A $210 million tip.

• Author: Ehrenreich, Barbara
• Position: Flip Side - Robert Nardelli's golden parachute as a send-off Home Depot

I'm not upset by the $210 million golden parachute Robert Nardelli received as a send-off from Home Depot. Not at all. To those critics who see it as one more step in the slide from free market capitalism to wholesale looting, I say: What do you really know about Nardelli's circumstances? Maybe he has a dozen high-maintenance ex-trophy wives to support, each with a brood of special-needs offspring. Ever think of what that would cost?

Or he may have a rare disease that can be held at bay only by daily infusions of minced fresh gorilla liver. Just try purchasing a gorilla a day for purposes of personal consumption, or any endangered species, for that matter. There are the poachers to pay, the smugglers, the doctors and vets. I'm just saying: Don't start envisioning offshore bank accounts and 50,000-squarefoot fourth homes until you know the whole story.

Another reason I'm not troubled by the $210 million payoff is that the Home Depot board may see it as a kind of tip for its fired CEO, and like me, they may see no reason to link tips to performance. I don't tip as a reward for good service; I tip because it's part of the tipped person's living. Waitstaff, for example, earn about $2 or $3 an hour--a bit more now in certain states--so a tip is just my contribution to their wage. Sloppy waitress? Surly cabdriver? I'm not their damn supervisor. They get their 20-25 percent anyway.

So what if Home Depot's stock fell from $50 to $41 on Nardelli's watch? Maybe the board should be commended for its generous tipping policies. Possibly it's trying to send a message to us stingy 20 percenters: that 300 percent (based on Nardelli's $64 million earnings over his six-year tenure) is more like it.

Or it could be...