Maybe I'm the only one, but somewhere in my psyche is the idea that being nice to people, or at least not being rude, is important.

In fact, the more interactions and dependency I have with someone, the nicer I try to be.

However, it seems the "they're just a vendor" mentality takes over the mannes side of the brain when it comes to clients.

You don't have to laugh at my jokes. You don't have to like my taglines. But civilized society says that it's in your own best interest not to make me, one of a team of people charging you thousands of dollars for work you hope will accomplish something, hate you.

I know, I know. You're handing over a lot of cash, here. And according to your accounts payable, we're a vendor just like the guy who stocks the toilet paper in the office. However, if you piss off Igor, you'll find yourself with single ply. If you piss off your creatives, you'll end up with a jumbled mess of oatmeal where your ad should be.

"I'll just fire them and hire someone else," you threaten. Yes, and then you'll miss your pub dates, your product launch and the marketing managers meeting at the start of the next quarter.

The money guys, the finance guys, the account guys -- they care about the money. They want to keep your business. They want to lick your boots and kiss your ass soda cracker white and take all the abuse you can dish out.

The creatives, we want to do good work. And we don't want to do good work for assholes.

Creatives won't, of course, refuse to do good work. But a creative's muse is a fickle mistress, and every moment they're thinking about sticking your face on the dart board, they're not working on your ad. And every time they've got the choice of spending an hour on your project versus something else, you know what they'll choose. And when the account guy asks oh so nicely for last minute changes, work on a Saturday or yet another late night, your account will get the "I really can't" and end up on the desk of a talentless intern that has never made an ad in his life.

Fair? No. Of course it's unfair. We're goddamn prima donnas, us pompous little art school drop outs. Our account people feel your pain.

But at least humor us a little. The success of your brand, and your business, is riding on it.