jace, i think you are a nice guy and sincere. i mean this in a nice way... you can't demand respect. respect is earned. respect is not about money. by "respect" i don't mean by how much money you made/make or how long you have been around but by how you carry yourself as a person. you always have to bear some responsibility for your behavior and understand that people are also reacting to you. you can't demand that people have a certain opinion of you or that they treat you in a certain way... you shape their opinions through your words and actions.
is serge a prick? yeah... most would agree he is.
is mike? well.. he's staunch republican and thats close enough
is nick? anthony? me? sure... and so what? this is not elementary school where we are all learning to interact with the other kids. we are all adults here and most have learned that life is a road pave with assholes and the ignorant. its just something you tolerate as you get from point a to point b. many here think i am a cynical asshole. thats ok with me because i am big enough to accept responsibility for it. i understand it, i understand why, i understand what i have done to give people that impression of me.
do you want to know a secret to shutting people down who are trying to piss with you on a message board?? take the high ground. be professional. don't respond... don't fan the flames. don't attack knowing its going to draw the aggression of someone who is just looking for a few moments of free entertainment at your expense.
most importantly, don't take shit so seriously. you are not working any harder than anyone else ever did. you are not special, you are not less of a person, you are not more. you are one more guy struggling to make money like everyone else is and has. mike, myself and many others quit this biz because it is a massive struggle on every level and its a business that demands you spend the majority of your time fighting fires and stressing about life and death issues rather than focusing on actual growth. serge finally got tired of waking up in the early a.m. to start the shave machine. everyone has been there. it wasn't easy for anyone and it isn't getting easier. i worked 14hrs or more a day, 7 days a week for quite a few years until i burned out completely... you are not doing yourself any favors by thinking you are going to get sympathy for how hard you work. we have all been there and we know its not easy.
always remember that to most of the people you are offended by, to them, its all just pixels on a monitor.
