‘The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans’ by Honoré de Balzac about secretaries

Secretary is now a popular position. Some secretaries serve several teams at once and consider themselves big bosses. However, their opinion is not always listened to, and sometimes simply ignored. And they apologize that they did not know, for example, that the World Championship was suddenly postponed. The secretary doesn’t know what the director is doing. These things happen.

This situation is described in novel by Honore de Balzac ‘The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans’. The novel continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré, who was a main character in Illusions perdues, a preceding Balzac novel.

Why have we remembered all this.. The general secretary and an expert on broad issues has been staying with us for a long time. Of course, he is not the general secretary of a major international organization, but still. As a secretary, the head of a local organization, one of the founders of a club dear to the heart and an expert on all issues, including vaccination, behaves accordingly.. Rushing around… spinning like a squirrel in a wheel… Showing such energy on the Internet that Elon Musk himself began to think about new sources of energy and their carriers.

But what’s the use of it? And what has this secretary, expert and specialist on broad issues really done? Let’s take a look:

1. He has strengthened the position of Microsoft and began to use Excel more often in a mechanical way, passing it off as electronic data processing.
2. He has increased the number of papers, regulations and other reglaments in our sport, while leaving only one organizer of the competition close to himself, and almost completely destroyed the judicial potential. Of the total number of judges on the federation’s list, only four are used.
3. Thanks to his own hysteria and temperament, as well as constant inspiration, he nullified the efforts of two professional clubs to create a professional environment among boys and girls. At the same time depriving the draughts sport of investments in excess of 50,000 euros per year.
4. He supported the creation of “dead” clubs and does not notice the real situation with enviable stubbornness. We give examples:
   

   Dambretistu biedrība „Dāma”	A ‘dead’ organization, from which a good guy J. Matvejev once ran for the role of manager. Then, once on the Board, he began to play for another club. This club has no activity. Due to the death of its founders. It is used only to get the ‘right” votes.
   Nodibinājums dambretes klubs “Malta”	A ‘dead’ organization that exists only on paper. Does not conduct any activity. It is used only to get the ‘right’ votes. Who will see their students – please urgently notify the draughts community about this. Preferably a world one.
   Bērnu un jauniešu centrs „Rīgas Skolēnu pils”	A ‘dead’ organization that exists only on paper. Does not conduct any activity. It is used only to get the ‘right’ votes. Who will see their students – please urgently notify the draughts community about this. Preferably a world one.
   SIA “Amats un Dizains”	‘A half-dead’ organization. Almost all the work in it was done by Maris Mitenbergs. Sometimes a member of all organizations in draughts in Latvia, a draughts player and a coach with the pseudonym ‘R’, moonlights in it. There are no active steps and development in the organization.
   Rēzeknes novada pašvaldība	A ‘dead’ organization that exists only on paper. Does not conduct any activity. It is used only to get the ‘right’ votes. Who will see their students – please urgently notify the draughts community about this. Preferably a world one.
   Laveri, Bērnu un jauniešu mācību centrs	‘A dead’ organization. It is used only to obtain illegal income and fees from children for the imaginary successes of the draughts coach. Sometimes the coach of this organization uses the pseudonym ‘Grandmaster’. The children of this organization, if they appear at competitions, then they have no idea why they were brought there.
   Līvānu Bērnu un jaunatnes sporta skola	‘A half-dead’ organization. Due to lack of funding, it practically takes part in two or three tournaments a year. Exists as a hobby.

5. He has contributed to radicalization and disagreements between the draughts community by introducing ultimatums, sanctions, substituting the current legislation with his decisions.
6. He has hysterically called the reception desks of some hotel complexes to try to prohibit them from providing facilities for competitions. With the same hysteria he has imposed sanctions, contradicting the current legislation, trying to punish a small child. And has received support from a not very smart and intellectually developed author of a ridiculous website about draughts. He is able, like every expressed secretary and hysterics, to speak beautifully, making unrealistic fantasies into articles on the federation portal. He promises to call the IDF leadership, but still does not find the phone, time and words to do it. Perhaps he is thinking how to combine his Russophobic statements with the speech of an educated secretary.

We could continue to write for a long time about the crusade of the secretary and the expert. From the experience of life, we are used to the fact that secretaries are like girls. Always on the side of the director or the boss. And sometimes secretaries have dwarves. Hardworking and ruthlessly devoted to the politics of the owner.

But maybe someone will start asking a question about the prospect of such a future? Although we are used to everyone being satisfied with the brilliance and poverty of courtesans and courtesanism. The elections to be held in the federation in 2024 cause a desire to sell tickets to the circus and watch the delegates. It will be funnier than in the circus. We are sure of that.