Friendly Realities

Today was a bad day for my company. My largest client's board voted to reduce the amount they pay for management by 25%. That means the immediate reduction of one staff position. But as much as it pains me, it's the right decision, though it's a hard pill to swallow.

It's the right decision that came very, very late. And it comes on the heels of many, many irresponsible decisions to keep spending at unreasonable levels, despite my strong warnings to the contrary. My extremely harsh words to them last February, telling them they would be bankrupt by July if they continued on their path of blindness to reality, finally got to them. I berated them then for being so unwilling to listen to my recommendations and earlier warnings that they had put the organization in grave risk. If I'd kept my mouth shut, I might have kept being paid at full fee through this year end.

So, who gets hurt? Not the Board, though it did finally decide to turn off the spigot on the funds it had allowed itself for travel, hotel, and expensive meals connected to its meetings. Not the members, who think their dues should cover all services and then some (despite the fact that their dues actually cover 20% of expenses).

No, it's my company, my staff, and a couple of other "vendors" as they call us, that get hit hardest.

Live and learn. When the going gets tough, the people who were once "friends" become very focused on the bottom line. Rightly so, I suppose. Emergencies do reveal what's important to people, though. And my "friends" on the board revealed that what they're buying is more important than who they're buying it from.

Economic realities ruin friendships all the time, I suppose.

Today, my challenges are: 1) can I get health care coverage; 2) who do I fire; 3) how do I reconcile my situation with the way I think the world ought to work?

And I still haven't heard from the bicycle company...but I think they've already decided there are others who are better suited than I to selling their products.

I guess I need to explore the mechanics of becoming a "drug mule" for Central American drug smugglers. I hear the pay can be good, and if I turn the other way, I won't notice all the people who suffer and die as a result of my role in the business.