Recommendations and the maze of pain.

Go to any social networking site or forum and you'll notice that the average punter is happy to hand out pearls of wisdom to anyone who'll listen.
Need to know which vacuum cleaner to buy? Hop onto Twitter and ask for advice.
Need to find good anti virus software? Give Facebook a go.
Looking for Mr Right? Message all your friends and see if anyone has a spare man in their little black book.
Need a career change? LinkedIn may be your answer.

There is an army of people out there willing to offer their opinions and recommendations whether it be for products, services or people. This can be very helpful if you are the recommendee, however as the recommender be very afraid.

Recommending apps, programs, products, people to friends, colleagues and family will ultimately lead you down a maze of pain covered in questions, allegations and ultimately dead ended relationships.  Making a recommendation is fraught with danger.

Whether you're an enthusiast or a casual partaker in the product or service you are recommending you ultimately become accountable for the quality, speediness, attractiveness, effectiveness and availability of the said recommended product, service or person.

Want to recommend something to a friend or family member? Go ahead, but you WILL:

• face accusations of fraud if the product doesn't meet the lofty expectations of the recommendee,
• become the bleeding ear for all the moaning about the delay in delivery,
• have your sense of style questioned if the product isn't as cool as they thought it would be, or worse,
• take on the 'any hour of any day' support for any breakages, questions, concerns or whims about the recommended item.

If you have recently bought or tried something and you love it... keep it to yourself. Don't go telling everyone how great it is. Don't suggest someone else should try it. Don't even look at it.

I think the Gen Y's have it right. If you like it... Meh.

I wanna be a writer!... or something like that.

I have always wanted to be a writer but I never seem to find the time to write which makes me wonder...
Do I want to be a writer or do I want the perceived lifestyle of a writer?

You know, the ability to create worlds within the pages of a book. The power to give birth to and destroy characters. The romantic idealism of intense days and nights spewing literary genius while in your pyjamas only to be followed by melancholy bouts of writers block, "Oh what a tortured, dark, moody soul I am", also in your pyjamas.
The general avoidance of the nine to five grind, the daily work commute and having to wear the plastered on customer service "Yes, I will eat your sh*t, sir" grin.

Oh for the lifestyle of a writer*.

However there is one flaw in this dream of mine, I am not a writer. I know nothing of character/plot development and grammar. Some would argue I can't even spell but who needs to when Spellchecker has your back, am I wright? (sic).
A writer needs to write, constantly. They need to actually produce something otherwise they are just technically thinkers. And thinkers don't get paid. Thinkers can't pay the mortgage.

Don't get me wrong, I do a lot of writing. I write a whole load of ultra-important documents for my job that in a years time no-one will ever read. I produce tons and tons of 'literature' in the form of emails and social postings. I am not however, I writer.

So I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a 'thinker'. I want the lifestyle of a writer without the requirement to produce anything. I want to win the Lotto and become a thinker.

Can anyone spare $10 for a Lotto ticket?


*Described lifestyle of the writer may not actually represent the lifestyle of a writer. But lets face it, tight deadlines, insurmountable pressure from Editors and Publishers, constant scrutiny of your work, etc, does not sound half as exciting.