Kerre Woodham: You're way out of line, Martin

Iconic New Zealand sports clothing brand Line 7's demise was partly due to the volatile dollar. Photo / Brett Phibbs

In the wake of the news that iconic New Zealand clothing company Line 7 was going into receivership, I received a call on my talkback show from Martin.

Martin was delighted that Line 7 had gone under. He was looking forward to picking up some jackets in the firesale. In fact, Martin was loving the recession.

He had picked up all sorts of bargains from companies that had gone out of business and was busy furnishing his home from the spoils.

I pointed out that unadulterated delight over the failures of businesses was a little inappropriate, but Martin was unrepentant.

If people lost their homes or their businesses because they had got themselves too much into debt or made stupid decisions, then he was happy to profit from their mistakes. The call ended shortly thereafter.

The callousness and shortsightedness of Martin's call appalled me.

I'm well aware that I'm only a serious accident or illness away from financial disaster.

Not everybody who loses their home or their business is a schmuck. And, even if they were, they pay an awful price for their errors.

We need entrepreneurs who are risky and ballsy if the rest of us natural employees are to have someone to work for. And the last thing we need right now are selfish profiteers, cackling over the corpses of New Zealand companies.

* www.kerrewoodham.com