authority, right, and approval

so, part of my job is asking people’s managers whether or not they should be allowed to purchase with school funds.

_most_ managers just say “yes” or “no”.

today, one of the managers i contacted began asking things like “does this mean that he will have the authority to purchase or the right to purchase?”

so i told him, (to paraphrase) that “he’ll be able to buy things. yes or no?”

he responded “but how can you know if he is authorized if he doesn’t have the authority?”

…and my brain exploded.