I was a bit alarmed today to find a pink slip in my Assistant Instructor file. However, it turned out I wasn't actually fired: this was just the start of the kickback system tied to my new position and its responsibilities. It's similar to the kickbacks system for physicians, who I'm told not only get millions of free samples of medications but also get paid vacations, taken out to meals, etc. by pharmaceutical companies looking to sell their product. Of course, there are differences: for example, I get no medications, paid vacations, or free meals. Rather, I get (well, got anyway) free textbooks, packed with a nice fake bill which explains in friendly mostly-capital letters:
"THIS COURSE MATERIAL IS SENT TO YOU COMPLIMENTS OF YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE. Erin Lizer"
Punctuation notwithstanding, I think this means that my local representative is Erin Lizer, who was kind enough to get me free textbooks in the hope that I would be sold on them. So, like physicians, but different.