Distasteful clients are everywhere. Even more so when you’re a freelancer for remote-based jobs – your clients won’t hesitate at all being a creep from behind a screen.
Some of my previous clients invited me to do a seemingly normal job. But once we started discussing the assignment, they showed their true colours.
The worst part was that some of them fetishised me for my skin colour.
My Clients Had Yellow Fever
I had a photographer who wanted my help to write the preface for his photo book. That sounded like a good opportunity, and it would have been a new experience for me.
The client wanted to communicate outside of the freelance working platform, and so we did. I used my business WhatsApp account, and we started talking.
A few brief introductions and job descriptions later, he started telling me how he much he loves Asian culture. He complimented my writing skills, even though I hadn’t written anything for him at that point.
I thought he was just being nice and polite, so I went along with it.
Our timezones were different, and soon I had to end our conversation for the night. He ended our exchanges with “Goodnight princess ?”
Throughout the job, he kept praising Asian girls, saying things like “Asian girls are smart and sexy – not like air-headed girls who sell sex.”
He also asked for my address so that he could send me chocolates to thank me properly.
Naturally I didn’t tell him where I lived, but he soon asked for it again so that he could send me his completed photography book.
I gave him my boyfriend’s home address.
Not as disgusting as you thought? Well, hang on because this story comes in multiple parts.
Now, let me introduce you to the ultimate Yellow Fever Man.
The Sugar Daddy Wannabe
Let’s call him Frodo.
This client was from Sweden, and he hired me to write a crime-themed short story for him.
I couldn’t possibly work with just a story theme, and so I asked him for details. What did he want the story to be about?
Frodo said he wanted a rape-themed story.
“Make the lead a smart Asian girl. In fact, make the story all about how she manages to outsmart the rapist.”
Then, he asked what I looked like.
From that point onwards, Frodo made it clear that he had an Asian fetish.
I had no issues with writing about how a girl can outsmart someone, so I accepted.
WORST. MISTAKE. EVER.
Soon, Frodo had more requests. He asked me to be super descriptive about the failed rape attempts. He wanted me to describe how he almost penetrated her.
“Use vulgar words. Describe the penis and the balls too.”
He kept emphasising how I was a smart and witty Asian girl in between these requests.
I told him that I don’t write adult material, and that I would only write based off our initial agreement – a story about how a girl outsmarts a rapist.
I just wanted to finish the job and run off.
I completed the job and ended the story with the lead girl clamping the rapist’s testicles until it fell off. She then fed it to the rapist.
I don’t know why I wrote that to be honest. Maybe I was trying to scare him off.
I was paid USD100 for that 5-page story.
He Continued to Contact Me
It wasn’t long before he contacted me again. He asked if I was open to being paid to chat with him.
He was willing to pay USD100 for me to chat with him for a week via e-mail.
The money sounded good, and he made it clear that he was just a lonely old man looking for someone to talk to.
I laid down the groundwork – no phone calls, no videos, no pictures. Plain text, normal, safe-for-work conversation via e-mail.
He agreed. The deal sounded harmless and so I said okay, and he paid me upfront for the job.
Frodo talked about politics, history, and random scientists. He jumped from one topic to another.
Our exchanges went like this:
“What do you think about how World War II went? By the way, how many boyfriends did you have? Asian families don’t like their children having many boyfriends, right? Also, I think that if women ruled a country, they would never get anything done because they are weak and too emotional. Prove me wrong.”
Yes, he was also sexist. I wanted to punch him through the screen.
I Felt Nothing but Disgust for Him
As our conversations went on, he started crossing more boundaries.
He loved talking about his penis – how he was an old man and fat, so his penis was tiny.
He had me guess how short it was.
I’m happy to reveal that it was a pitiful 3cm when erect (not that I saw it).
He wanted to brag about his short penis. Well, let him brag then.
He asked personal questions like what I did to please my boyfriend in bed, if I got wet down there when I exercised, and if I would show him pictures of my underwear if he paid extra for it.
When I realized that ignoring those questions didn’t stop him from asking more, I started replying angrily.
I called him an old fat pervert with a shrimp for a cock. Next, I made fun of him for trying to chat me up and being so poor that he couldn’t afford the smart Asian sugar baby he loved.
I told him I was glad his wife left him because he was a disgusting human being whose brain can’t even think about anything other than sex, and that I despised him.
He kept telling me that he was old and can only ejaculate once a month, and I laughed at him for being old and impotent.
I was verbally abusing him and bullying him, but I didn’t care.
Strangely, it didn’t seem to disturb him either.
Honestly, I wonder if he was one of those people who got off from being humiliated.
To me, he broke his promise on what he would talk to me about, so my comments were fully justified.
He Joked About Getting Thongs for His Daughter
When I was angry, he would apologize and talk properly for a bit. At one point, he asked me for suggestions for a birthday gift for his daughter.
I gave him my ideas, and he replied by telling me that his daughter would look stunning in a thong and that he should get her that.
This wasn’t just yellow fever anymore – it’s downright disturbing.
I kept insisting that if he just wanted to talk dirty with Asian girls, he should find some to talk to on cam sites.
All he said was that those girls weren’t smart, and that they weren’t able to hold a proper discussion with him.
I think he genuinely thought that he was a brilliant conversationalist.
I went through a week with this disgusting man. Three days in, I started giving more excuses – “I have an appointment at work”, “I feel sick. I’m going to rest,” and so on, just to be away from him.
Experiencing This Once is Enough
Once the week was over, I told him that I didn’t want to deal with him anymore.
I told him that he is a sick, perverted old man and that he needs help.
Coping with these email exchanges for USD100 might have been easy money for some, but I realized that this simply wasn’t something that I could bring myself to go through again.
Every few months, he still sends me emails with new email addresses, but I ignore them all. I simply have no desire to ever talk to him again.
For more articles on bad clients read Clients from Hell: Malaysians Reveal the Clients They Never Want to Work With, and Watch out for These 4 Signs – Your Freelance Client Could Be a Waste of Time.
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