Making a meal of it
Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? The American Chamber of Commerce, apparently.
Through a bit of miscommunication, a reporter covering a luncheon speech of LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa yesterday found himself charged HK$520 for indulging in lunch.
The wire reporter, following the lead of another journalist who had been told by a PR person to help themselves to a meal, took a seat at an almost empty table on which were plates of untouched scallop starters for guests who hadn't shown up.
As he was on his last mouthful of veal steak, an Amcham PR person sidled up and told him he'd have to pay for the food like the other guests. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money on him to pay for it, and a strained conversation followed, culminating in the possibility of Amcham sending him a bill for the meal.
'It was petty,' he said. 'The sad thing is that considering it was a lecture that was supposed to be about sustainability, there was an awful lot of food that was going to go to waste. I felt I was helping the cause. Anyway, I didn't ask for the food, they just gave it to me.'
