You do a workmate a favour and........

OMG this sucks...
had the same thing with downloading stuff for schoolmates...
at first it was a pleasure to help out but soon it started to turn into a nightmare :-O (bit exegarated xD)
ill pray for you, that he may never call you after his retirement

[yt]CHChMosblYs[/yt]

Yep, it's why I've gone all introvert and have become a bitter, cynical and sarcastic person. If people find out you know anything about something they don't, they'll hassle you for the rest of your freakin' life. Like, if I fix or reformat someone's computer (and I'm no computer wiz, but I can set up PC's and run spyware killers and anti-virus apps easily enough), then they expect me to be free tech support for them for the rest of the computer's life. If they find out that I have a massive MP3 library, then they want me to burn them 1000 CD's. If they find out I have all the DS ROM dumps, then I'm expected to hook them up with flashcarts and load them up with games every so often. When I had a pick-up truck, guess who got called ONLY when they had to move. Yeah....oh, but if they had something interesting going on, like a party or something, did I hear from them? NO!

Instead of learning to do any of that stuff themselves (and believe me, I've tried to teach them), they rely on me to do it for them.......and for FREE too. Screw that noise, I'm out of work, I don't have the time or money to waste helping everyone else (for free) when I'm barely surviving as it is. It wasn't too many years ago that I had at least 2 dozen friends, but they either "drugged-out" where I didn't want anything to do with them anymore, or they started getting to the point where they only called me when they wanted something and would DEMAND that I help them. Oh hell no! I cut all those bastards off. In real life, I only have 2 friends left that I can trust not to take advantage like that, or at least feel that they actually owe me for my troubles.

At least the dude that's hassling you for movies doesn't have a PC, so he CAN'T really hunt the stuff down himself. And he did pay you for the help you gave him, even if it was only to pay for what the movies cost you. Plus, you said he'll be retiring soon anyway, so that will end that....just don't answer your cell when you know it's him after he retires.

My new plan is to not tell anyone I know anything about anything that would get me stuck in those sucker situations again. It's not a perfect plan, as I essentially have no friends anymore, but at least I'm not running around doing charity work for everyone all the time either.

Don't be someones bitch, charge some money for services

You can charge him for all that crap, or...


Vuvuzelas to the ears! BZZZZZ.

Build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.



People tell me it's supposed to be a proverb about teaching people to do things for themselves....

all it teaches me is the joy to setting people on fire...

[quote name='Vulpes Abnocto' post='2969194' date='Jul 8 2010, 08:15 AM']Build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.



People tell me it's supposed to be a proverb about teaching people to do things for themselves....

all it teaches me is the joy to setting people on fire...[/quote]

But... won't that technically mean he won't have a life?

I do enjoy setting people on fire though, I even recommend it on here.

[quote name='yuyuyup' post='2969126' date='Jul 8 2010, 01:31 PM']Don't be someones bitch, charge some money for services[/quote]
This

I have a few friends who ask me to do this all the time I don't mind as I charge the the expensive "shipping costs".

[quote name='phoenixgoddess27' post='2969198' date='Jul 8 2010, 02:18 PM'][quote name='Vulpes Abnocto' post='2969194' date='Jul 8 2010, 08:15 AM']Build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.



People tell me it's supposed to be a proverb about teaching people to do things for themselves....

all it teaches me is the joy to setting people on fire...[/quote]

But... won't that technically mean he won't have a life?

I do enjoy setting people on fire though, I even recommend it on here.
[/quote]
He'll have a life, albeit not a very long one.

Has it cost you anything, anything at all?

If not, why bitch, you're just being helpful.

Karma, look it up, it's amazing stuff.

I get people helping me all the time, largely because I don't mind helping people, just as much.

Same problem, but with computer problems. You should tell him that you have no time or that he should buy a computer (we are in 2010, dude) with a big smile but not too big so that he understands.

i have the same problem at home, my mother keeps asking me to download movies for her, then it's my boyfriend brother who keeps asking for music, i only offered to do one cd or movie for them but they keep asking! in the end i just hide the router when they come over and tell them the computer is dead lol

[quote name='Ritsuki' post='2969218' date='Jul 8 2010, 02:31 PM']Same problem, but with computer problems. You should tell him that you have no time or that he should buy a computer (we are in 2010, dude) with a big smile but not too big so that he understands.[/quote]

yeah i know what you mean, it's not hard to get their own internet connection and computer lol but they keep on using mine

[quote name='Ritsuki' post='2969218' date='Jul 8 2010, 02:31 PM']Same problem, but with computer problems. You should tell him that you have no time or that he should buy a computer (we are in 2010, dude) with a big smile but not too big so that he understands.[/quote]Yeah but you know what'll happen don't you... He won't know how to do stuff on the PC & guess who he'll call for help ......... ME!!!!

