Thursday, October 30, 2008

Appalled

Recently my husband put time and effort into a task requested of him with an emphasis on the dire urgent need for his expertise. He was contacted and asked for help in creating a tshirt design that could meet a three-day-away print deadline for a non-profit. In the end, two weeks later, he was told that his work wasn't going to be used with a rather conflicting and yet evasively odd explanation. At the time he thought it was strange that the circumstances surrounding the solicited, dire need had all of a sudden changed to a completely different situation and he surmised then that he was on the receiving end some sort of shakedown. I mean, for the original desperate need for his urgent (had to be at the printers in three days to get shirts on time) free design work to turn into (two weeks later) "nevermind!! HA HA! My bad! Didn't I tell you it was a design contest all along and yours just wasn't chosen as the winner" just doesn't add up, does it?

He went back and read the original emails asking for his help and he was definitely either straight up lied to/tricked into entering a contest on the basis that they needed his help as a volunteer designer from the beginning OR someone (after the fact) pulled a dirty stunt on him and threw a a little hissy fit that he couldn't be the designer of the t-shirt for the Express Yourself Art Conference.

At the time, we shrugged our shoulders and wondered who botched that professional, pro-bono art design job up. I did know the people originally involved well enough to know that they were not liars and that they were surely trying to cover up some odd internal blunder regarding his design. Now we know, and the only thing I feel is moronic for not putting two and two together before I had to be informed.

I am currently appalled that I have recently become privy to the knowledge that he was right. The circumstances didn't add up...and someone who has entirely too much crazy going on inside their noggin intentionally put the kibosh on his design being used. Once again, some things never cease to amaze me, though by now I should be used to it.

So now, to whom it may concern: GROW UP!!! You will eventually run out of people or situations to manipulate.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh no....it is so sad when people use their own effed up agenda to destry the good works of others....thats not very god-like if you ask me

Anonymous said...

Not God-like at all, actually. Furthest thing from it. I'm not really sure what happened but I know I'm sorry that happened to him, to the both of you. That sounds like such a petty way to handle things, IMO.

Try and take comfort in the fact that you're right- manipulation only lasts for a short time, and sooner or later it will catch up to those who use it. No doubt about it, those sort of people will one day find themselves alone and their lives empty.