I get no respect

Sometimes, I feel like Rodney Dangerfield: I get no respect.

Being a freelancer, much of my time is spent reading requests for proposals (RFPs) and responding to them. I took a chance on this one (see picture at right).

My response was straightforward. See below.

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The buyer, "romeoiscreative," responded with a request for a bid. I thought I'd already presented that information, but I replied to explain the service he'd receive. See the screenshot at right.

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 The exchange--I hesitate to call it a conversation--devolved from there. (Nothing is omitted from this exchange; you get to see the whole thing.) I admit, my temper thinned and I should never have responded to this moron. But I did, which I suppose makes me a moron, too.

So, no more responses. The moron a.k.a. "romeoiscreative" has completed fewer than a third of the project I have on that particular platform. From his last message, he's obviously a low-bid provider himself and--as I'd infer from the original RFP seeking a ghostwriter--not exactly skilled at his work.

Is it too much to ask for people to be polite? He could simply have decided to ignore the original proposal. He could have responded with a simple "no, thank you." But he chose to be rude and insulting. On the other hand, I know I should have refrained from any response whatsoever after that first insulting reply. But, to be perfectly honest, I get tired of people treating me like that and wanted to call him out on it. Just once, I wanted to stand up for myself.

As you can see, it didn't work.

There are aspects of this career I pursue that depress me. Dealing with people like that is one of them.