You ever notice how when you don't have a common necessity you wouldn't normally think much about, you tend to fixate on it and it suddenly becomes the most important thing ever? That's how I'm feeling about not having hot water right now. I'm thinking about the fact that I need to take a shower & can't do it with cold water.
I HAD to take a cold shower once in college when our sorority dorm lost hot water. It's not an experience I'm going to repeat considering it was horrible (you have to think very hot thoughts if you hope to survive it). Now I actually can't take hot showers b/c, as my husband puts it, my skin hates me but I have to have some sliver of warmth.
Not that I take having hot water for granted: I don't. I don't take having most things for granted since I vividly remember not having them & what that's like. I lived through car repossession, power outages, my father's having a beeping device attached to our phone when he was on house arrest, not having a telephone, etc. This was all due to not having money to pay for this stuff. I'm sure it's made me a stickler for not wasting things & keeping stuff until it's literally falling apart. Getting me to upgrade something that's not falling apart is like pulling teeth & you probably won't win that argument.
Anyhow, now for some mini-rants:
Speaking of frugality, I think some of this list is total garbage. Here's why:
On #1, not all computer screens are as big as TV screens. As some people commented later pointed out, you can't have a Super Bowl party without a big TV screen to watch it on. Sames goes for Pay Per View events.
On #2, my mother absolutely will not let me live somewhere without a land line. She told me this years ago when I moved to CT to attend law school. This is because cell phone reception can get stinky. In some areas, you get nothing. My mom now lives out in the country & I'm sure with some cell providers, you don't get anywhere near the clarity you get of a land line.
Second, no way in Hell am I giving out a cell number to certain people. I don't want phone calls from solicitors, bill collectors and other annoying, abusive jerks I have no interest in dealing with. I also work in an industry where if that kind of thing were public record, you'd get harassed all the time by gate crashers asking you to read scripts, put them in film/TV, represent them, or whatever it was you were known for. No, thank you! Even someone's assistant doesn't need that headache.
I have to disagree w/#3 & #4 as well since I think that's premature at the moment. Blu-Ray is not the standard, you have to pay a bunch of money to get the proper TV for it & DVDs are still being made. The Blu-Ray to DVD comparison is also nothing compared to the DVD to VHS quality comparison. I'd be an idiot to waste money on it.
I'm also not getting rid of my physical media. You never know when you might have problems with your computer, ITunes, etc. When that happens, you could easily lose everything. The retailers might be okay with you having to pay a ton of money for the same thing but I as a consumer am not. I like the physical product in my hand that I can watch when I want to and not when a company decides I can access it. I take care of my physical products so I know I'm not going to be causing it to mess up where I have to replace it a hundred times.
When Blu-Ray is the standard, comes down dramatically in cost (both for any special TVs and the discs themselves) and there's some better quality, it might be worth it but until then, I'm not upgrading. I'm also just not parting with physical media because unless you're very good at backing things up, you're screwed if you lose it. Plus, you can't travel with it unless you spend a ton of money for a device where you can (like a smartphone; even iPods are close to $200, which I find too pricey).
I kind of agree with #5 & #6. We debated on #6. But instead of paying for watching programs, you could just download them for free illegally. Not that I'm telling you to do it: I'm just saying you CAN do it. Not everything is on Netflix or Hulu. I know I won't find older shows that I like, hence my getting them on DVD or having taped them years ago when they were played & keeping my tapes.
Finally, I really disagree with #7. We're just now getting the legal field to catch up with modern technology such as requiring e-filing for cases. I also don't do text or instant messaging these days. Most businesses I know of opt for the conference call. Plus, I find e-mail useful to have a record of what someone said without having to keep a bunch of paper around or save every single IM or text conversation you send to someone. Most people don't save them or they'd trash them right away. In terms of the business world, I really disagree with this one.
It's also much, MUCH cheaper to apply for jobs or send correspondence through e-mail vs. snail mail. Unless you know someone, I don't think I'd use texting or Facebook to send a resume. Even with LinkedIn, you'd just send an e-mail attachment to an individual you corresponded with or apply for a job ad like on most job search sites. Not something you can find on Facebook and with the security breaches, would you really want to? You also need e-mail to use most job search websites since it's required in registration or responding to ads.
Glad to see many of the comments also agree with much of this.
This is absolutely disgusting and just one more reason to hate Chase bank. If this bank were truly sorry, they'd be paying this guy a bunch of money to get his life in order. They'd be sending a statement to the background checking/credit checking companies to clarify the situation to keep him from having to explain the incarceration and so forth. They'd also go lobby Congress to change current law in order to make it easier for people in that situation. One more reason I'll never bank there & for the anti-big bank crowd to convince people to stick to credit unions/local banks.
This just pisses me off like you don't believe. Maybe if you morons made sure the machines were working properly every hour the store is open, you wouldn't have some of the problems. Also I think these people should try SHOPPING in these stores sometime undercover, where checkers and staff will think they are the average consumer. I could name a number of times when Stop & Shop's scanner saved the day.
Try waiting in long lines when you're buying less than 10 items & the express line isn't open. Or getting a few items when you've got assholes with enough food to feed Ethiopia for the next decade are in the self bagging lane. I've seen this in Long Island and if I worked there, I'd tell people to get the hell out of the line & institute an item limit. I think some of these even have item limits while these jerks violate it with no repercussions. Try dealing with the slow people who have nothing better to do than meander around! Finally, see the customer service you get. I've seen very little customer service at these stores that truly impressed me and made me feel I was getting a personal touch. Normally, you feel like these people could care less about the customer. You can tell they aren't getting paid much & don't have pride in the job. I'll say it again: if you don't like your paycheck, don't take it out on the general public. Go find another job, get more education or shut up & change your attitude! No one wants to hear about it & the public didn't set your salary. Take that gripe to your manager, not me.
