“Do you really need it RIGHT NOW???”

As a kid, my mother would tell me she was going to give me something — five dollars, for example. But mom was a taskmaster who was always doing stuff. Mom didn’t often sit around doing nothing. Thus, she’d sometimes forget what she’d promised me.

Now I had the task of — delicately — reminding her. She didn’t usually respond well to my reminders. She would ask me, with an exaggerated aggravation, if the need was soooo urgent as to be immediate. I didn’t even need to respond. It was smart of me not to. Other times mom would chastise me for “harping on” things I wanted or had been told I’d receive.

Being on the receiving end of persistence is a nuisance. Or so it seems.

I’m still the same person. I still harp on things, even more than as a kid. I, at times, push situations to where I want them, and people to the limits of their patience — especially when someone is not doing what they said they would do or falling short of expectations.

It annoys the shit out of me when people don’t fulfill their responsibilities or follow up on their commitments. That’s when I have to be the persistent, I-need-a-definite-answer asshole. But I don’t mind being that person if that’s what it takes to get my point across, even if it’s just a matter of opinion.

As I’ve gotten more into the business world outside of just basketball, I’ve learned that being nice and agreeable usually results in getting f****d over in some way. Not completely. You won’t necessarily be stiffed out of money or anything like that. But some inconveniences that don't need to happen, happen when you’re too nice (or afraid of offending someone). Just this morning I wrote up some new “terms and conditions” that I’m putting in every deal going forward to preempt the BS.

I’m working with a few companies currently on a few different things. With one of them, I'm 78% sure an Asshole Moment is coming around January-February. I have a few ideas that could avert such a moment. They are really good, neutral, benefits-both-sides ideas. But I’m not sure they’ll go for it, simply because they are who they are. Old people and old businesses aren’t always open to change, especially coming from a relatively new entity such as myself.

Deep sigh… oh well. I’ll tell you how it goes.