08-12-2021, 01:18 PM
I thought I explained this on the previous thread but I went back over it and sure enough I didn't. Don't know who I rembered telling this to but here it is:
So as long as I can remember I've been a thief. I figured out at a very young age that you dont need to pay money for digital media. Movies, TV shows, music, video games, software, books/comics...you name it, it's all available on the internet for free. Thats been true since the 90s. As somebody who came up exceptionally poor, I always valued the things I could get for free, and never ever paid for something that I knew I didn't have to. Right or wrong from any perspective, that's just how you level the playing field in those circumstances. So anyway, this persisted into adulthood of course, and as technology got more sophisticated, so did piracy. I moved out on my own at 17 and was on my own at college in my early years when I figured out that certain people....people without my skill set, were looking for a less expensive way to get ahold of the latest movies and software, and weirdly they were willing to pay for it.
So, I'm a smart guy. I have a DVD burner attached to the computer I built. I set about fulfilling that demand. Selling bootlegs bought my groceries during that time, and it was a lifesaver.
A few years later, I'm done with the whole school thing but still dirt poor. I decided to pick up everything I had and move to queens, NYC. Flushing to be exact. Needless to say, the financial demands of that city are...significant. even though I had a better job than before, money was very...very tight. I shoplifted food for lunch on a regular basis. I took tips from customers even though it might cost me my job if I were caught doing so, and of course, I opened up my little bootleg shop with renewed vigor and a much more bold marketing strategy. I was advertising right on Craigslist. People were hitting me up and driving halfway across the city to get copies of Autocad and Rosetta Stone and Adobe Illustrator. It was, again, a lifesaver. One day, near the end of this time, I was on my way home from work, and one of the last customers my bootleg shop ever serviced was supposed to meet me on the corner outside my apartment to get a copy of Rosetta Stone Polish. He said his new wife was polish and he wanted to be able to talk to her family. When I met the guy I was still wearing my work clothes...a full suit and tie, nice shoes, well fitted. He was one of those big, brassy, heavy set full blooded Italian Goomba new Yorker types. As soon as he laid eyes on me in my sharp suit he smiled huge and said,
" EEEHHHH OOOHHH lookat what we got here! Mister Professionality! "
And shook my hand like he was meeting the president.
That night "misterprofessionality" became my email and my handle in all things, and it always will be.
So as long as I can remember I've been a thief. I figured out at a very young age that you dont need to pay money for digital media. Movies, TV shows, music, video games, software, books/comics...you name it, it's all available on the internet for free. Thats been true since the 90s. As somebody who came up exceptionally poor, I always valued the things I could get for free, and never ever paid for something that I knew I didn't have to. Right or wrong from any perspective, that's just how you level the playing field in those circumstances. So anyway, this persisted into adulthood of course, and as technology got more sophisticated, so did piracy. I moved out on my own at 17 and was on my own at college in my early years when I figured out that certain people....people without my skill set, were looking for a less expensive way to get ahold of the latest movies and software, and weirdly they were willing to pay for it.
So, I'm a smart guy. I have a DVD burner attached to the computer I built. I set about fulfilling that demand. Selling bootlegs bought my groceries during that time, and it was a lifesaver.
A few years later, I'm done with the whole school thing but still dirt poor. I decided to pick up everything I had and move to queens, NYC. Flushing to be exact. Needless to say, the financial demands of that city are...significant. even though I had a better job than before, money was very...very tight. I shoplifted food for lunch on a regular basis. I took tips from customers even though it might cost me my job if I were caught doing so, and of course, I opened up my little bootleg shop with renewed vigor and a much more bold marketing strategy. I was advertising right on Craigslist. People were hitting me up and driving halfway across the city to get copies of Autocad and Rosetta Stone and Adobe Illustrator. It was, again, a lifesaver. One day, near the end of this time, I was on my way home from work, and one of the last customers my bootleg shop ever serviced was supposed to meet me on the corner outside my apartment to get a copy of Rosetta Stone Polish. He said his new wife was polish and he wanted to be able to talk to her family. When I met the guy I was still wearing my work clothes...a full suit and tie, nice shoes, well fitted. He was one of those big, brassy, heavy set full blooded Italian Goomba new Yorker types. As soon as he laid eyes on me in my sharp suit he smiled huge and said,
" EEEHHHH OOOHHH lookat what we got here! Mister Professionality! "
And shook my hand like he was meeting the president.
That night "misterprofessionality" became my email and my handle in all things, and it always will be.