Some say a $10,000 annual membership at the Everglades Club buys you the most expensive parking spot on Palm Beach's main drag, Worth Avenue. But what if you work at the club?
Sorry, you'll have to park somewhere else.
That's the message the exclusive country club's managers announced this January in a flier, posted in the dorms where about 150 employees live.
For the club's cooks, waiters, valets, and dishwashers, some of whom are lucky to
earn $10 an hour, this is just one of many indignities they endure for the privilege of serving the island's socialites.
Dorm housing is free but far from luxurious. Dozens of adults live in cramped quarters with communal bathrooms and no central air-conditioning. Privacy is a joke, as one former chef discovered when she saw men peeking in her window to watch her undress.
The club's reason for the parking rule is simple: Worth Avenue isn't that big. Shoppers at the boutiques need a place to park, and they shouldn't have to compete for the few available spots.
"This is to assist patrons with parking close to Worth Avenue retail
establishments," explains the flier, signed by clubhouse manager Jim
Frebraro.
But that can't be much comfort to employees. They have to park in a lot that's about 15 minutes away and take a van to work or the dorms. Nothing like feeling valued by your bosses, is there?
