Originally Posted by casualviewer:
“He wasnt a typical "at will" employee though. He was under contractual obligation to fulfill certain duties and be handsomely compensated for it as you pointed out, but he failed to do that by walking out on the tour midway. He also imperiled the livelihoods of the remaining band and their support team which is many if you include road techies, management and PR, and the recording side. All he had to do was have some fortitude and stick it out for literally a few months more. There have been major stars who stuck things out a little longer because they thought of the people who depended on them. Heck, Katy Perry got told Brand was divorcing her on tour but she didnt cut and run.
Harry has come out really well by doing his own thing very quietly on the side but always being there for the band and never jeopardizing it. Very professional behavior on his part and a good example of having discipline and the smarts to see the long game. If I were on Malik's support I'd always have a backup plan in case he quit again.”
I guess I just can't get with this perspective. Every decision will have potential consequences, he weighed those out against his personal well-being and chose to walk out. Some people will stick it out whether they are unhappy or not because the money is worth it, others will not.
And there should be room to make that choice otherwise it is, in fact, not a job but some kind of indentured servitude (with A+ monetary benefits, as he's been pretty frank about himself). No one is obligated to grin and bear it because they might put a roadie out of a job (especially in a case like this where their roadies were not put out of their jobs, their thoroughly useless PR team still has their jobs, and the numerous other people that work in the 1D machine are still sitting pretty - so the scenario, to me, is moot).
To me, Harry comes across as overly-rehearsed, boring and facetious but a lot of people read that as charming, polite and well-behaved. Different strokes. I much prefer Zayn's attitude, he knows he's not a role model, he knows he regularly makes mistakes and doesn't deny that - he's just here to do what most 20 somethings his age are doing: figure it out and do something that he actually enjoys doing. And that's okay.