Sneaky, sneaky....

Over the weekend, while visiting friends in my home state, I got a new cell phone. It was time. Mine only stayed charged for a day or so, and it had always had charging issues (the cord had to be in juuuuuust right for it to charge -- bump it, and it would fail). I spent about 40 minutes at the Verizon store looking at the different phones, and finally picked the one I liked the best. It had a $50 mail-in rebate as part of the offer. Checking out took for freakin' ever! The mouth-breather who was helping me moved like a snail (he also never -- not once -- closed his mouth -- I guess thought he'd suffocate). I wasn't even in a particular hurry, but he was so absurdly slow I almost pounded him!

Then I got home and got my rebate email. The instructions were to mail the signed and dated rebate form to Verizon, along with my proof of purchase, and I'd get a rebate in about a month. What I almost didn't notice -- what they are counting on people NOT to notice -- is that, unless you affirmatively check and change your address, the rebate goes to the Verizon store! Now, Verizon bills come to my house, so I'm pretty sure Verizon has my address. In fact, the store clerk even verified my address!

There is no non-nefarious reason for substituting the store's address for mine. Very, very, sneaky! I know that the phone companies do the "rebate" thing rather than just give a discount because they are counting on a large percentage of the population losing their paperwork or just forgetting. That's sneaky enough, but come on!! Seriously? Sending the rebate to yourself? That's just evil.

I blame the "Can you hear me now?" guy. Personally.

Maintenance

I love having my own car. I love the fact that it's paid off and still in relatively good condition. I hate the fact that I have to get work done on it. I went in this morning for the 50,000 mile service. Grrrr! An oil change, tire rotation, brake job and fluids replacement later, I'd spent 3 1/2 hours and almost $600!! Yikes! Why can't my car just take care of itself? And to think I was planning to spend even more on it to get the windows tinted! I'm so poor now I'll be eating ramen for dinner for the next month. Sigh.

Stupidity

Doesn't it seem that there are more stupid people in the world than intelligent people? And doesn't it seem like they're always being stupid around you? There's a reason for it. Stupid people breed more. Case in point: Octomom. Fourteen children and not a clue how to pay for them. Now, I'm not saying that big families always equal stupid. My Grandpa had 9 sisters, and all were productive members of society (and contributed brilliance to my family, of course). But there does seem to be a correlation between stupidity and numbers. Anyone ever seen the movie Idiocracy? WeMo recommended it to me, and, while it's meant to be a comedy, it's a rather sad social comment on the future of the world. At the beginning, it shows a married couple, in their late 20s and obviously well-educated and well off financially, discussing the pros and cons of having children. They conclude that they aren't at the point in their lives where they can give a child everything it needs, so they put it off. Contrast that to the guy and his wife living in the trailer. They can't afford much of anything, and don't put any thought into their children's welfare. They just start breeding. And breeding. And breeding. As if giving the kids life is enough. Another example, people who bought ridiculously expensive houses with interest-only loans, without ever sitting down to figure out what the payments would be once the interest-only part was over. Or people who live in trailers and drive Lexuses (Lexi?). Then they're surprised when the repo man shows up at their door. What's the point of all this? If you can't afford it, don't do it. Kids, cars, houses, etc. You're just adding to the stupidity of the universe.

Down With Hallmark Holidays!

I walked into the drugstore near the end of January and was nearly blinded by all the pink and red. It was as though a mass of innards had exploded all over everything. It was utterly disgusting. After a moment of contemplating the mess, I realized it wasn't guts, but rather a bunch of Valentine's Day crap. It was no less disgusting. This is yet another ploy by marketers, retailers, and greeting card companies to force us to either buy stuff or feel guilty. Or, worse yet, make us feel all alone and unloved.


In the last week, I can't even count how many times I've heard commercials from jewelry stores saying crap like "show her you really love her -- get her some ridiculously expensive bauble." Yeah, like you can't show her you love her by shoveling the snow and warming up her car in the morning. Or by treating her to a romantic getaway without the kids. Or by sticking a sweet note in her lunch bag. (Ok, I kinda gagged myself on that last one.) The only way to show her you love her is to spend money. Lots of money. On something showy that will make her co-workers jealous. Blech! (It reminds me of the equally obnoxious car commercials saying this or that dealer will get you "the Mercedes you deserve." You know what? You don't deserve a Mercedes. You might want one. You might enjoy one. But there's no "deserve" about it. But now you feel bad if you don't have one.) Enough already!


Fight back. Take down the pink and red and join me in NOT celebrating Black Saturday. Refuse to buy into the hype, or, worse yet, BUY the hype. Don't buy any little teddy bears holding hearts, or heart shaped candy boxes, or even pink-frosted cookies. Resist, resist, resist.

Then go show the people you love that you truly love them. Spend time, not money.


(Thanks to despair.com for the poster!)