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And you think you've had probs getting reimbursed...
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by Actual News Geezer | December 19, 2006 at 05:00 pm
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John Flinn is a travel reporter for SF Gate (the online portal for the San Francisco Chronicle, where the Hearst Corp. accountants choked on "an official receipt for the six bucks I was robbed of by Maoist insurgents in Nepal."
"Of all the ink-stained wretches in the Hearst Corp. publishing empire, it's clear that the accounting department views me as one of the most wretched, Flinn writes.
"The company likes to keep track of how and where its money is being spent, but every expense report I turn in seems to cause eyebrows to be raised, heads to be scratched and policies-and-procedures manuals to be consulted."
A former intern of mine, and extraordinary reporter Tom Popyk, alerted me to this very wild story of a media company choking on receipts he collected during an arduous trip in Asia.
Take, for instance, the report I submitted recently for an overland trip from Beijing to Kathmandu. There were, alas, none of the nicely itemized hotel bills you get from Marriott or Holiday Inn Express. Tibetan guest houses with cracked windows and hole-in-the-ground toilets don't, as a rule, hand out receipts.But I did turn in an official receipt for the six bucks I was robbed of by Maoist insurgents in Nepal. As I wrote last week, it has been their custom to give their victims receipts, presumably for their taxes. After what must have been a few interesting conversations back at Hearst Corp. headquarters, I was duly reimbursed.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 16:22 on January 10th, 2007
Great post! I have had my run-ins with the Maoists, most recently being taken for $500 by the Maoist commanders in Humla, west Nepal. We knew it was coming, as it has been their standard practice to charge a "revolutionary tax" to foreigners in the region for a while. What we didn't expect was the surprise visit the following morning from the regional commander...asking for treatment for a serious tapeworm infestation. I wish I had video of him describing the issue using hand gestures! (I speak Nepali relatively fluently, but was not up on the words for "tapeworm".)
Anyway, although I was quite tempted to charge him a small fee of, say, $500, for the medicine to treat his condition, I thought better of it. We were, afterall, still in his territory...and the karmic wheel does spin around.
And, fortunately for me, the company I guide for, International Mountain Guides, did not hesitate at accepting my receipt for payment. Hearst could learn a lesson!
To read the story of the Maoist encouter - and other stories of the IMG 2006 Gurla Mandhata Expedition, take a swing by my expedition blog...Enjoy!
-Jake Norton