Sir Bob Jones
Recently a New Zealand Herald correspondent, an Andrew Tichborn of Green Bay wrote, “Way back in the 1970s Wellington property owner Bob Jones made the comment that he loved Labour governments because they generated so many new government and quasi-government departments. It was a golden time for owners of commercial property to provide work space for them all”.
I imagine readers accepted Tichborn’s assertion as fact, given the certainty in which he wrote. The truth is he made it up.
In the 1970s my commercial property involvement was almost entirely with industrial buildings, mainly in Sydney. Back then I owned a single office building in New Zealand and that was in Auckland.
But I’m used to reading this sort of crap about me, albeit usually anonymous.
For example, a bevy of keyboard cowards’ letters appeared about me last year on the internet.
The first cited my reputation for dining out in Wellington restaurants in groups and then claiming I’d left my wallet at home and leaving others to pay. This spawned half a dozen more letters confirming my reputation for this.
I will deposit ten million dollars in each of these anonymous cowards’ lawyer’s trust accounts if they can tell me of a single occasion that has happened and if so, the money is theirs.
Another chipped in that I had a shocking reputation for rudeness to waitresses, who all hated my appearance in their restaurants.
As my partner and I travel a lot and she likes cooking as a change from our mostly eating out when abroad, we only occasionally frequent the same two local restaurants where I certainly get a big welcome from waitresses, simply because of my over the top tipping.
I’m sure readers will agree that $10million is worth trading one’s anonymity for. But don’t hold your breath. It won’t happen.
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