Gauging Committment - The Get Off My Lawn Edition

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:53:24 GMT

I've discovered a way to determine how badly people actually want help with their writing.

I got frustrated with folks asking for help and then getting distracted every time their cell phone rang or someone texted them (sometimes wandering off). So now when they want me to sit down and go over their writing with them I ask them, unless they're expecting an emergency call or have some other kind of extenuating circumstance, to turn off their phone. Roughly half of them won't do it, and leave.

I'm wondering if this is the same mindset I've seen among people who have risked getting fired--or actually been fired--because they can't turn off their cell phones or get off Facebook while at work even after being told to do so repeatedly.

Of course, I also wonder if my mindset here is the same one that stubbornly keeps my voice at Normal Talking Volume when someone is talking to me while listening to headphones.

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Madwriter

Gauging Committment - The Get Off My Lawn Edition