Having a job is not a right or an entitlement. If you can't do yours, you deserve to be replaced. If your position is obsolete, it's time to get with the times and deal with it. You could always do other things. For instance, they'll never outsource hairdressing or nail work. People will always be shallow & want to look good. I don't think societal pressure on women to look good will fade anytime soon. Find your own examples.
Now, for one more reason I refuse to live someplace with a homeowner's association of any sort. I hate the concept of co-op boards and condominium boards for pretty much these exact reasons. I also don't like the racism and classism they disguise as "image reasons." Nor do I think they should get the legal power that they get under state law. You can read appalling stories about the antics of some boards in NYC. That's totally scared me off from dealing with it. I believe that if you have the money to pay for it, you should live wherever you want. THAT should be it. I'm not going to live someplace where I have to impress some board by being someone I'm not & then get rejected because some jack hole didn't like my shoes or my husband. Oh, and legally you know the board doesn't have to impress YOU right? More reason for me not to consider buying there.
However, if you find me a board of people who think like me (say those frat looking guys who were the board at one place I heard about or some people who don't insist on only living amongst Stepford wives) then it might work out. Otherwise, I want to be left alone and not obligated to grovel for someone else's approval. I don't have enough experience on this to know for sure but I'm definitely skeptical about this being one of those situations where there's a match for everyone.
Reading this makes me happy with human nature. I'm glad to see that most people thought this guy was full of crap.
How about we agree that those who think video games should be put away at an arbitrary age are people that really need to get laid more often? If they had satisfying sex lives, maybe they would not be going on television to discuss stupid things like this. They might get those sticks out from up their butts and become rational human beings who focus on their own lives instead of the fundamentalist harpies we have now. I also think that anyone who thinks there's such an age when you're "too old" for video games is someone who is mentally 200 years old. Thank God my parents don't have that mentality! I could see them still being somewhat hip at 90, especially my dad. My mom would probably be dressed up and taking her walker to go trick or treating on Halloween.
So, lastly I saw this article. I'm a woman as well as a feminist: I found this funny. Do not lump all the whiny crybabies who complained about this one as "angry feminists." They most definitely don't represent me & maybe I don't quite fit "angry feminist" but I am both these things separately....
I think if these whining crybabies like this Rebecca Cullers who want to erode all humor out of the world by living in denial of basic truths actually got laid once in a while, they might get a sense of humor. I liken these people to the types who'll look for anything different or unique & get offended by it just because they are jealous harpies who couldn't come up with an original idea if it walked up and bit them on the butt. Personally, I like the old saying "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke." There are women who aren't suffering from PMS or having that time of the month who are like this all the time; what's their excuse?
Know what pisses ME off??? Bitchy females (for that matter, anyone in particular) who want to erode all the joy, fun and charm of the world. These are the same women who play fashion police because they are too old or fat to wear things & instead of improving THEMSELVES or being proud of who THEY are, they have to go drag everyone else down to THEIR level. You ever notice that women who have self-confidence and know they are awesome don't do this stuff? If I already know who I am and that I'm a person of worth, I don't have to tear down others to prop myself up. It's wasted energy.
You'll notice all the representatives who want to do away with women's rights are old white men. You don't see young men doing this unless perhaps they're a clone of Alex Keaton from Family Ties.
Women doing these sorts of things really piss me off since I'm female and that makes me look bad by association. I sure don't want my husband thinking I'm also a joyless harpy. If I were, he certainly wouldn't have married me.
So why do I think people (that is, those over 18 who are not being supported by their parents) should get laid more? There are very good reasons.
First off, religion preaches against it constantly. You rarely hear about ministers telling people to have sex & the ones who tell married couples to do it still make headlines. You'll notice many of our maladjusted folk are the ones who had to deal with the drumbeat of religion & follow it to a hyper-fanatical degree. My experience in a religious household probably helps here as well. Know how many "cool" teachers I had in private school, where you'd feel you could come to them with problems? I rest my case.
Second, sex is relaxing & tends to mellow folk out. Everyone I know that ever said "So & So needs to get laid." meant it as "So & So is pissing me off/a killjoy/annoying everyone all the time as a personality trait." I never actually heard of an authority figure saying sex was good until I went to college. As a freshman, one of my classmates talked about a professor who encouraged her students to have sex. We were also told about how the threat of pregnancy (as in the possibility of it happening during a given sexual encounter) really wasn't as bad as we'd been scared with as middle & high school kids. College professors were also much cooler as a whole. I also grew up in NC so perhaps that's a factor.
Third, people with sex lives tend to consider them a priority. If you're too busy having sex, you won't bother people on other matters. You tend to not worry about who your neighbor sleeps with or what your co-worker does at home.
Maybe we should also slip some pot brownies to religious lunatics so they'll lighten up. Then, they might focus on getting high instead of closing down Planned Parenthood or getting offended by what they saw on "the TV."
Teens generally don't suffer from this problem so most of them don't need to get laid. Some will do it anyway so I'm all for teaching actual sex ed & making contraception available to them. I didn't but largely because I didn't want to be stuck in NC and because no one I went to school with understood the term discretion. Better not to have to worry about if such personal details like what your private parts look like become fodder for gossip. In my case, I know it would have been a problem with all the notoriety I had. Social pressure made it easy for me to abstain. Not sure about other teens, though.
I still contend that if more adults got laid more often, we might have fewer problems in this country. There should be a "mind your own business" law when it comes to things like consensual sex, abortion, voluntary sterilization, marriage, etc. Things where only YOU have to deal with the consequences vs. society or non-consenting participants like kids or rape victims. Morality shouldn't be legislated. End of story.
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