No Room for Ego in This World
So Saturday, I was filming a wedding, and was on my way from location A to location B. When I got to the parking lot of location B, there was one space close to the building. I proceed to try to park there. The woman who had parked in the space to the right of me did a lousy job of parking and had the front of her car parked ON THE RIGHT LINE of my parking space, so when I parked, my right rear-view mirror bumped her left rear-view mirror. I hear the sound, back up, then I hear this woman come out saying "Yeah, I know I parked a little close..." then looks at her mirror, which has been pushed forward a bit and she suddenly freaks out, becomes this high and mighty bitch and starts yelling at me, saying "You hit my car! You broke my mirror!" I get out, trying to figure out what the fuck is going on and I've got this woman yelling at me, so I say "OK, calm down...what's the problem here?" She said "You broke my mirror!" I said "Well, you were parked ON THE LINE of the parking space, too close to my car!" I pushed the mirror forward then said "What's the damage? I don't see any. What's the problem?" She then said "I would like an apology for you hitting my car. I said "OK...I'm sorry. Good?" then had to boogie into the building to film the rest of the wedding. Apparently she didn't like the tone of voice I used. She goes over and tells the story to her boyfriend. I then have this dick-head approaching me, saying "Dude, did you hit my girl's car?" I said "Accidentally, yes, because she was parked on the line of the parking space. He then proceeds to read me the same riot act, at which point, I say "I don't have time for this", to which he says "Well, I'm gonna look at it, and if there's damage, you're gonna have to pay for it." I said "Fine. I'll be inside filming the wedding, and we'll come out and settle up later on." She then claimed I was obnoxious and called me a dick. I then called her a bitch and walked away.
I guess the woman wanted me to grovel at her feet and beg her forgiveness, which I'm not going to do, because she was equally at fault, and frankly, because she was a high and mighty bitch, and I have no tolerance for that attitude and behavior. How was I SUPPOSED to react to your dramatic freaking out? How could you possibly think anything GOOD would become of that behavior? If you addressed me as a fellow human being, with respect, in a calm, rational manner, I would've been happy to work with you to resolve the situation. When you wig out and come at me with a lot of hostility, it ain't going to go well, for you, for me, for either of us.
Pardon me, Princess, for being in a rush and not having time to soothe and assuage your personal feelings to the best of your absolute personal perfection and satisfaction! I've got a wedding to film! If I weren't so rushed and had more time, I'd have been a bit calmer, but you started it, honey, by freaking out rather than staying calm and analyzing the problem. Fuck you and your fucktard boyfriend. You deserve each other.
I came out later to get the phone # of the vendor who called the vendor who called me to film the wedding, because there was another problem: I was told I was scheduled from 4:30-8:30pm, and if the wedding ran over that time and if the bride and groom wanted me there later, it was to be an additional charge. I was told by the vendor to go up to the bride and groom at 8:30 and present them with this information, then ask if they'd like me to stay later (which I found annoying, because the videographer should not be put in that position of having to be a bill collector on the day of a wedding; money should be communicated before the wedding day by the booking vendor). 8:30 came and went, there were several long toasts, after which time, I approached the bride and groom at their head table and told them what I'd been told, at which point the groom told me what he was told was that, because there was an hour delay (there was no hour delay for me; I filmed constantly--it was a full-tile boogie, a hustle), I was supposed to be at the party for 4 hours, until 10. This forced me to get the phone # of the vendor who called the vendor who called me to figure out what the fuck was going on.
When I walked out to my car to get the phone #, that same couple, the high and mighty bitch and her douchebag boyfriend, were congregating at their car which was still parked next to my car! Had I been done for the night, I would've gone back inside the wedding and waited for those two to leave. But the wedding was still in progress and I was missing filming it! So I was like "Oh, God--I gotta face these people again? I might as well do the honorable thing and ask if they'd like me to call BSO police out as a witness to survey if there was any actual damage, and if so, send me the bill from your repair shop and I'll pay it or we'll run it through our insurances". So I said that, and the douchebag boyfriend just said "No, it's not necessary. I'd just like an apology." I said "I apologize." He said "OK, we'll leave it at that." I said "Good." I was tempted to say to the boyfriend "Drama queen is all yours, pal. Good luck.", but didn't see the point in escalating the situation any further. Dude and I can be adults in spite of the high and mighty bitch.
I then went back in, presented the groom with what I was told by the vendor who called the vendor who called me to videotape the wedding, which was if they want me there after 8:30 it is an additional hourly charge, at which point the groom dug into his wife's purse and pulled out the extra cash for me to stay an extra hour, which was cool. He asked me if I could go around and pass a microphone to all the guests and ask them if they'd like to say congratulations, which I said yes, of course, and did that, which rounded out the fucked-up evening nicely.
Side note: Next time the vendor who called me to film this wedding calls me to tell me if the wedding runs beyond the pre-established time that I'm going to have to go up to the bride and groom and tell them it's going to be an extra charge if they'd like me to stay longer, I'm going to tell the vendor I'm not going to do that. I'll call the VENDOR, and THEY can call the bride and groom to tell them that and renegotiate the price. I'll give them 20 minutes to work it out. After that, I'm leaving. That was fucked up, unpleasant, awkward. They're paying me to be a videographer, not a bill collector. The booking vendor is responsible for the money deal, which should've been worked out before the day of the wedding.
