I'm in a much better mood than I was earlier, so this is going to sound a lot less lethal than I planned, which is probably (definitely) a good thing. I was too hungry to do anything else but eat, and my chicken noodle soup did the trick to calm my head and my nerves.
So I'll start the story with some key points. This is not really a story about me and a shoe designer. But to ensure this person maintains a professional reputation and to hopefully preserve a friendship, I felt the need to become a little bit creative. Understanding is not the point here - in fact, I hope you don't - but I need to relieve myself of this incredible frustration.
Prelude
Years ago, I auditioned to become a shoe model for an up and coming shoe designer. This shoe designer was extremely friendly, and incredibly talented. And like most young and new artists, this shoe designer wasn't financially prepared to pay their models for a photo shoot, which in turn, would produce photos of their products for promotional use. The sinker was that one day, when the time was right, this designer would make each of us a shoe all of our own at no charge, for all of the help we had given. I gladly took this role without payment, and enjoyed every moment. It was super fun, met some great people, especially the shoe designer. We quickly became good friends, and I ended up helping this shoe designer in several shoe shows, accepting pennies as payment. I wasn't doing it for the money, I was helping out a friend.
Development
Well, my time came. I found the most amazing outfit, it fit just right, it complimented all of my flaws, it even meshed well with everything else already in my wardrobe (easy for mixing and matching later on). The shoe designer had a feeling that I would be coming across such an outfit, and wasn't surprised when I asked them to design the perfect pair of shoes to wear with this awe-inspiring outfit. The designer was so happy for me, and for no monetary payment, this designer helped me to create a shoe that fit just right, with all the little details I was looking for -albeit, not without a little stress and anxiety. After all, you can't just wear any old pair of shoes when you have the perfect outfit. So I was finally being repaid for my efforts in the beginning stages of this designers' career.
Climax
I wore my designer shoes with such pride, and even amongst the stress, all I had to say about my shoe designer was glorious. I wanted everyone to know about this heavenly shoe maker. I even had a couple friends who paid the designer for a lovely pair of shoes to wear with me. Unfortunately, we hit a bump. It was the kind of bump everyone knew about - a really, really big bump. And when it came time for my friends to wear their shoes, the shoe did not fit!! It was an emergency, I was already wearing my perfect outfit and equally amazing shoes, and so they, being the friends they are, rushed out to buy another pair of shoes that very day, so that they could wear a pair of shoes with me, while I wear my wonderful designer shoes - even though they already paid the shoe designer for their other shoes (the shoes that did not fit). Well, no one noticed that my friends weren't wearing designer shoes that day - collective sigh of relief.
Finale
So, my friends were told that they would be reimbursed by the shoe designer, as the shoes that they had made did not fit. This put me in an slightly awkward position, as I was close friends with the shoe designer. So instead of letting my friends deal with it, I paid them back myself, knowing that the shoe designer would repay me in turn for her unfortunate, accidental mistake. I even returned the shoes to the designer, but the designer forgot their chequebook that day and could not pay me. I trusted the designer fully, and left the ill-fitted shoes in their possession. Well...suddenly the shoe designer, my friend, would not return my phone calls, my emails, my attempts for contact to get together, have coffee. Catch up. To get my money back.
My friends who are in the market for designer shoes bump into this designer frequently, and now I find out that behind my back, this shoe designer is claiming that I wasn't available to help them at their recent shoe shows - even though there was no contact made between this designer and myself asking for my help. Even though I, myself, have been trying to make contact for nearly a year now. I would have loved to help! I even find out that this designer is in contact with a very good friend, and in fact a meeting has been set in 1 week to discuss a custom shoe order. Why is it that my friend can reach her, with no problem whatsoever, and I cannot?
Had I done something terribly wrong? So wrong that it deserves complete severing of all possible contact? Or could it actually be, that this stupid money has come between our friendship? I could care less about the money now, I stopped caring months and months ago. It's silly really. Putting the friendship aside for a moment, it really just comes down to being a business owner and being professional. You can't let your paying clients walk around with shoes that don't fit, then take them back and not return their money. You especially should not cut contact with no rhyme or reason for it. Now what am I supposed to do? Should I bring it up with the shoe designer? Should I tell them that I don't care about the money? That I just want to salvage the caring and giving friendship that we once had? *sigh*
Ok, I'm done now
I'm so happy I got that out - now I don't have to sleep with it - although I'm still bothered by it. I just don't understand how some people can let money stand in the way of friendship (assuming that's what this is about...I have no reason to think otherwise). I reeeeaaaallly cannot even understand this whole, cutting the ties thing. I haven't even heard one word, not one. Don't I deserve just one, for everything I did for this shoe designer prior to them designing my very own shoes? It just drives me nuts. We were friends. Business buddies. Turns out that all it takes to ruin it all, is a couple hundred dollars. That's sad.
