Yeah..I'm not gonna buy that one, Trip. An opening pass across the table is just that, an opener. Both sides ask for the moon (one side at "0" and the other at "100"). Negotiators then take those "asks" and begin working towards "50" through potential exchanges and conditions. If the zone of reasonableness is, say 30-70, and after some good faith negotiations, one side can't pull the other into the perceived zone of reasonableness, well now we have a matter to bring before the mediator. To simply present an opening position onto the table and have the other side look and then walk away makes me think the company had no intention of negotiating the "important" stuff. While our initial "ask" may have been out of the zone of reasonableness (no idea either way), are you 100% confident the Company's counter (if they even made one) is within the zone of reasonableness?