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For the last two Tuesdays, I’ve stayed at home because flood waters prevented me getting to school.
“You’re making it rain aren’t you, Pinky!” my deputy principal accused on the phone. “It’s because you hate taking the kids to swimming lessons on Tuesday!”
Whilst it’s true I hate swimming lessons, I haven’t managed to control the weather yet.
I say ‘yet’, because one day I might work out how to do it.
Both Tuesdays, I awoke to the 5:30am alarm, dressed, packed my lunch and drove for twenty minutes before one of my colleagues rang me to tell me the road was closed.
It’s only one bridge that’s closed and that bridge is five minutes away from the school. I can’t imagine why the council doesn’t raise the damn bridge.
I offered to buy a rubber dinghy and park my car on the side of the road and row across, but my deputy started carrying on about workplace health and safety rules and kept saying ‘If it’s flooded forget it, Pinky’.
I offered to go and work at another school for the day but was informed it would be a ‘conflict of interest’.
This response afforded me a great deal of relief because I can’t think of anything worse than going to work at another school for the day and when I offered, I didn’t really mean it on a sincere level.
It was one of those ‘token’ offers, like the rubber dinghy.
Also like when your husband drops his ice-cream on the ground and you offer him yours. Or when your husband is going out with the boys and you offer to pick him up when he’s finished, really late at night. Or when the dog vomits on the bathroom floor and you say, 'I’ll clean it up, darling, you stay in bed'.
You don’t make a token offer and anticipate it will be accepted.
When you make a token offer you have to make sure the recipient knows deep down that it would be outrageously insensitive to accept it. You have to direct your prey into believing that what you are offering is a ridiculously extreme and contemptible expectation to ask of another human being.
When making the token offer you should make your body as small and pitiful as possible. You must use a childish, plaintive tone and compose your face into a timid, humble expression of servitude. That is a challenge when you are doing it over the phone but can be managed with practise.
Indeed, you can even do it via text messages.
Example: Hi honey. Noticed we are low on milk. I’ll pick some up after our late staff meeting if I can find a servo that’s open on the lonely highway at that time of night. Love you xxx
I offered to go and work at another school for the day but was informed it would be a ‘conflict of interest’.
This response afforded me a great deal of relief because I can’t think of anything worse than going to work at another school for the day and when I offered, I didn’t really mean it on a sincere level.
It was one of those ‘token’ offers, like the rubber dinghy.
Also like when your husband drops his ice-cream on the ground and you offer him yours. Or when your husband is going out with the boys and you offer to pick him up when he’s finished, really late at night. Or when the dog vomits on the bathroom floor and you say, 'I’ll clean it up, darling, you stay in bed'.
You don’t make a token offer and anticipate it will be accepted.
When you make a token offer you have to make sure the recipient knows deep down that it would be outrageously insensitive to accept it. You have to direct your prey into believing that what you are offering is a ridiculously extreme and contemptible expectation to ask of another human being.
When making the token offer you should make your body as small and pitiful as possible. You must use a childish, plaintive tone and compose your face into a timid, humble expression of servitude. That is a challenge when you are doing it over the phone but can be managed with practise.
Indeed, you can even do it via text messages.
Example: Hi honey. Noticed we are low on milk. I’ll pick some up after our late staff meeting if I can find a servo that’s open on the lonely highway at that time of night. Love you xxx
Remember, you must make yourself the victim in order to engage your target.
Don’t worry; it’s mainly Scotto I use this skill on.
I would never use it on you...
Don’t worry; it’s mainly Scotto I use this skill on.
I would never use it on you...
What token offers do you make?
P.S. If my boss is reading this I'd totally LOVE working at another random school for the day.
P.S. If my boss is reading this I'd totally LOVE working at another random school for the day.
