How to deal with a fickle wedding planner, Stoic style

So, here is a different story, so just that we don’t talk about COVID-19 for a few minutes. Last year I got married. (Yes, the photo above is of yours truly with my then fiancee, Jennifer.) We had the ceremony secularly officiated by a friend of ours, and hosted by the New York Society for Ethical Culture, where I host my Philosophy Cafes and Stoic School. We had readings from philosophers (Plato’s Symposium) and literary authors (Jennifer is a Professor of English and creative writing), and my daughter, who had recently graduated summa cum laude and honors in philosophy (yeah, I know, don’t brag too much dad!) brought us the rings.

Nice, right? Except that with 16 days to go to the big event we were unceremoniously dropped by our wedding planner. The details are not important to this story, but let’s say that the person in question had behaved erratically all along, finally getting to the point of yelling at me on the phone simply because I reminded him (once more) that we were awaiting sample pictures of the flower arrangements. At that, I calmly stated that this was not professional behavior, and that I expected better, especially given the non inconsiderable sum of money he had already pocketed from us. He yelled some more and “fired” us. (So far, without returning the hefty sum in question.)