Looking for free information and angry not to get it
Not an art show issue.
Most people have heard the expression that everything should be free on the internet. Well here's one I've never experienced before.
I received a phone call earlier today from someone who was looking for information. He had read my web site article on how to set your camera to photograph art and wanted to know how he should set his bottom of the line CoolPix.
His first question was whether I was a camera store and sold cameras.
No, I'm a photographer who works with artists teaching them how to photograph their own artwork.
I'm a photographer also, he says.
OK, what's your question?
He says that he has a CoolPix xxx and wants to know if he should be using one of the mode settings.
I don't know anything about the camera you're using, I use a top of the line DSLR and keep it set on manual exposure.
He then throws out the names of two other cameras asking if I know anything about them, like it's a quiz.
I'm sorry, I only know how to use the camera I own and I'm really busy right now shooting some jewelry.
His response blew me away. Well "f**k you" and he hung up.
What ever happened to decency and common sense. I can't imagine he's older than fifteen or so and is this what we're in for from the next generation? Something to think about.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Larry Berman
<a href="http://BermanGraphics.com">http://BermanGraphics.com</a>
412-401-8100
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Comments
Thank you Larry, for all of your help and insight! Very grateful indeed. Don't let the jerk change your manner of doing business. I have noticed that more people have this attitude also. It's that whole 'instant gratification" and the "world owes me" attitude. I have adopted this response- If they can't or won't use the grace and manners they were taught, then I no longer need to deal with them.
Hi Larry, I think the odds are pretty good that the idiot was an adult or a teenager. My point is I've observed both, that feel entitled and act rude. It is not generational, but I do notice younger people lacking in math skills.
About all you can do it be amused at it and make a mental note never to act like that. You are generous with information. I personally have benefited from it.
Larry I am eternally grateful for the free information I get from you and all the other artists through the AFI forums, blogs and individual websites. Your, as well as others, information has been encouraging, thought provoking, and instructional. Yes it does require that I read, compare, and sometimes conduct further research and even experimentation. The outcome is that I have the reward of retaining the knowledge and gaining some practical experience. Your rude caller on the otherhand wanted to be spoon fed and no doubt would have called later for more morsels rather than applying the information on his own. So Larry know there are likely hundreds of us that are grateful for your willingness to share information. Don't let one little rude p*** ant ruin your day!
Every generation has its share of idiots and also really good people. That has never changed and never is likely to change. All of the communication methods just make it easier for everyone to show their true nature.
I live a block from a major university and see rude behavior everyday from "young adults" who think the world owes them a living. Bad manners in restaurants, while driving, on cell phones, and as neighbors. I am just happy that I don't have to deal with their parents as well. That's where it all begins....
That being said, I know there are thousands of intelligent, well-mannered, wonderful students that also reside in my community...it's just the "bad eggs" one tends to remember.
Increasingly, I find folks don't bother to return emails, or if they do, they haven't read the entire email and write back asking for information that they already have. Smart phones and the like truncate subject lines to 30 characters leading to confusion. Same with phone calls, why bother returning the call, just use Face Book! And FB pages don't list contact info, and newspapers and chamber of commerce websites make you dig to find out what state they are in . . . and the list goes on. Signal to noise ration is decreasing. Good news: Nigerian scam emails seem to be decreasing!
Hi Robin,
I'm not really dissing teans. It's just that the exceptions are the ones that stand out and are remembered. In all actuality, I wouldn't be surprised if the person who called me was a young adult, maybe mid twenties but acting like someone ten years younger, maybe giving teens a bad rep.
Larry Berman
including my phone number because I'm not going to let one jerk change the way I do business.
412-401-8100
Don't be dissing all the teens. My high school age daughter is way beyond me in math skills, has a strong sense of right and wrong, and she's usually early to wherever she says she will be. I know adults who could take lessons from her.
He got my phone number from my web site.
I can't imagine that an adult would act like that.
There's a great deli near our house that we get food from a few times a week. They have various teenagers working there. The other day I purchased four bottles of Snapple for $1.10 each and gave him a $5 bill. He entered the amount wrong and had to totally redo the transaction on the register to figure out I was to get 60 cents change.
There is an entire generation out there who doesn't know how to do math, or even tell time.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Larry, this doesn't surprise me and he probably was an adult. The question is: Where did he get your phone number? Maybe you shouldn't put your phone # on every post. I am even removing my phone # from my cards because I am tired of getting spam text messages and calls after every show I do. If they want to communicate with me bad enough, they can send me an email, first.
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