Time: Tue Dec 02 04:20:20 1997
To: Bob Sears
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: recent requests
Cc: 
Bcc: 
References: 

Dear Bob,

I am finally able to answer the
telephone and email messages which
you and your colleagues have left
for me in recent days.

Without belaboring these points too much,
I do feel the need to share my feelings
with you, concerning my last trip to
your office in Phoenix.

Leaving me to wait and inhale auto fumes
for 2 hours at the airport, was not my
idea of a good time.  I informed you of
my itinerary, and yet I was forced to
waste time anyway.  That was not good,
particularly since I was ill from a
head cold and lung congestion.

When the ride finally did arrive, I was
likewise not too thrilled to be treated
to a McDonald's hamburger.  Much better food
can be bought for the same money.  Of this,
I am absolutely sure.

Rushing to the meeting, where several people
were waiting, was a necessary consequence of
failing to meet me on time, at the airport.
But, I was not introduced to this audience,
and I was given absolutely no introduction
to their needs, skills, or objectives.
This was extremely unprofessional on your part.

Then, keeping me up late, when I was obviously 
ill from a head cold, was another example
of unnecessary mistreatment.  Did it ever
occur to you that I was exhausted and
desperately needed some rest?  

The following morning, I was made to wait
in the lobby of Day's End, where the front
desk manager even commented by saying,
"Gets old, doesn't it?"  When my ride
finally did arrive, he explained that 
he had had a sudden, unscheduled meeting.
This caused me to waste another 2.5 hours
in that lobby.  A phone call would have
been nice, but it never came.

I do appreciate the 38 one dollar bills
I was given, to reimburse me for the
travel expenses.  But those 38 one's
paid somebody else -- the Arizona Shuttle;  
they did not pay me anything whatsoever.

The conversation in your office, with 
one of your co-workers, was the high point 
of an otherwise forgettable experience.  

I returned to Tucson, feeling like 8 
years of expert research had just
been yanked out of my briefcase,
when I wasn't looking.  Of course,
I was again expected to contribute
my time, since nobody has had the
courtesy, since then, to offer me any payment 
for all the time I spent, going up and back,
and then lecturing a group of total
strangers.

Is Paul Mitchell now your slave?

I must have missed this deplorable transition.

Now, I am being rushed, again, to provide
a photograph for you.  This alarms me
no end, because I have only the slightest
idea for what purpose you need a photograph.

Privacy is a fundamental Right.  Do I need
to remind you of this?  Evidently so.

More importantly, we don't even have a 
contract, and I am still steaming from
your mistreatment of me in Phoenix.

And, from the latest messages you have left 
with me, it now sounds as if you are planning
yet another long round-trip, so that I can
speak for "5 to 10 minutes" to another
group of total strangers.

What gives here, anyway?  I hope you don't
treat everyone like this.

I am sorry to disappoint you, if I do,
but you have never had my prior permission
to schedule me as a speaker at two events,
one in January and another in February,
without the professional courtesy of a
contract which details the compensation
I can expect to receive for same, and the
hours I will work as consideration.

Please, if you want me to provide continuing
professional services to your organization,
such as it is, please show a little more
courtesy and professionalism yourself.

Talk is cheap.

As it is, it might have been worse if you
had asked me to sleep in a car, but not
much worse.

Please don't shoot the messenger.

Thank you.

/s/ Paul Mitchell
http://supremelaw.com






      


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