so i have been doing freelance dev work for about ten years now and i finally hit a senior level role at a pretty solid firm earlier this year . an old acquaintance from high school who i havent spoken to in probably six years reached out to me on linkedin last week . at first i thought he was just catching up but he quickly pivoted to asking if i could take a quick look at a project he was working on for his startup . he said it was just a small bug and would only take five minutes of my time because i am an expert now . i told him that i dont really do "quick looks" on my weekends anymore because my time is limited and i usually charge a consulting fee for any professional advice . i was polite about it and even offered him a few resources where he could find the answer himself for free .
he did not take that well at all . he sent back this long rant about how i have changed and how just because i have a senior title now i think i am too good for the people who knew me back then . he literally called me arrogant and said that the "old me" would have been happy to help a friend out without making it about money . the thing is we were never even close friends just guys who sat at the same lunch table a few times . i told him that my expertise is what pays my bills and if he doesnt value my time enough to pay for it then he shouldnt be asking for it in the first place . my sister thinks i was too harsh and that i should have just spent the five minutes to keep the peace but i am tired of people expecting free labor just because we went to the same school a decade ago . i blocked him after he started tagging me in weird posts about how "success changes people" but now a couple of other people from our old circle are messaging me saying i acted like a jerk .
AITA?