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Business: Middleman
Bad News Inc.   (+3)  [vote for, against]
When a face-to-face confrontation is requisite, but touchy.

Bad News Inc. (BNI) personally delivers bad news with professionalism, courtesy, and compassion.

Want to tell a friend they wear too many skull-and-cross-bones bracelets, but don't want to risk chafing your friendship? Need to let a neighbor know that their nude nocturnal lawn-mowing isn't so appealing?

Call BNI, and let their professional staff visit your friend or neighbor and courteously help them understand. BNI won't shame the person, and will only reveal that "someone who cares " wants them to know. If the recipient wishes to respond to the sender, BNI will act as an anonymous messenger.

This isn't about hiding behind anonymity or avoiding frankess and honesty, it's about employing a professional service to preserve the dignity of both parties, while revealing information that might otherwise go unsaid.

YES, there are anonymous ways to communicate such messages without a human intermediary, but sometimes a personal touch is needed. An anonymous email isn't likely to change your friend's dressing habits, and will more than likely be received as hostile. Some things deserve a human touch - for those things, BNI is there for you.
-- awesomest, Aug 17 2004

Singing Resignations http://www.halfbake...ging_20Resignations
somewhat related idea by [quarterbaker] [krelnik, Oct 04 2004]

This would be so useful! It's hard to say, "Mike, your BO is unbearable. Use some deodorant, for f*ck's sake!" But if BNI went over to his house in haz-mat gear and armed with deodorant, he'd get the point and I would still be friends with him (without wrinkling my nose everytime he's near). Lovely.
-- Machiavelli, Aug 17 2004


Oh no...I just had flashbacks of getting hit on the knuckles with a ruler for being naughty in class.
-- Machiavelli, Aug 17 2004


I work in Quality Assurance....this is part of my job description....baked.
-- normzone, Aug 17 2004


[normzone]. Can you please tell my next door neighbour that I can hear her belching and it puts me off my dinner? In fact it's so bad that it kept one of our guests awake all night once!

+ for [danielo l'orange].
-- dobtabulous, Aug 18 2004


"I've got good news and bad news. The good news, however, is not my job..."

[bwv61] - <sp>legal counsel - unless your respiratory therapist does group therapy?
-- lurch, Aug 18 2004


"Honey, the bad news truck is here."
"Shit! Don't answer. We're not here, okay? Wait, turn off the lights."
-- phundug, Aug 18 2004


"... Geez, they brought a truck this time... it was only a car when they were here last. This must really be bad."
-- zigness, Aug 18 2004


// BNI will act as an anonymous messenger //
Seriously, this will encourage impostors, as in: "Hi, I'm with Bad News Inc. I was informed by your manager that people in the office -- I'm not naming names-- wish that you would give Dave a raise. I don't mean to alarm you, but people have been using the word "cheapskate".

There would have to be some kind of a bad-ge (sorry) for employees to wear to prove authenticity. Even so, Dave (in the above example) could have a friend of his get a job at BNI and visit his boss using legitimate credentials, for a fraudulent purpose.
-- phundug, Aug 18 2004


//This isn't about hiding behind anonymity or avoiding frankess and honesty//

I'll give you the fact that this doesn't shy away from frankness and honesty, but the crux of the idea is hiding behind anonymity, you cheeky scamp, you!

It's extremely open to abuse if misused, but last time I checked rum was still legal so [+].
-- DocBrown, Aug 18 2004


I always thought this was what Barber Shop Quartets were for.
-- spiritualized, Aug 18 2004



random, halfbakery