I want to parlay this post off my previous, more serious conversation. I spoke a lot about minimalizing my life and reducing the clutter; I think the work I created was, 'Decluterfy'. Reducing the stuff that wastes physical, emotional and mental space in my life. Tonight I want to look at the things that we really don't need as a society and culture.
1) Pages Intentionally Left Blank: We've all seen it, you're scrolling through a document, page after page of .pdf and out of nowhere, mid-document there it is. Page 34 of 76, it declares in bold capital letters..."THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. On some level I get it, you wanted to insert a blank page for some unknown reason, but didn't want the reader to think they were missing anything. But the damn page is not blank!!! In fact it's nothing more than a lie!!! It was intentionally printed on. Either leave the damn thing out or put THIS PAGE INCLUDES NO RELEVANT INFORMATION FOR A REASON. Or, just don't waste my f'ing paper and printer ink.
2) ATM Fee Notification: How many times a month do you go to an ATM? 3, 4, 10? I know I use the thing at least once a week. And for probably 10 years now every single time I used an ATM I was charged a fee. And every time I go to an ATM I am asked if I approve of the fee. NO, I DON'T APPROVE OF THE FEE...but for crying out loud, I know it's coming. I know you are going to charge me $3 (the price of a bottle of Charles Shaw Red Wine or two cans of PBR at the Rail). Quit wasting my precious seconds by asking me if it's ok to charge me. Am I at an ATM? As a salesman, I think it would be a better tactic to notify me when you WEREN'T charging me a fee. Then I might actually consider switching to your bank.
3)Surgeon General Warnings: Ok, found on cigarettes and booze. All I really need to say is, "If you can't tell that the cigarettes you are smoking have had a negative impact on you ability to BREATHE, than maybe you deserve to die of lung cancer". It was different in the early days; in the 40's and 50's 9 out of 10 doctors smoked Camel Brand. It was a healthy, social thing to do. The WWII and early boomers were taught it was safe and socially acceptable to smoke. IF YOU STILL BELIEVE THERE ARE NO NEGATIVE EFFECTS TO CIGARETTE SMOKE YOU DESERVE WHAT YOU GET!!!!! And there are enough products out there, that cost the same or less than cigs, to aide quitting. If you really want to quit the little warning label won't help, nor will it deter future smokers.
4) The Chia Pet: If you want a plant, get a plant. If you want a statue, buy a statue. You have room for both.
5) The Clapper: No...not the Clap. If you want the lights off, get your lazy ass out of be and turn off the damn lights. Quit being lazy.
6) Bottled Water: Ok, aside from the environmental impact of buying bottled water there is the personal financial effect. Turn on the tap...even if you pay for city water it's going to cost you 90% less than buying your water at the store. Get over the "taste". You should drink 64 ounces of water per day minimum; that translates to nearly $12 per day if you buy bottled water. Even if you paid $100 per month for your home water bill (which is ridiculously high) you're still about $200 less than you'd pay to drink 64 ounces of bottled water per day over the course of a month.
This list could go on forever, but I'm going to stop here because, well, that's all I have tonight.
-JB
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Dude J-
ReplyDeleteStop getting charged ATM fees. Just go walk to your bank and take the money or switch to Chase for christ sakes. That's a ton of wasted money man. I have NEVER ever paid an ATM fee other than one time in Japan where I was forced to.
~Ray
try using your banks' ATM and then there is no fee....duh!
ReplyDeleteBoth of you have valid points, however the issue was not with the actual fee. My question was in regards to the act of asking us if we are willing to accept the fee the ATM is charging. If I had an issue with the fee itself, I would have gone to my own bank's ATM.
ReplyDelete