When I used to go out onsite and do software/platform training to office workers, I had a few demands I made - for a reason.
I would demand, depending on whether they had whiteboards or projectors, specific brands of pens, in black and four other colors. What I got told me a few things - whether they bothered to read it, whether management actually gave a damn (or if the training was just a perfunctory hoop-jump), or whether they were cheap bastards who were fond of cutting corners. ("Um, yeah, we know we haven't given you the right tools or time to do that ... but ... you need to make it work...." is a profound insight into how a company operates.)
This allowed me to adjust presentations accordingly.
This told me much on whether I wanted to pursue further involvement with this company.
And to be honest, it gave me leverage. If I wanted an out, I could just say "You didn't live up to the contract - we're done." or "Fuck your refund. I told you what I'd need, you didn't deliver, and this section of the contract says I can keep the money. Sue me, bitches."
I learned this very early in my life when I was called in to install a functional network by X date, and there was a penalty for every day it was delayed. Trouble is, silly me, they were supposed to install the wiring, and nothing in the contract compelled them to have it ready by that date. A very frustrating and expensive lesson, but one I learned well. "That's not our problem" and "We're not contractually obligated to do that" is something often heard.
Even, like Palin, got my own hit job in a paper when a homeless shelter was trying to screw me out of money for services rendered, and dug up some woman who had also been sued by me for non-payment and printed a sob story. What was omitted was the fact that I HAD to sue for recovery of accounts receivable, or I would lose the right to collect for failing to do so in a timely manner, or to even write it off for not exercising due diligence.
This is why - especially in the case when you have a figure like Sarah Palin who is hated by the Lefturd media - I take it with a hundred pound grain of salt.
