This is My JOB

As a circus artist constantly on the look out for the next contract, there's nothing more exciting than opening your e-mail and finding a job offer waiting. Even more exciting is when that job offer is somewhere far away that you've always dreamed of going! So when I opened my e-mail one morning to find an offer in India waiting for me, I was pretty stoked.

The excitement didn't last.

It only took a moment to realize that the same organization had written to me two years earlier only to stop replying after only a couple of exchanges. I always figured I asked too many questions. Silly me wanting to know what I was potentially getting into.

The e-mail itself was pretty vague. It wasn't addressed to me, it just expressed the organization's interest in "my show" and then went on to praise the event in question and listed many of the incredible acts that had graced their stage in years past. I figured there was no harm in looking into what they were proposing, and since they pretty much sent the exact same e-mail as they had two years previously, I sent the same reply I sent the first time seeing as I still had a copy in my archives.

That's when things got interesting.

Being a "student run non-profit organization", they couldn't actually pay me. They could provide accommodation and pay for travel within India, but that's it. They then listed all these incredible artists that had worked for them in the past and went on to add that none of them had charged any artistic fees.

Really? They were all down with working for free? I find that hard to believe.

So I looked up all the artists mentioned and messaged them. I only received a few responses but was basically told that it would be financial ruin, certain contractual agreements were not met, and not to bother.

Based on that feedback and the fact that if I wanted to foot the bill for a trip to India, I could just go there on vacation and not have to work, I decided not to continue negotiations. I was pretty annoyed with being asked to work for free, and seeing as they simply stopped communicating with me the last time, I didn't feel so bad about not replying.

And that's when I got another e-mail from them saying "We wrote to you about performing at our event. Kindly respond."

My response?

While I thank you for you interest in my work, I'm afraid I only consider serious job offers. What you are asking is that I spend thousands of dollars to volunteer at your event. This is my career, it's how I earn a living. I don't imagine you work for free, why should I? Your request is nothing short of disrespectful.

In case you're thinking that I snubbed my nose at some charitable organization just trying to do some good in the world, I should probably add that the event in question was a big tech extravaganza where the main events all involved robot fights. If you can stage an event with over 10 000 delegates, and everyone seems to have the cash to invest in building battlebots, you can damn well afford to pay the entertainment.

Hrmph.

Incredibly, I actually got a response to that e-mail. They apologized and were sorry if they hurt my feelings.

Well I'll be.