Going Away
There’s a good chance I’ll be out of the country tomorrow. There’s a better chance I won’t be. Either way, leaving means informing ongoing clients of my absence. Inevitably, it opens me up to the “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” sentiments. See, I once took time away. It was a vacation, yet I never expressed this to the client. When I mentioned in the conference call that I’d be out of the office the next week, it was like my mother had suddenly showed up. “Didn’t you just have a vacation?”

Back the train up. That’s a question you’d expect in a normal 9-to-5 working relationship. Not that it’s anyone’s freaking business then, either. But when you’re a freelancer and you’re off for whatever reason, you are not in any position to have to explain your whereabouts to a client. Unless you’ve missed a deadline or promised to be somewhere you weren’t, you’re free to leave the office whenever you like. That’s where that word “free” in your job description comes in.

When that last putz asked me that question, I didn’t respond by defending myself or justifying his suspicions. I responded by saying, “Is this something pressing, or can it wait until I’m back at my home office?” I wanted to say, “If I hadn’t been sitting here for two months with absolutely no word from you, I’d probably care about your project, but since you called me on a Friday afternoon and now want me to be your writing gopher, I really don’t care.” But hey, one of us has to be a professional.

Ever have anyone (who isn’t related or married to you) question your whereabouts? How’d you handle it?