A Theoretical Situation

[tyellas]

Let us say that, hypothetically, you do some freelance work on the side. A pleased client has recommended you to a professional associate who needs some of the same work done. The professional associate is a member of a religious group/quasi-cult you find distasteful and unethical. However, it is likely that you can do this work without meeting the religious-group-member client in person. Working for this client is likely to generate a lot more work with this client.

[Poll #1125363]

Comments

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

Distasteful is one thing, unethical another. Depends on just how unethical they're being and if said unethical behavior passes your tolerance threshhold. I know drug companies skew data. Of course they just want the product out to make money. But what they do also does help people who might otherwise have no other solution. (Probably why I'm on the side of medicinal marijuana and morphine addiction if it eases the last two months of a guy's life.) So distasteful religion, meh, I find tithing to the church and the very size of St Peters unethical. But if it's one step further, can you help us write documentation on how girls raped even in incestuous circumstances must keep the child or a woman cannot abort even if it physically risks her life because, hey, the kid will live, just that you won't, then I doubt I'd do it. Hm, maybe examples are too specific, but you know what I mean. I qualify that with the recommend someone else because money is money and some people may not have the same success rate at freelancing and honestly need the job to feed the cats and pay electric bill or else the company will cut it off because of three other invoices haven't been paid. I think I'd ask the freelancing friend first if the interest is there at all. But being the over-analyzing type, well, if the religious group is super uber unethical, then even recommending a good writer to them is indirectly supporting them too much.

Probably too much of an answer but sometimes the rambling just goes on and on. And btw, happy belated bday. Sounds like you're not letting the one-third to midlife crisis get you down. Always a good thing.

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

Your thoughts are very interesting because a) you answered the same way I did in the poll and b) you have the same career I do.

I qualify that with the recommend someone else because money is money and some people may not have the same success rate at freelancing and honestly need the job to feed the cats and pay electric bill or else the company will cut it off because of three other invoices haven't been paid.

Yeah. For me, I know someone who is a) in a situation like that b) closer to this potential client geographically and b) married and male. Also, I don't want to burn my own bridges with this existing client. So I would decline but recommend this other person.

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting. I hadn't even checked who voted for what because I figured I wouldn't know all of them anyway, and I certainly didn't realize you'd voted in your own poll. :p

Glad you'll be able to help out the someone else who really needs it. And yeah, I did think about the existing client too. They might take it the wrong way, but this way they might recommend you to something less distasteful next time.

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

I think this entry captures the gist of my thinking, but more eloquently, so I'll just second.

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

*^_^* I'm flattered you find my writing eloquent. Felt a bit rambly to me.