Peace in our time

After a long and difficult week, there is peace in the Early household today.

What it took was for me and my auto sales client to have a meeting of the minds.

I had to make him understand it was/is not my fault that his books are four months behind. When you open a business in January and don’t hire a bookkeeper until June, that tends to happen. I am dancing as fast as I can to get to real time, but I refuse to work 40-60 hours a week. I have this sweet little boy I need to spend time with.

Car sales is a unique animal. Every sale is different. Some people pay cash outright. Some people have a trade in. Some people have to finance. Some people have a trade in that is not completely paid for. Some people have a trade in that is worth more than the vehicle they are purchasing. . . . the list goes on.

Then, each car has different things done to it. Some get tires. Some get brake work. Some just get washed and out the door they go. Some get paint. Some get detailed. . . . again, the list goes on.

Needless to say it makes my work interesting, albeit time consuming. I really like the work. It is challenging and helps keep my mind sharp in the ways of GAAP.

What has made me crazy is the owner’s general nervousness and seeming distrust. I finally came to the conclusion that either we were going to have to get on the same page, or I was going to have to cut him lose. I am working more than I want or need, and I certainly don’t need the headache he is giving me by calling every other day. After last night’s meeting, I think he finally understands just because he doesn’t see me, doesn’t mean I’m not working, and if he insists on seeing me too often, he is paying for that time, which leaves me less time to actually get his work done. At least I hope that’s where we are now.

The situation reminds me of when I was in college and worked as typesetter for the student newspaper. On layout nights I would shut the door to my cave and work like crazy to produce laid out stories for the reporters to then cut and paste. Reporters who insisted upon knocking on my door begging for their stories first, would get them last. It was oh so simple to slip their stories to the bottom of the stack. Most of them finally got the idea, the more they pestered me, the longer it took for them to get their stuff. We had one reporter who just couldn’t figure it out. He never made the connection between his constant knocking at my door and the fact that he was nearly always the last to get his pages completed and leaving for home at one o’clock in the morning.

My auto sales client has been the same way. The more he calls, the more I don’t want to even look at his books. Not to mention the fact that he is one of my latest clients and a whole bunch of others have been with me longer than he.

This might be vindictive and a terrible abuse of power, but I think it is just human nature. No one wants to be driven crazy while they are trying to do their job. And one way or another, the driver is going to pay.