Friday, October 16, 2009

No good deed goes unpunished


So back on Wednesday I get an email from Kim Stark, editor and publisher of the Miami Sun Post.

She wants a picture I shot of Miami Beach author Gerald Posner.
Bill, can you send me more images? My deadline is today. We go to press tonight. Thanks, Kim
Funny, I say to myself...she didn't mention payment.

I email her back and ask if she can pay.
Unfortunately, we don't at the moment.

We are on a very, very tight budget right now.

Things have been pretty rough.

I really want to run your photo because you are mentioned in the book and Gerald suggested it, instead of having my husband, also a photographer, do the shoot.

I was also going to suggest you send a pic of yourself to include in the article.

Let me know asap, because then I have to arrange a shoot for this afternoon.

Thanks, Kim
"Pretty rough" would turn out to be a major understatement on Kim's part.

But I liked the fact that she tried to charm me by asking for a photo of myself.

But I tell her: no dice...photography is how I make my living.

Later on in the day I get another email begging for a photo.

I relent and offer a couple for $25.

Send them off at 5pm think that's the end of it...

At 10pm I get a frantic call. Kim tells me that they can't open the pictures.

I tell her I'm done for the night.

"Won't you talk to my husband,?" she asks.

OK, I say.

Guy gets on the phone and I ask him why he waited so long to call.

He says "We just got the pictures."

Impossible, I say. I sent them at 5pm.

"No you didn't," he says.

CLICK...I hang up!

Not nice to ask me for a favor and then essentially call me a liar.

A little later I get this email from Kim's husband.
Bill,

It was an absolute pleasure dealing with your sunny personality.

Here is what was received from photo 1.

Don't know if you know how to actually send a simple jpg.

Maybe it's because you are too much of a loser to have to go to your local donut shop to access the web.

None-the-less karma's a bitch. The email was only received at 7:30p possibly due to the file size and problem opening it.

At which time Kim (my wife) was working on other components of the paper. Not sure if you are having a bad day or you are just an asshole. Your point was well received by how fucking rude you are. Have a nice life douche-bag.

Stuart Davidson
Yes, Stuart...karma is indeed a cruel mistress!

I did a little checking today with former Sun Post staffers and learned that the inability to open jpegs are the least of the paper's worries.

Today I called my friends at Miami New Times and they did some digging on their own and learned that the once proud Miami Sun Post is foundering and headed for some very sharp rocks.

Karma indeed!

6 comments:

  1. Wow. Love how people ask for things for free, and then bitch about it when they get it. Karma, indeed.

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  2. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Stuart's a dick.

    This just in: high-res images are often large files. Is their computer system powered by hamsters?

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  3. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but Stuart's a dick."

    I love you Beth! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Right back atcha, Bill.

    Seriously, dude needs some lessons in how to be an adult. I'm sure his mother would not be proud of the e-mail he sent.

    Good for you for posting his missive. Maybe a dose of embarrassment will make him think twice the next time he wants to insult a person who is doing his wife a favor.

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  5. From what I hear it won't be too long before Stuart's wearing handcuffs!

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  6. I've travelled this old world of ours from Barnsley to Peru
    I've had sunshine in the arctic and a swim in Tinbuktu
    I've seen unicorns in Burma and a Yeti in Nepal
    And I've danced with ten foot pygmies in a Montezuma hall
    I've met the King of China and a working Yorkshire miner
    But I've never met a nice South African.

    No, he's never met a nice South African
    And that's not bloody surprising man
    'Cause we're a bunch of arrogant bastards
    Who hate black people

    I once got served in Woolies aften less than four week's wait
    I had lunch with Rowan Atkinson when he paid and wasn't late
    I know a public swimming bath where they don't piss in the pool
    I know a guy who got a job straight after leaving school
    I've met a normal merman and a fairly modest German
    But I've never met a nice South African.

    No, he's never met a nice South African
    And that's not bloody surprising man
    'Cause we're a bunch of talentless murderers
    Who smell like baboons

    I've had a close encounter of the twenty-second kind
    That's when an alien spaceship disappears up your behind
    I got directory enquiries after less than forty rings
    I've even heard a decent song by Paul McCartney's Wings
    I've seen a flying pig in a quite convincing wig
    But I've never met a nice South African.

    No, he's never met a nice South African
    And that's not bloody surprising man
    'Cause we're a bunch of ignorant loudmouths
    With no sense of humour - ha ha

    I've met the Loch Ness monster and he looks like Fred Astaire
    At the BBC in London, he's the chief commissionaire
    I know a place in Glasgow which is rife with daffodillies
    I met a man in Katmandu who claimed to have two willies
    I've had a nice pot noodle but I've never had a poodle
    And I've never met a nice South African.

    No, he's never met a nice South African
    And that's not bloody surprising man
    Because we've never met one either
    Except for Breyten Breytenbach and he's emigrated to Paris.

    Yes, he's quite a nice South African
    And he's hardly ever killed anyone
    And he's not smelly at all.
    That's why they put him prison.

    ReplyDelete

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