According to the game, I have the authority, as a player, with this background, to declare that X is true in the game. Whatever that X is, doesn't really matter. Maybe it's a safe place to stay for the night, or sending a message, or booking passage on a ship. That's my authority for taking this background. Now, that authority has just been rejected by the DM who has decided, solely based on whatever he or she feels is "appropriate" and in return, I now have to jump through whatever totally arbitrary hoops that DM has decided to plonk down.