If only people were THAT honest when they approached me about stuff. Just tell me up front, how much of my free time is this little favor going to take?
Perhaps I need to be smarter about my answer, and include the response: "And what favor will I be getting in return?"
I get lots of requests from people, asking me to do things for them, things that will never pay and will never earn me anything more than frustration.
It's my own fault, for being someone who BELIEVES in volunteerism. I know if I can do a particular thing, to help someone out, I will do it. Only afterward feeling a bit put out because I failed to negotiate something fair in the deal. I never negotiate at all, I just do the favor and then later on I wonder why I spent so much of my time doing something for free.
That girl that cut my hair today; she asked to be paid when she was done. What? You mean this wasn't a FAVOR??? She was clever. She went straight over to the cash register after she hacked about 2 pounds of my hair off. I know some of the things I do for people isn't exactly worth the $16 that I was charged for my haircut, but it's at least worth a FAVOR in return. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. That kind of thing.
I just need to be better about getting scratched. Then I can stop complaining.