A 2-location wedding like that is a MINIMUM 5-hour if not 6-hour deal, not 4 hours which this was foolishly bid at, and if the videographer is there for 5-6 hours, the videographer should be paid for 5-6 hours. That should be told to the bride and groom by the booking vendor at the time of the initial consultation. If the bride and groom can't afford it, which they usually can't after paying for the gown, the tux, the flowers, the decorations, the cake, the room, the meals, etc., etc., fine, keep looking. I have several other vendors who will book me for the higher rate the same day. Or if the bride and groom can only afford to have me there for 4 hours, that's fine too, but they need to understand that 4 hours in 2 locations will probably only get me to the first dance and the end of a couple of toasts, and that's it, no cake cutting, no garter/bouquet toss, nothing after that point.
Obviously, I'm pretty disgusted with this business at this point. Normally, it runs fairly cleanly and efficiently, but this was fucked up.
I guess the woman wanted me to grovel at her feet and beg her forgiveness, which I'm not going to do, because she was equally at fault, and frankly, because she was a high and mighty bitch, and I have no tolerance for that attitude and behavior. How was I SUPPOSED to react to your dramatic freaking out? How could you possibly think anything GOOD would become of that behavior? If you addressed me as a fellow human being, with respect, in a calm, rational manner, I would've been happy to work with you to resolve the situation. When you wig out and come at me with a lot of hostility, it ain't going to go well, for you, for me, for either of us.
Pardon me, Princess, for being in a rush and not having time to soothe and assuage your personal feelings to the best of your absolute personal perfection and satisfaction! I've got a wedding to film! If I weren't so rushed and had more time, I'd have been a bit calmer, but you started it, honey, by freaking out rather than staying calm and analyzing the problem. Fuck you and your fucktard boyfriend. You deserve each other.
I came out later to get the phone # of the vendor who called the vendor who called me to film the wedding, because there was another problem: I was told I was scheduled from 4:30-8:30pm, and if the wedding ran over that time and if the bride and groom wanted me there later, it was to be an additional charge. I was told by the vendor to go up to the bride and groom at 8:30 and present them with this information, then ask if they'd like me to stay later (which I found annoying, because the videographer should not be put in that position of having to be a bill collector on the day of a wedding; money should be communicated before the wedding day by the booking vendor). 8:30 came and went, there were several long toasts, after which time, I approached the bride and groom at their head table and told them what I'd been told, at which point the groom told me what he was told was that, because there was an hour delay (there was no hour delay for me; I filmed constantly--it was a full-tile boogie, a hustle), I was supposed to be at the party for 4 hours, until 10. This forced me to get the phone # of the vendor who called the vendor who called me to figure out what the fuck was going on.
When I walked out to my car to get the phone #, that same couple, the high and mighty bitch and her douchebag boyfriend, were congregating at their car which was still parked next to my car! Had I been done for the night, I would've gone back inside the wedding and waited for those two to leave. But the wedding was still in progress and I was missing filming it! So I was like "Oh, God--I gotta face these people again? I might as well do the honorable thing and ask if they'd like me to call BSO police out as a witness to survey if there was any actual damage, and if so, send me the bill from your repair shop and I'll pay it or we'll run it through our insurances". So I said that, and the douchebag boyfriend just said "No, it's not necessary. I'd just like an apology." I said "I apologize." He said "OK, we'll leave it at that." I said "Good." I was tempted to say to the boyfriend "Drama queen is all yours, pal. Good luck.", but didn't see the point in escalating the situation any further. Dude and I can be adults in spite of the high and mighty bitch.
I then went back in, presented the groom with what I was told by the vendor who called the vendor who called me to videotape the wedding, which was if they want me there after 8:30 it is an additional hourly charge, at which point the groom dug into his wife's purse and pulled out the extra cash for me to stay an extra hour, which was cool. He asked me if I could go around and pass a microphone to all the guests and ask them if they'd like to say congratulations, which I said yes, of course, and did that, which rounded out the fucked-up evening nicely.
Side note: Next time the vendor who called me to film this wedding calls me to tell me if the wedding runs beyond the pre-established time that I'm going to have to go up to the bride and groom and tell them it's going to be an extra charge if they'd like me to stay longer, I'm going to tell the vendor I'm not going to do that. I'll call the VENDOR, and THEY can call the bride and groom to tell them that and renegotiate the price. I'll give them 20 minutes to work it out. After that, I'm leaving. That was fucked up, unpleasant, awkward. They're paying me to be a videographer, not a bill collector. The booking vendor is responsible for the money deal, which should've been worked out before the day of the wedding.
A 2-location wedding like that is a MINIMUM 5-hour if not 6-hour deal, not 4 hours which this was foolishly bid at, and if the videographer is there for 5-6 hours, the videographer should be paid for 5-6 hours. That should be told to the bride and groom by the booking vendor at the time of the initial consultation. If the bride and groom can't afford it, which they usually can't after paying for the gown, the tux, the flowers, the decorations, the cake, the room, the meals, etc., etc., fine, keep looking. I have several other vendors who will book me for the higher rate the same day. Or if the bride and groom can only afford to have me there for 4 hours, that's fine too, but they need to understand that 4 hours in 2 locations will probably only get me to the first dance and the end of a couple of toasts, and that's it, no cake cutting, no garter/bouquet toss, nothing after that point.
Obviously, I'm pretty disgusted with this business at this point. Normally, it runs fairly cleanly and efficiently, but this was fucked up.
Replies
God people are a bunch of whiny bitches!!! The girl was totally wrong.
Drama queen as you said.
I\'ve encountered people like her before, and its always the whole ME selfish attitude thing going on, never changes. I think it stems from the fact that these people never got enough love when they were children, so now they make the world pay for how they were treated. Rather then becoming the answer to the problem, they rather become the problem for which we have to answer to.
Ashley
Thanks, ladies! Ashley, sounds about right. Thankfully, they\'re out of my hair now, so they\'re their own problem, not mine.