Words in My Head

This past few weeks i have been busy with some freelance work. Busy but as I always say to myself I will always time for the things i like and the things i love. Somewhere along the lines though some things have been made clear to me and some are still grayish blurry. The one thing that seems to have gotten in quite a bit of a twist are working ethics. When someone gives you something set a date and wants you to finish it in a particular time you think "Okay, no problem, i can have it done in that time..." the problem comes when they start asking you "Can i pay you half now and half later cause i dont have any money???" or "You're too expensive cant you give me a discount??"

Ok lets review a few things. Most of the time i dont mind. I do freelance work because i know it doesnt pay much. We all know that, and of course in this day and age lets admit the cheapest price is what people want, regardless that they are bad at what theyre doing. So here i am a 23 year old English literature major, translating articles, thesises, journals for students at minimum price and when they call me to mail me the stuff everythings fine like their Banker is Donald Trump or something, and as soon as i text them saying "Its done..." their reply would be "Thank you... How much??"

This bothers me... We both agreed on a price before we started the thing now youre asking me again?? are you trying to make me feel guilty or something?? So as calmly as possible i say "The agreed price sounds good..."

Then comes the killer question which dents all manner of efforts and sins, destructs the nerves system, inequivocally dampens your ability to be happy for a while longer.... the question usually comes in a lot of forms but generally mean the same thing so here i give you a list of questions not to ask the person you hired, EVER!!! remember he/she just finished your job for you... he/she might even be tired/sick. So DO NOT ASK THESE QUESTIONS....

1. Murah skit tak boleh?
2. Mahalnya, takder diskaun ke??
3. Eh ye ker bukan awak kata nak bagi diskaun ke?? ( btw this one is ridiculous why on earth would i promise them a discount?)
4. Eh kira ikut page yang saya hantar ke?? bukan ikut page yang awak antar?? *sigh*
5. Banyak lah duit awak dapat belanja saya makan bleh? (You pay me and you want me to treat you for dinner??????????)

The next lines of questions is intended so that when they ask you... youll feel obligated to lower you price... youll get what i mean...

1. Boleh ke guna perkataan macam ni dalam thesis?
2. Betul ke awak translate ni?
3. Naper awak tak formatkan sekali?
4. Kenapa muka surat ni skit dari yang saya hantar??? awak ringkaskan ke??
5. Takder informasi tambahan ke??? (this one is illegal by the way... ada plak nak tambah idea orang lain dalam thesis sendiri..)

and finally the last kinds... because im a guy this words semua perempuan bagi...

1. kawan saya kata awak ni baik... bagilah murah skit...
2. Saya belanja awak makan ngan tengok wayang je tak boleh??
3. Kan best kalau awak jadi bf saya... takyah bayar kan??


Okay people... i do not want to whine... because reading back it sure sounds like it...
the reason i wrote this post is to give the translator a voice. You see people who do freelance work is because they have free time and they could earn extra money, this means that giving them a very short dateline isnt a very good idea. Secondly, you agree on the terms of payment he does the job and you pay him, it should be simple, its not about mouthing sweet words to make him lower the price, trust me the thesis was nightmare enough so dont do that.

This is suppose to be simple, you ask someone to do the job, you pay him and thats it, if you need something to be fixed or he made a mistake tell him. But you cant add more work and say it was suppose to be covered by the payment already... its just not fair. Do not in Gods name tell them their English is wrong, because you asked them in the first place because you felt insecure about your ability and now your asking things like "betul ke ni?" what? youre trying to make me feel insecure about my English now???? haish...

Finally the last DONT.... Please don't treat us like we desperately need the money.... "Kalau awak tak siapkan sebelum esok saya taknak bayar...or awak kena murahkan.."

Yeah thats a good idea... what if i said "OKlah takperlah tak payahlah buat thesis awak ni.."
By that time you'd realize that you are screwed.

My work ethics are easy, give me work, i finish it in time. you pay me. Follow these rules and everyones gonna be fine. The problems rises when you think i dont deserve your money or if you think you can get a better price. Then maybe you should have spent more time looking for a cheaper translator (which by the way i dont think you can find) so you wouldnt have boss me around and act like i was desperate. remember you came to me i didnt come to you...

I love working like this... i really do... i translate on my pc i email it and i do it all without going out of my room, the pay is okay, its not luxurious but its okay allows me to buy small things for myself or save money for something bigger. But its not like im gonna die if i dont get that money... so follow the work ethics. Ill do my job and you do yours which by the way is just going to the bank and depositing money for me. How hard is that????