Chapter Five
Delegation
“Give the workers what they think they want and you walk away laughing; you can always tax later.”—Planet Hy Man’s National Geographic
With a mouthful of biscuits, the women pushed forward the market cleaner.
Bette beamed (which came across as a sneer).
“Our first Voted In,” she said with a comradely pat. “Welcome aboard.”
“Who’s next?” she said. “Who wants to be part of our new democracy uniting the working women?”
The outback cleaners looked at each other. The biscuits were all gone, the caffeine pot empty . . .
“Pick someone you trust,” said the posh bigwig, “who can speak for you.”
The cleaners came from five lower-class sectors: the “marketplace,” the “office of unimportance,” the “implementation of effluent,” the “transportation coordinators,” and the
