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Nov 17, 2010

Duty or Intrusion?


I was at the local Judaica store the other day and as always, I headed to the music section of the store. I browsed all the new titles and all the old ones. Looked at sales. Played the "guess which covers were designed by Sruly Meyer" game (it's usually the good ones). And just zoned out in that section for a while. It was like, my section of the store. My sacred place.

Anyway, another customer was browsing at the albums with the store counterperson and was asking for a good album to buy, being that they are just starting to listen to Jewish music. I think the customer wanted a good "fast" album. The counterperson admitted that they didn't know which was the best per say, but they pointed them in the direction of two albums, which, if I were a newcomer to Jewish music, would turn me off. The customer then proceeded to buy the albums and walked off with some terrible music.

Here's the question. As a Jewish music reviewer and someone who has some taste when it comes to knowing what to buy and what to avoid, should I have interfered and suggested a different, better album? Think about it, if you have a question about taxes, you go to your accountant, so if you have a question about Jewish music, wouldn't you like to here advice from an avid Jewish music fan and writer?

So here's what I came up with. Let's do this gemara (talmud) style.

If I were to intrude on the conversation, yes, I would be saving that customer money and the frustration of a bad album. However, by telling them that one album is better than the other, and then they go and buy the "better" album, aren't I taking possible earnings away from the original album the customer picked up?

What do I do? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

4 comments:

Rachelli Dreyfuss said...

I dont think its an intrusion... especially if its something they can tell you feel passionately about...
You could just say "I over heard you are looking for a CD" and recommened a good one.. I bet the person would appreciate it, and you dont have to say it in a way that slights the other person... its important for someone who is just listening to Jewish music to hear something GOOD cuz there is a lot of not so good out there

Rachelli Dreyfuss said...

I dont think its an intrusion... especially if its something they can tell you feel passionately about...
You could just say "I over heard you are looking for a CD" and recommened a good one.. I bet the person would appreciate it, and you dont have to say it in a way that slights the other person... its important for someone who is just listening to Jewish music to hear something GOOD cuz there is a lot of not so good out there

DMI said...

I would have definitely gone for it, especially after seeing that the person they asked for help admitted that they were clueless. Sometimes they wont admit that they;re clueless but end up giving them a 'clueless' answer. This scenario plays itself a lot and if you know your music and you can tell what that person is looking for then make it your duty and they'll forever be thankful to you.

Yitzhak said...

A Halachic analysis of this scenario:

http://bdld.info/2010/12/16/doing-good-and-doing-right/

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