The thing about making my living from words is that friends tend to see you as the go-to person whenever they need some text edited or proofread. Which is all well and fine, except when they act as if it\u2019s their right to ask it of me and\/or they assume I\u2019m definitely doing it for them for free.<\/p>\n
So yesterday a friend whatsapp-ed me a screen shot of the \u201cAbout us\u201d page of a website she is setting up for a business she is starting.<\/p>\n
Friend: \u201cCould you help edit it?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n No \u201cplease\u201d in the sentence or something along the lines of \u201cI\u2019d appreciate if you could edit it.\u201d \u00a0And to send me a screenshot? Seriously, how am I supposed to edit a picture file?<\/p>\n Me: \u201cNeed an editable copy. How did you think I was going to edit on a picture file??\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Friend: \u201cThinking that you cut and copy from my website :-)\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Wow. Seriously, who\u2019s the one asking for a favour here?<\/p>\n Me: \u201cYou are supposed to make it easy for me. Not make me do extra work.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Friend: True true. Send you in 30min.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n *Rolls eyes<\/strong>*<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I just get the feeling that I\u2019m not going to be appreciated or reciprocated for my time and help. It\u2019s not that I won\u2019t extend my services for free. And frankly, I\u2019ve done that a lot. But people don\u2019t seem to appreciate the fact that I\u2019m taking time out to do such things. It\u2019s an opportunity cost I incur (Trust me, I do<\/em> have better things to do) and you know, it\u2019s nice to be shown a little appreciation.<\/p>\n Contrast this to another friend who recently asked me to review and edit her CV. I ended up giving her CV an overhaul. I never asked for anything in return but this friend was appreciative enough to shout me a dimsum lunch which I felt was a nice gesture. And I did not reject the gesture because I felt it was important for both of us to recognise there was value in what I did.<\/p>\n Anyhow, it\u2019s a good reminder to myself that if I\u2019m asking for favours, it\u2019s important to make it as easy as possible for the person I\u2019m enlisting help from. And always remember to reciprocate and show appreciation in some form or another!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The thing about making my living from words is that friends tend to see you as the go-to person whenever they need some text edited or proofread. Which is all well and fine, except when they act as if it\u2019s … Continue reading