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So the company I work for part-time in addition to playing and teaching is having an open house with some other businesses. The other day my boss asked me to bring my sax and play during the open house. I told him "we'll see". Regardless of the recent thread as to if music is a profession or not, I take what I do seriously as a skill that I work hard at and as my primary source of income.
I know my boss thinks it would be no big deal and I don't want to seem stuck-up, but the thought of playing solo sax while people check out our office just doesn't appeal to me in any way. Although our office is small, the company I work for is a big national company that would have no problem hiring a band for the open house but instead I would be getting my huge $8/hr for playing--solo, none the less. I could have mentioned hiring me to bring a group in, but it came up in an off-hand way and I know the company would never pay for it.
Am I being unreasonable by not wanting to play? I feel like a lot of times people who arn't musicians just don't get it. Just because we love what we do doesn't mean we're like trained monkeys who will "play for the fun of it" whenever someone asks. Maybe it's the whole "playing" music thing. Most doctors I've met love what they do with a passion, but you would never say they are "playing" doctor. It would be insulting to their education and skill.
Does anyone else get asked to do this kind of thing? How do you handle it without seeming rude or do you just play whenever someone asks?
I know my boss thinks it would be no big deal and I don't want to seem stuck-up, but the thought of playing solo sax while people check out our office just doesn't appeal to me in any way. Although our office is small, the company I work for is a big national company that would have no problem hiring a band for the open house but instead I would be getting my huge $8/hr for playing--solo, none the less. I could have mentioned hiring me to bring a group in, but it came up in an off-hand way and I know the company would never pay for it.
Am I being unreasonable by not wanting to play? I feel like a lot of times people who arn't musicians just don't get it. Just because we love what we do doesn't mean we're like trained monkeys who will "play for the fun of it" whenever someone asks. Maybe it's the whole "playing" music thing. Most doctors I've met love what they do with a passion, but you would never say they are "playing" doctor. It would be insulting to their education and skill.
Does anyone else get asked to do this kind of thing? How do you handle it without seeming rude or do you just play whenever someone asks?