wanted me to be close at hand in case something happened to one of the horses. They didn’t want to have to wait for me to drive there in an emergency.”
“Okay, I knew the school was out here somewhere, but not exactly.” He concentrated on his driving, then smiled. “What happened next?”
“It took a week, but I was called back into their office. It turned out the businessmen I told you about?” She looked at him with a raised brow.
“Yes, what about them?”
“There were best friends since being in diapers and went into business together before their children were born. The couple that wanted to hire me grew up together and apparently fell in love and married.”
“Ah, so they knew how their children were, entitled.”
