... ok, time for a rant ...
... today, met for lunch regarding a rather large (prospective/potential) client... met up with a friend of mine (known him for a few years) at a private club for an informal lunch and a beverage ... nothing fancy ...
... the guy in need (potential client) shows up with his wife ... already, and from the beginning, I've been telling myself that this guy seems to needy and will take up way too much time for what it's worth and dealing with uninformed (ingorant) people is not one of my best qualities ...
... anyway - had a bite to eat, had to wait for the guy & his wife to show up fashionable late, guy is married to a woman 15yrs younger than him ... thinks he's rich and dresses/acts like he's a used car salesman ... she's nothing but a leach ... he's fat & ugly, she's anorexic & part plastic with a snotty trailer park air of confidence all about her ... pretty much a waste of my time but met as a favor only to review/discuss ... didn't see it going anywhere anyway ... ANYWAY ... having a drink and she asks if anyone minds if she smokes ... no problem for me ... so I'm thinking - ok, cigar time ...
... I take out a nice cigar - premium stick that I was going to enjoy on the drive home - and go ahead and light it up ... she: "oh, look honey, another cigar smoker" ... (small talk interjected here) ... and the next thing I know ... she picks up my cigar, smells it, says: "whoa, that's nasty ... why don't you get yourself a nice cigar, you know, one that smells like vanilla?... honey, give him one of your cigars ..." ... and then extinguishes my cigar in a half empty glass of water ...
- her husband "casually" tries to patronize me with a cheesyassed flavored drugstore cigar and acts like nothing just happened ...
... me? I stand up, told the lady and her husband that I think the meeting is over ... that I'm not interested in hearing what he needs/wants and that he should find someone else ...
- she: "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult your cigar ... I'll buy you another one ... "
- me: "ok, fine, thank you ... that will be $____" ...
- she: 'coughs'/clears throat ... "um ... ok... can I write you a check?" ...
- me: "no thanks ... it's apparent that you can't afford it" ... and then I walked out ...
My 'friend' thinks that I should apologize to her!
I don't want the business ... don't need the business ... and he's nothing but a 'high-roller' that's slowly heading towards Chapter 7 ... she'll likely leave him when (or before) that happens ... likely as soon as he tightens his belt ...
... my 'friend' wants me to give him another chance and I said no way ... and tell him that he can send me a replacement cigar as soon as he can find one ...
... so, how is it that all 3 of them can think that I'm the a-hole because I've now refused to take him as a client and had already agreed that he'd only get charged a bare-minimum across the board to set things up for him ...
- it's really not worth my time and I'm still steaming about my cigar ...
- now, I told my 'friend' to ... well, you know ... and I'm not answering/returning his calls ... nor will I return the other guys two telephone calls and am just going to ignore them ...
... I do understand that this idiot is in a pinch ... but it's his own fault and I don't want my name on anything that I see as heading towards a bankruptcy anyway ...
... so, am I wrong for walking out or not?
