By Mark Antony Rossi
People usually shy away from giving advice because they get tired of folks showing little regard for the time spent or the knowledge freely dispensed. I’m no different. I honestly go out of way to not give advice. It just doesn’t seem worth the effort these days.
I’m beginning to think there’s some merit in believing people are suspicious of things given away for free. I responded once in a writer’s chat room when asked why a writer’s book, whom he was giving away free for a limited time, didn’t get any takers after three days.
I responded, ” pull it, write up a short press release and re-release it at $2.99 (a decent eBook price) for a book of 100 pages. Lo and behold a week later he reports he sold 138 copies in 5 days. Since the press release was practically boiler plate language cribbed from a free internet example. The only variable that makes sense is the second time he assigned a fee.
I wonder if the suspicion is related to the legitimate feeling that if something is freely given it’s not worth buying. Or maybe if something is given away free there must be a hidden agenda or catch. I grew up in a big city and was counseled by my parents to not to stop and talk to anyone offering something free. They thought free things were a perfect lure to kidnap children.
The other major point I must elaborate on involves the false premise many people operate under while pretending they are seeking advice. This is just a rouse to find as many people as possible whom agree with their opinion, plan or program. Not only is this game annoying it is downright wasteful. Please keep your dumb mistakes to yourself.
Advice givers beware your time is no less valuable than the pests who bug you for wisdom they are not equipped to use. Don’t close yourself off from genuine seekers just realize there aren’t many genuine seekers out there in the first place. Most of these folks are simply too lazy to look up something in Google. In the final analysis I’m a writer; not a waiter.
About the Author: Mark Antony Rossi is a poet, playwright and author of the bioethics volume “Dark Tech” now available from Amazon. His most recent plays have been produced in Liverpool and New York.
http://ethical-stranger.webnode.com/