As a young lawyer I worked for a firm that represented many mobsters. We're not talking Don Corleones here. They were scary, but also dim witted.
One day my boss sent me to a restaurant involved in a legal dispute with the landlord over use of the space as a nightclub. The supposed owner of this establishment was indebted to some hoodlums, who were now the real owners. The court had ordered that the club be closed immediately. As the new lawyer, I was given the honor of explaining this to the wise guys. The sit down (that's actually what they called it) would be at the club. I should point out that none of this was explained to me at the time.
No one said "Siggy, go explain to a bunch of violent criminals that they have to shut their business down." I discovered this after the fact.
When I got there I sat at the bar. Every few minutes another shady looking character would stroll in and walk towards the back room. One really scary guy came over to me and asked if I was the one who's going to "explain this bullshit." I wanted to say, " sir, I am an attorney admitted to the bar, and I deserve respect. I'm not some guy who explains bullshit." I didn't, though. I just politely pointed to the court order on the bar. He told me to wait until everyone arrived to explain it.
There was a television on the wall showing the movie "The Sound Of Music." That cheered him up. He called to the bartender. "Hey, turn up the fucking sound. This is the best fucking movie!"
He then began singing along with Julie Andrews. I had to admit, he had a damn good voice.
He turned to me. "Hey, you like this movie? It's the fucking best, right?" I nodded enthusiastically. I didn't mention that Christopher Plummer was embarrassed to have co-starred in the film, which he called "The Sound Of Mucus."
Soon more thugs showed up, and I was led into the back room. I tried not to think about what were until now my favorite Martin Scorsese scenes as I walked behind my escort.
In the end, everything turned out fine. They weren't happy, but they didn't blame the messenger.
I started looking for another job the next day.
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