I really would like some input on this. I am having a hard time letting it go. Ok tell me what you think about this.... A friend of a friend asks me if I will haul a Large Metal Sign with neon from Nebraska to three states away. The sign is about four by eight feet. Kinda alot, but I can handle it. Heres where it gets sticky. He tells me he will LET me haul it for him, how much. That is very close to the exact words. LET me. Hummmmm. Reminds me of when I had employees tell me they would do me a favor and work a day I scheduled for them. Favor? Strike one. Then he asks me how much I would charge. Well he is a friend of a friend and I have met him a total of three times. But I love my friend. So I say I don t do this often on an item so big what do you think would be fair. Now bare in mind if he got a shipper to do it ....750.00 AND they wouldnt take it with the neon on it. He replies I dont know, name a number and I will tell you if its too much. Which means he has a number in mind, he is just seeing if I will charge less than what he is thinking...dont kid yourself...we arent friends...he is not coming at me like just make it fair. (or with friends if I do it for a bit of gas money and lunch) Strike two. Btw...he keeps trying to buy me a hot dog at a show the whole time...I have met guys like this a hundred times. You know, I buy you a hot dog now you owe me paint my house! ( well not that bad but you get the idea) Bare in mind I love my buddy he is a great guy this is his friend and I really dont want to get sideways with him... So I say well I will make it the right price but have you ever moved a big heavy neon sign. It is very difficult and near impossible to keep from breaking the neon. And I do NOT want to be on the hook for it. (now bare in mind that this sign is fricking fourty or fifty years old and he is going to restore it to a custom piece and do some changes so he is better to replace it anyway) He tells me WELL IM NOT GONNA LET YOU HAUL IT UNLESS YOU GUARNETEE me that all the neon will show up unbroken.... I tell him storys about another one of my friends that builds crates and is very careful yet we still lose a tube on a long run, and BTW I cant build a crate for it anyway. He then tells me all the neon is in boxes so it will not be a problem. Strike three... It could be worse in the box also its gonna take up more of my load in a big way as I cannot stack anything close to it in the van or in the trailer. And mostly I dont like the attitude...Im gonna let you haul this for me...Im doing you a favor...I am a moneyed person and you will do this how I ask..or suffer finacially. I know you need the money. Well here is the deal. I didnt haul it. It made no sense and the guy reminds me of Eddie Hascall. Couple of other things he said about others. But you know I really like my friend who is his buddy. He is a good guy. I would do it for him. But its not his. So the next time I see him he says a few small hellos and then says this. Let me show you a picture of YOUR sign, I have it done. Stike twelve... I really just wanted to tell him to shove MY SIGN up his elitist ass. And that my customers and friends who have money do not treat others like this and as far as I am concerned his is an ungracious asshole and he better stay away from me from now on. But I really like my buddy so I dont. And Im trying to be a better person, but I feel like I violated my policy of being open honest and direct. Frankly I do not let anyone talk to me the way he did. Twenty years ago I would have made him VERY sorry for talking to me like I was a Serf. So if he starts in again, what do I do? I want to let him have it both barrels?
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 20:03:01 +0000