I know it's best to email short, but actual moment of epiphany for me, if you're interested, was this:
The reason I'm being forced out of my apartment
is because the place is falling down. The landlord refuses to repair anything,
even though they're charging me $1,600/month
for a studio in what used to be a damn dangerous neighbourhood when I moved
in.
Even though the government finally got rid of
some of the mold which has given me and my girlfriend eye infections for
the last
6 months; they haven't fixed all the holes in
the walls and floor, several of which are in the shower and kitchen. I
settled in court
for a 1/2 rent rebate, but I had to agree to
move out to get it. As a result of the holes though, the bar owner downstairs
has had
several nasty leaks that are ruining his fledgling
business. And in the process of trying to move, it's become clear to me
that I'll
neither be able to afford a space big enough
for the 54" HDTV I bought when I was programming for investment banks a
year ago,
nor easily afford to hire movers to put it into
storage.
So, since this bar owner had seemed like a decent
guy who'd been screwed just like me, and I'd really only get maybe 700
bucks
if I sold the set; I offered to give it to him
if he could get his bouncers to take it downstairs. And while I was sitting
here reading
your latest FREE issue, thanking my lucky stars
that there's someone like you out there who can put this Bush asshole in
perspective
for me in a humourous way, I thought... "Hey,
this guy's only asking for $10/month to *live* on, while he's been, and
is willing to
continue, doing this for all of us. And here
I am giving away something I could have gotten $700 bucks to some guy who
can afford
a bar, just because he's a moderately decent
guy and I feel sorry for him for getting screwed by the same person who
just screwed me.
What kind of f-ed up perspective is that?
I could sell that thing and let Bart give away
70 free subscriptions, but I won't even buy one myself,
just because "I don't pay for Internet Content?"
Anyways, I'm sorry to bend your ear, I just thought
it might be useful for you to know what stands in the way of people supporting
you
via subscriptions. You probably don't have a
single reader here who wouldn't drop $20 bucks buying you a drink in a
bar if we saw you
there, give you our old computer if you lived
next door, or pick up the check if we had lunch. But both poor people,
and the internet savvy,
just get all paranoid that showing you even a
fraction of that support on, ooooooo, the internet, is going
to make us go bankrupt or tip off
NYTimes.com that they could switch us all to
a subscription-based model or something. Let me know if you'd be interested
in hearing
any alternate Bart Cop Radio fundraising ideas
that avoid that reaction, and not only will I send them along, but I'll
give you another
$20 bucks if you write back and tell me I didn't
suggest anything you could use. And that's a promise.
(withheld)
It sounds like moving isn't such a bad idea. In Tulsa you can get a spiffy townhouse for $1600.
Also, not sure that your last sentence means, but yes, I'd like to hear
suggestions on how to raise money.
The entire subscription idea came to me via "Brad" and it changed my
whole life. I'd still be at the car lot
with crazy Vic if Brad hadn't thought of that. Remember, he was the
guy who matched months of
subscriptions and that enabled me to get away from working for The
Man.
I also understand what you're saying about subscription-phobia.
The only site I ever subscribed to was Salon.com but I
unsubscribed after David Talbot sent his little
trollop Jennifer Liberto into the bartcop.com
camp with instructions to seduce me, then take me down.
"I love
you Bart, can you
tell me all your secrets?"
Guess what, David - you missed!
Thanks for a good letter.
Maybe we should make "Why I became a member" a feature for a short
time.
Click Here if you want your story published, maybe put "Why I Joined" in the subject box.