[HPforGrownups] Re: Dursley's bribed?, charmed? or afraid? and Vernon's position at Grunning's

[Melissa McCarthy]

No: HPFGUIDX 50758

Melissa (me)
> > That's certainly plausible, but if the incentive is being withheld
> > until Harry completes school, why were the Dursleys so dead-set
> > against having him go to Hogwarts?
>
> bboy_mn:
> Sorry, just a bad case of foot-in-mouth syndrom. What I really should
> have said, is until Harry comes of age which just happens to coincide
> with when he gets out of school.

Oh!  Sorry about that, I misinterpreted you.

> > bboy_mn: (originally)
> > > Vernon  doesn't own Grunning's Drill Company. If he did, it would
> > > be Durlsey's Drill Company.
>
> > Melissa continues:
> > Are we sure Vernon doesn't own the company?  ...edited...
> >
> bboy_mn:
>  If he owned the Drill company then why  wouldn't JKR refer to him as
> the owner of a drill company rather than the Director of a drill
> company. [edit]
> Of course, this is a lot of speculation, but if he was the owner, that
> would be very siginificant and JKR would have mentioned it. Also,
> although I don't know much about the English economy, Dursley's don't
> live like he owns a company, that would give him substantial wealth.
> They live like someone who works in upper management; firmly middle to
> upper middle class, but not rich.

Somehow I got the impression from the books (although I have no proof of
this and am perfectly willing to be proven wrong!) that he did own the
company.  I think it's partly that, as someone mentioned, Dudley seems to be
an "early adopter" of a lot of expensive technological gadgets, and partly
that I'm told the cost of living in England is a fair bit higher than it is
here in Canada.  For a woman like Petunia to have everything she wants
(PS/SS chapter 1) must also take a heck of a lot of money! <g>  Now that I
think of it, though, it is more likely that he's in upper management.

Melissa, trying to sift her impressions of things from the facts