So I'll start the story with some key points. This is not really a story about me and a shoe designer. But to ensure this person maintains a professional reputation and to hopefully preserve a friendship, I felt the need to become a little bit creative. Understanding is not the point here - in fact, I hope you don't - but I need to relieve myself of this incredible frustration.
Prelude
Years ago, I auditioned to become a shoe model for an up and coming shoe designer. This shoe designer was extremely friendly, and incredibly talented. And like most young and new artists, this shoe designer wasn't financially prepared to pay their models for a photo shoot, which in turn, would produce photos of their products for promotional use. The sinker was that one day, when the time was right, this designer would make each of us a shoe all of our own at no charge, for all of the help we had given. I gladly took this role without payment, and enjoyed every moment. It was super fun, met some great people, especially the shoe designer. We quickly became good friends, and I ended up helping this shoe designer in several shoe shows, accepting pennies as payment. I wasn't doing it for the money, I was helping out a friend.
Development
Well, my time came. I found the most amazing outfit, it fit just right, it complimented all of my flaws, it even meshed well with everything else already in my wardrobe (easy for mixing and matching later on). The shoe designer had a feeling that I would be coming across such an outfit, and wasn't surprised when I asked them to design the perfect pair of shoes to wear with this awe-inspiring outfit. The designer was so happy for me, and for no monetary payment, this designer helped me to create a shoe that fit just right, with all the little details I was looking for -albeit, not without a little stress and anxiety. After all, you can't just wear any old pair of shoes when you have the perfect outfit. So I was finally being repaid for my efforts in the beginning stages of this designers' career.
Climax
I wore my designer shoes with such pride, and even amongst the stress, all I had to say about my shoe designer was glorious. I wanted everyone to know about this heavenly shoe maker. I even had a couple friends who paid the designer for a lovely pair of shoes to wear with me. Unfortunately, we hit a bump. It was the kind of bump everyone knew about - a really, really big bump. And when it came time for my friends to wear their shoes, the shoe did not fit!! It was an emergency, I was already wearing my perfect outfit and equally amazing shoes, and so they, being the friends they are, rushed out to buy another pair of shoes that very day, so that they could wear a pair of shoes with me, while I wear my wonderful designer shoes - even though they already paid the shoe designer for their other shoes (the shoes that did not fit). Well, no one noticed that my friends weren't wearing designer shoes that day - collective sigh of relief.
Finale
So, my friends were told that they would be reimbursed by the shoe designer, as the shoes that they had made did not fit. This put me in an slightly awkward position, as I was close friends with the shoe designer. So instead of letting my friends deal with it, I paid them back myself, knowing that the shoe designer would repay me in turn for her unfortunate, accidental mistake. I even returned the shoes to the designer, but the designer forgot their chequebook that day and could not pay me. I trusted the designer fully, and left the ill-fitted shoes in their possession. Well...suddenly the shoe designer, my friend, would not return my phone calls, my emails, my attempts for contact to get together, have coffee. Catch up. To get my money back.
My friends who are in the market for designer shoes bump into this designer frequently, and now I find out that behind my back, this shoe designer is claiming that I wasn't available to help them at their recent shoe shows - even though there was no contact made between this designer and myself asking for my help. Even though I, myself, have been trying to make contact for nearly a year now. I would have loved to help! I even find out that this designer is in contact with a very good friend, and in fact a meeting has been set in 1 week to discuss a custom shoe order. Why is it that my friend can reach her, with no problem whatsoever, and I cannot?
Had I done something terribly wrong? So wrong that it deserves complete severing of all possible contact? Or could it actually be, that this stupid money has come between our friendship? I could care less about the money now, I stopped caring months and months ago. It's silly really. Putting the friendship aside for a moment, it really just comes down to being a business owner and being professional. You can't let your paying clients walk around with shoes that don't fit, then take them back and not return their money. You especially should not cut contact with no rhyme or reason for it. Now what am I supposed to do? Should I bring it up with the shoe designer? Should I tell them that I don't care about the money? That I just want to salvage the caring and giving friendship that we once had? *sigh*
Ok, I'm done now
I'm so happy I got that out - now I don't have to sleep with it - although I'm still bothered by it. I just don't understand how some people can let money stand in the way of friendship (assuming that's what this is about...I have no reason to think otherwise). I reeeeaaaallly cannot even understand this whole, cutting the ties thing. I haven't even heard one word, not one. Don't I deserve just one, for everything I did for this shoe designer prior to them designing my very own shoes? It just drives me nuts. We were friends. Business buddies. Turns out that all it takes to ruin it all, is a couple hundred dollars. That's sad.
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