Q&A: A Business Card — From Whom?
A Business Card — From Whom?
Question
A DJ hired me as a violinist to play together with him at an event. We don’t usually work together; specifically for that event he needed a violin.
Someone from among the guests at the event came over to me and asked me for a business card, and I gave him one. Afterwards the DJ told me that I had acted improperly and that I should have referred the man to him so that he could give him his business card instead.
In my humble opinion, I acted properly. Who is right from a halakhic / moral standpoint?
Answer
The question is which card he wanted—yours or the DJ’s. Only if he asked for the DJ’s and you deceived him and gave him yours would that be improper. If he asked you, I don’t see a problem with giving him yours. Perhaps there is an angle that he thought you were a team, and therefore asked for the card; in that case you should have explained and given him both. But if it wasn’t clear that this was the situation, I don’t see a problem.
Discussion on Answer
That’s just utter nonsense.
He asked for mine because he liked my violin playing and was apparently looking for a violinist. The DJ could argue, from his perspective, that he brought me to the event and that it was “his” event, and therefore if someone is interested in the violinist he brought, he should be referred to him. That way, at other events, he can arrange a violinist for whoever needs one and make money from it.