“When the moment is right,” I answered. With our Boss leaving we had been given the opportunity to ask questions and put forward suggestions for how things should progress. I had plenty of both along with a keen interest in the future of the company vehicle. I did not want to sound crass though, given the situation.
The Area Manager spoke at length of the thirty amazing years our Boss had given to the property. He mentioned all the achievements our Boss had accomplished during his time here and how sorry everyone was to see him go. It was all quite emotional. I decided this was not the time to ask about the car.
He then moved on to plans for the future. This boiled down to the not unusual tactic of holding fire on recruiting a replacement for indefinite months while discussions on the staffing structure take place at a higher level. In the interim we will be managed by an existing Property Manager from a neighbouring property. This was all very interesting, if not entirely unexpected, yet still not the moment to ask if I could have the staff car.
Then came the question and answer session. You would think that this would have been the ideal time to ask about the staff car and yet somehow the subject never arose. There were so many other issues to cover, so many staff with their own concerns to address, and overriding all there was still this feeling of “it’s so sad you’re going”. It just didn’t seem appropriate to chime in with “but can I have your car?”
So I left it and then asked in an email, later.
I’m not getting the car.
