Originally Posted by
11Bravo
Definitely you have a point. While most LT to ST cuts (time/money) resulted in simple mutual bans, not all were so simple.
Decades later I still remember MY stupidity. LT pull with a BFL. Back to my place, 1st round delivered. Then she started getting phone calls from an irate significant other asking why she wasn't home answering her land line after she'd finished her GRO job. Mandarin NOT a quiet language in the 1st place, and during an argument, even behind a closed bathroom door, LOUD, late at night, and I did have neighbors...
BOTH of us had lost the mood for any round 2, so I suggested we could both cut our losses and call it a night. She agreed, and without thinking, I offered her a ride home without asking where UNTIL we were on our way. Didn't realize she lived in the old city. Narrow, dark, twisty 1 way streets that I'd normally avoid at all costs (anyone who lived there got taxi fare and I'd flag a taxi for her). So there we were, BOTH of us steaming for our own reasons. FINALLY got to her place. Parked, tried to pay her MY ST fee. That re-lit her fire; that was NOT what we'd agreed to; she VOCALLY refused. My calmly pointing out we'd agreed to LT, multiple shots, a fun time, which this had NOT been, and I'd even driven her home, fell on deaf ears. Thinking of the forest, not the tree in front of me, I refused; wasn't fair to all those who had delivered. Now, she's screaming, refusing to get out of the car. Her (f)ire, which had seemed damped, exploded anew, now at ME. We stayed deadlocked for quite a while, going back and forth: here's the money for the time/service provided, please get out of the car; no, insufficient, pay me ALL.
OK, I'd just use the nuke threat; let's drive to the police station. Smart girl; she called that bluff. She understood that nuking was MAD (look up the acronym). While a blind eye was turned on P4P BEHIND closed doors, in public, BOTH parties guilty and prosecuted. She understood she'd be jailed, deported, but I TOO would face unpleasant legal consequences. Those "obey local laws... moral turpitude..." clauses in my contract leapt to mind.
OK, plan B. I upped my offer. Insufficient. She made a counteroffer. Thinking there WAS a compromise that COULD be reached, I offered half of her counter. INSUFFICIENT. I was impressed with her vocal endurance as she declined, she burning hotter and hotter. I think my hair was beginning to singe.
THEN, it hit me, that crystal clear realization that SOMETIMES occurs. It was 3:30AM, I was parked on a dark, narrow, twisty, and so far thankfully empty street, in a car with an absolutely furious, screaming woman, and I was arguing over all of, wait for it, ... wait... wait... $20 AUS. The clarity of that realization, and MY STUPIDITY, I've remembered for 2+ decades. I paid her full compromise. She took the money, opened the door, got out (thank God), and I was impressed with the car's build as she SLAMMED the door closed, the sound echoing down the street.
Relief at her departure grew as I navigated more narrow, dark, twisty streets, heading in the general direction of what must be a main street. Finally broke into the clear, knew where I was, and drove home. Total relief. By the time I woke up, after FINALLY getting to sleep, I'd lost most of that day too. A Pyrrhic victory.