hmm:
It's a little like that story of the aged employee who was presented with a gold watch after sixty years of service with the same company.
Someone muttered to the aged employee's boss that it was a pity he, the employee, didn't receive more for his services than just a gold timepiece. To this complaint the crusty company owner replied to the effect that the old man had damn well been paid for sixty years of work, so the company was doing him the favour by the presentation.
The bonus system is a totally flawed concept and is quite unworkable in practice. It should be distinguished from profit sharing and profit generated salary augmentation, fincancial reward concepts with which it is often confused. It is, furthermore, a hard fact of life that in order to employ people, a company, unlike the UK Labour government, has to make a profit.
Nonetheless, it does sound as thought young Richard might at the least have dashed off the odd Christmas card or seasonal greeeting, although it's a dead cert that there would be someone who would have found Santa and the snowmen offensive.
