Right on, Harold. I've gone through a hundred of these experiences. For a number of years, I felt I was doing my part for net karma. Help people and you'll be helped. Or be reincarnated as something better than a toadstool. Requests that particularly get my goat are (a) students asking me to write their papers, (b) questions about help for something that's easily found on my site, (c) journalists who do not send a copy of the printed article. One guy asked me to prep him for a job interview because he didn't have time to do it himself; I told him he didn't deserve the job.

I have to admit that I'm still as softie when it comes to helping newbies.