And I have no idea if no strike news is good strike news or bad strike news. It may be neither. It may just be no strike news.
I should pass on one word of wisdom conferred on me by my second agent. He said, "Always beware of the second negotiation."
The first negotiation is the verbal one in which we all agree that I will write the script for $5,000. The second negotiation is when someone commits the agreed-upon terms to paper, often taking his own sweet time about it since I'll probably commence writing before we have a signed contract. On that paper, he writes that I will indeed receive $5,000…
…and he hopes neither I nor my agent will notice that he sneaks in a clause that says that they can reduce that amount if I'm late, if my script contains spelling errors, if I write it while wearing blue jeans, if the Dodgers win the pennant, if McDonald's brings back the McRib, if you knew Suzie like I know Suzie, if I use vowels or if the producer just feels like paying me less. Oh — and it also says that I have to deliver the script to the producer's home and trim his hedges while I'm there.
That's the second negotiation. With some employers, you don't have a deal even when you all agree you have a deal.