Gratis

I'm chatting to a good friend of mine by iMessage. When I ask him what he's up to he says he is doing some work for a friend. And is that friend paying you for doing it? I ask. Today's photo is the disapproving face I send him when he replies "Hmm". This is not the first time. 

Don't get me wrong, it's really nice to do things for your friends. In the nineties, when I was, for a few years, very competent with PCs and Windows, I took a real pleasure in helping my friends out with their computer woes. And whilst I would happily accept a beer while I worked, I would never have dreamt of charging them. But then, it was just something I did now and then in my spare time. I enjoyed it plus I had a day job that paid very well. 

My rule of thumb, though, is that if someone is doing something for you that is their day job that you would otherwise have had to pay for then you really ought to pay them, even if it's mate's rates (and, if they won't take anything, at least a bottle of wine.)

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Actually forgot to weigh in!
Reading: 'The Sound Of Tomorrow' by Mark Brend