Are we less human here?

Time to get on my soapbox again. I am getting more and more irritated with people's behavior when they are shopping around. People seem to think that for a handful of Lindens, shop owners should drop on their knees and do just anything they want.

Let's look at a few issues that boil down to respect.

The first would be the "upgrades for life" scheme. Too many stores offer free upgrades to their products to make sure that customers buy them, even for major new versions. This creates entitlement. Whenever someone flies around the grid to shop, they feel that once they cough up L$500, they should get future versions for free.

This is an insult to content creators who take a lot of time to create products with skills that most SL users do not have. How many freebies do people think they are entitled to when they spent only a couple of dollars on something that took hours or days to create?

Then, there is a problem with too many shoppers who expect services-based business owners to be available for them at all times. In a photo studio, such people need their picture taken "right f---ing" now and won't take an appointment for tomorrow as an acceptable answer. We, people who do photography, should stand in for 12 hours in case they show up, and be ready to spend an hour to shoot with them. Then, we should deliver the pics the same day, at L$500 for a package of several pictures, of course. Otherwise, we are too expensive and not available enough to meet their demand.

One more problem that nags me is how shop owners are treated. If a content creator is around and trying to help you, it might be polite to thank them for their time before teleporting elsewhere. I find it to be the understatement of the day when saying that politeness never is a problem!

This brings me to ask you, dear readers, a question. Why do people lack respect towards others around this grid? Would they treat anyone like that in RL? Would they ask them to work hours on retail or artistic creations for $2 when we know that teens flip burgers at McDonald's for more money? How much would they appreciate it if they faced the same behavior themselves?

Do expectations have to be deprived of realism because there are avatars and a virtual world between people? Are we less human in here?