Years ago, when I was the Equal Employment Opportunity Administrator for the City of Phoenix, I had some run-ins with a local community leader. The confrontations were never extreme, but we clearly did not see eye-to-eye on some projects and I came to regard him as a pain that came with the job. His arguments were never without merit, but they usually produced complications and what I saw as unnecessary work for an already-overloaded office.
Several times, I came very close to pushing the situation, but something caused me to hold back.
In 1984, when I left the City, started my consulting practice and watched my income immediately go to zero, many people sent best wishes. A few - whose souls will always be cherished in my heart - actually sent me business.
He was one of the few.
I still see him occasionally. We joke about the old days of municipal politics and interest groups and never discuss our arguments. I silently wonder if I was as big a pain for him as he was for me.
If I was, he deserves even more credit.
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