Tim Norris

During an argument with a publisher about the disappointingly low salary I was being paid to edit Amstrad Action, I suggested that paying talented graduates significantly less than the national average salary was a Bad Thing.

He countered by saying that, by definition, half the population was paid less than the average and it was just my tough luck that I was part of that half. I was sufficiently taken aback that I didn't think to challenge his dodgy mathematics.

He went on to say that there was no point in paying me more because if I didn't want the job there were many hundreds of people who'd gladly take my place.

A representative of the company could, he opined, stroll out onto Monmouth Street, pick someone at random, sit them in my seat and they'd be able to do my job just as well as I could within mere minutes.

There was, he told me, nothing special about me or any of my colleagues.

Those staff motivation courses were really paying dividends.