I’m going to start a bit rough here; stop asking your random friends, acquaintances and people you haven’t seen since high school for free unsolicited professional advice. You sound uncultured and unaware of what it takes to build a career from scratch in today’s unforgiving job market. Especially this year, when everything seems to be falling apart, it’s really not the time to assume anyone (especially artists) will help you out “because they would be doing it anyway” or “they do it for the passion, not the money.”
Do you know who would draw your tattoo up? A TATTOO ARTIST. Guess who would give you a mechanic quote; A MECHANIC. I wonder who could help teach your kid piano?… probably A PIANO TEACHER.
Do you somehow think that these people go to work every day only to come home to be delighted to freely help you with what could be a long and tedious scenario? No, they don’t. If you think they are, then you probably haven’t worked much in your life or you have never known true professional passion. You’re not special for thinking you can command a specific service unprofessionally, so please don’t kid yourself into thinking people love to hear your drawn out stupidities on social media.This doesn’t only touch the fact that people should be paid for what their day jobs consist of, but more so the degrading issue this has on an entire profession itself. How the fuck do you think it feels to fight for years upon years to be taken seriously, ESPECIALLY AS AN ARTIST, and have some idiot ask you if you could “just help them out with this really quickly?”
It makes us feel like garbage. Angry garbage. We’re not societally important enough for people to immediately think of us as professionals. Somehow the twenty years of study and grueling preparation isn’t enough for people to see us as valuable workers.
There is literally no one that can do a professional job, like a professional with years of experience. Stop belittling peoples’ careers because you don’t understand their work’s value, and are too uneducated to seek it in the right circumstances. There is obvious leeway for friends and family, but that’s because they’re friends and family. They pretty much earn it. Facebook friends and internet strangers don’t count you soul-sucking, freebie whore!
Written by Talia Plante
*Edited by Dominic Abate
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