What goes around comes around

I believe a lot in friendships. We dont live alone. Especially in Singapore where it is so small that I bump into people I know all the time. I dont know about you, but I have always had this 'so called' fear of offending people because I may meet them again, or they may be someone's friend's sister's brother in law's gangster friend. I truely believe in the saying 'what goes around comes around'.

Of course I am exxagerating. But if we apply it on a day to day context, I suppose we dont have to live in fear of offending others if we do things properly and ethically, and be honest and sincere to apologise if things do go wrong.

What I am trying to say is that in my freelance business, I depend a lot on referrals from friends who know me. To me, that means that these friends have faith in me and trust that I will do a good job for their friends. Sadly, some of these people who were recomended to me by my friends seem to treat me as just another person to get quotations from, so that they can compare who is the cheapest. Actually I do respect thier decisions that they are free to choose what they want. However, in some cases they do not inform me that they found someone else until I have started designing and only found out when I contact them myself to show them the concept design.

Singapore is so small. Why do people still burn their own bridges?