Not Net.

There was something in Adweek earlier this week that was actually reporting. Usually the trade press prints nothing but press-releases. But here, they printed something relatively contrary. (I think they call it the trade press because they trade their integrity for your ad buys.)

They wrote a story about a PR RFP from the Keurig Dr. Pepper company, demanding 360-day payment terms. In other words, you submit a bill on December 2, 2022 and getting paid around Thanksgiving, 2023.

I've been trained to write NET 30 on all my bills. And all my arrangements with the clients I work with are supposed to be on that basis. I get paid in 30 days.

Most often that stretches to 45 or 60 or 120.

And, me, the little guy can do very little about that. They're supposed to pay a vig of 1.5%/month once they're late. But I can't imagine having my lawyer trying to go after that money.

One, it would cost me more than they'd get me.
Two, it would piss off the client.
Three, they'd never pay the extra anyway. 

Something has happened in the world today. I think it might be worse now than it's ever been.

I think for a time, the American spirit was to root for the underdog. To take the people born on third who think they hit a triple down a peg. 

We used to cheer Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or It's a Wonderful Life. Or Gary Cooper in Meet John Doe or High Noon. Or Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock. Or William Powell in My Man Godfrey. We used to root against bullies. That's why there are so many Yankee haters in the world.

But today, generally speaking, we see to take the side of bullies. It explains so many people supporting doonot trump, wealth-transfer reverse robin-hood-republicanism (steal from the middle-class and give to the rich) and Koch-industry-backed planet-destroying initiatives.

When you root for bullies, you become a bully.

And bully-ism becomes the method a la mode.

If the inflation rate is eight-percent a year, taking a year to pay someone is taking one-out-of-every-twelve-dollars from them. That's eight percent.

Even giving your employers Net 60 allows them a 1.3-percent discount. You and I don't get to do that. Why should companies?

The power, in other words, is far from the little guy.

Net 360.

Is that how a human should treat another human?