Problem is, many things that we do we take for granted and the people that want help need that help because they don't know how to do it themselves.

It's easy to say "charge 'em for your services", but no one wants to pay for anything, especially friends, which I personally have a hard time charging for stuff anyway. That's not friendship to me. They just want, especially if you are not part of some store's service center. And when you try to teach them how to do it themselves, they refuse to learn. But if you tell them no, or tell them to just take it to a shop for service or whatever, then they get mad at you and try to demand or coerce or trick you into helping them....for free, because taking it to that shop would cost money. And how dare I suggest that my out-of-work ass gets paid to help them. They act like I banged their wife or something to suggest I get a few bucks for my service. And like I said, that's not the foundation I build friendships on.

That's the point where I snap and cut those people off.

I don't mind "helping" people, but I refuse to just do everything FOR them constantly without them ever learning a damn thing for themselves when I try to teach them.

Take my brother-in-law and nephew for instance. I hooked them up with flashcarts (which they payed for) and showed them where to get the ROMs, how to add them to their carts and how to update the firmware in their carts. I taught them how to do it themselves and they don't NEED my help anymore. So the next time they do need something, I'm willing to help them because they will learn.

Then there's my friend's kids. I hooked them up with carts (which they paid for) and set them up with games. So far, so good. I wrote up and printed a Word document explaining (in detail) the where, what, hows of using the flashcart, but they REFUSE to do it themselves, even though both of them have access to computers and the internet. OK, so then I SHOWED them how easy it was by making them watch what I was doing and explaining everything I was doing as I was doing it. Did they learn? No.
They can browse around the net and blah-blah on Twitter or FaceBook or whatever else they're into and no one had to teach them that, but putting a ROM on a flashcart is apparently much too difficult for them. Now, these aren't dumb kids either, the oldest one got straight A's in school and graduated with honors, but they can't learn to find and put ROMs on their flashcart? What's that all about?

The father of those two kids is my oldest friend, I've known him since I was 7 years old. Just in case no one is counting, that's 35 years I've known him and he has NEVER burned me or charged me for any favors he's ever done for me. How am I supposed to just cut them off? How am I supposed to charge him anything to hook his kids up with games when we spent our whole lives NOT charging each other for doing favors for each other? At what point does it stop being just a favor and starts becoming something I should charge money for? My generosity bites me in the ass every time.

No, the easiest thing to do is to just not tell people you know anything about what they are having issues with and they'll leave you alone. I really hate to be like that, but I have learned the consequences of being a generous and non-money-grubbing person.

He's taking advantage of your kindness, I've met a lot of these people in high school.

He may not know what he's doing, so I wouldn't get mad if I were you. Try asking him for a few favours in return, maybe he'll get tired of it and stop.

Tell him you will downloaad stuff for him, but now you´re charging him. If he pays you then he most likely stop asking to download stuff, or else become melodramatic and will say "but you´re my brother..!!"

Then you say: "I´ve got to make my living somehow

Done :3

He's buying DVDs, not downloading anything.

AND ...... he's not my Brother

Yeah, friends are different than workmates......workmates should be charged for any service you offer outside of the workplace. I guess somehow I missed that little bit of info......my brother is always jabbering in my ear about stuff as I try to read through the forums and I end up with a lot of criss-crossed, mixed-up or with gaps in the information.

When it comes to people at a job, I tell them NOTHING about what I know or can do beyond what I'm doing at the job. Actually, when I'm at work, I tend to be too busy working to talk to anyone anyway.

Hmm....must be why I don't currently have a job.....I worry about my job and don't socialize with the rest of the people much beyond "shop talk". It DOES seem like every place I've ever worked cares more about social status than work performance, because I almost always out-perform people I'm working with.....but they still have THEIR job and I'm sitting on my ass. You know, the recession hit and I swear they must be like, "We have to make cuts, get rid of the anti-social dude. Never mind that he works as hard as two regular employees all by himself, he doesn't come to the after-work parties (or doesn't like sports, or hates the show we love so much, etc.), so he's gonzo."

Yeah, it's like that with me. I can be a bit too intense for some people. I don't do it on purpose.....

I'd give him an old computer of mine and set him up with some $10 a month internet service and show him how to buy online.