Mark Twain said that if you try to grab a cat by the tail, there are things that you'll learn that you can't learn any other way... or something like that. I think the same could be said about one's first dealings with ocean shipping companies, mercurial ship schedules, port authorities, and the many disgruntled and generally grumpy people of which they are comprised. Cargo shipping agents, in particular, are a notorious lot, many of whom have fallen into this line of work after having shown a lack of required character and integrity to succeed as used car salesmen. To partially quote Steve Carrell (from The Office), if I were in a room with Osama bin Laden, Hitler, and a cargo shipping agent, and had only a gun with just two bullets, I'd shoot the shipping
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