On Taking Responsibility for One's Own Actions

Please note that this rant is based solely on my personal, uninformed opinion, and has probably no basis in fact.

One of my pet peeves is dealing with people who feel no responsibility for themselves or their own actions. It is always someone else's fault. Even axe murderers get off with a hand-slap because they came from a battered childhood. Puleeeze.

So imagine my joy when I hear all this silliness about the Government Bailout for the banking mess. Seven hundred Billion dollars of our collective taxpayer money going to what? As I see it, we would be helping:

(1) The Banks. The banks who were stupid enough to loan money to people who could not afford to make the payments. I had one Real Estate agent explain some of the creative financing to me, and I tell you, it is crazy. Let's say you want a loan for $300,000 (I am making up all these numbers), and the payment on that loan would be $3000 per month. You are given the option of paying (a) $3000/month, (b) interest-only, say $2000 per month, or (c) what you can actually afford, say $1000 per month. So let's say you pay the $1000 per month...what happens to the rest of your monthly payment that you are not paying? It gets tacked on to your loan. The one that you already cannot afford. Now the bank is on the line for a loan that actually grows each month while the homeowner gets to live in the house for next to nothing. This works as long as the value of said property continues to escalate at, or faster than, the amount that the loan is growing. In theory, the house can be sold and the loan paid off.

(2) The Home Buyers. When confronted with a $1000 budget and a $3000 monthly payment, who is stupid enough to agree to a deal like I mentioned above? Anyone with half a brain could see that they simply could not afford that house. I know what the banks will tell you, and they will tell you that you can afford way more than you might be confortable paying. You, the Home Buyer, need to have enough sense to know what you cannot afford, and how to say No.

I see greed here. I see "but I need a house" here. And then the bottom falls out of the housing market. Now the Home Buyer is living in a house they cannot afford, making less than their monthly payment, and The Bank owns a loan that is more than the house is worth, so they panic.

Am I supposed to feel sorry for any of these people? Okay, I am not totally uneducated, nor unscathed by market fluctuations. I built a house in 1980, at the peak of that housing market. I sold that house 5 years later for less than I paid for it. It happens. It was no one's fault but my own.

We had the option of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. You pay less the first few years, then your rate goes up. I looked at the monthly payment based on the future interest rates to see if, once the rates went up, I was still able to make that larger payment. Then, and only then, would I agree to take an Adjustable Rate Mortgage.

Are all these people so dumb they did not think about the consequences of "what if"? What if the market stops growing this fast? What if the bottom falls out? What if my rate adjusts up?

I guess I just do not understand why this is the taxpayers' problem. I heard that the banks can borrow from the Fed at a low interest rate to get money back into the system and free up some capital. Okay, so why is this not an option?

Here's another one: Home Buyer forecloses - they made some bad choices, so live with it. Banks take over the bad loans. Banks sell the house for the going market rate. Bank takes in a large percentage of the outstanding loan(s). Bank takes a loss. Bank does not fold.

Why - WHY - should I help bail out these banks and home buyers so they can stay in the homes we all know they cannot afford? Could someone please explain this to me? I promise to post a retraction if I am way off base. I just need someone to tell me why these people should be allowed to stay in their homes, and the banks be bailed out, and why no one should take any responsibility for their bad decisions.

Hate Telemarketers? Me too!!

First - Yes, I am on the Do Not Call registry. In fact, I can tell you I registered at 8:18 am the first morning they opened up that Web site. About a month after it kicked in, I was able to cancel my Caller Id add-on service since my cold calls dropped from 15 per day to zero. But if they are non-profits, or if they are just doing surveys, they can still bug the crap out of you.

When I get one of these calls, the most I can usually muster is to politely tell the person calling me that whatever they are selling, or giving away, or asking me about in a survey, I am not interested. Then I politely ask them to remove me from their call list, I thank them, and hang up. I do not want that job!

The last person who came to my front door was giving away free home alarm systems. Really? Free? Yep, free. Then I said that if it were free, then there would be no monthly fee to use it, right? Er, no, it was just free installation. Aaaah, so it is NOT a free security system, just free installation. Then I am not interested. He proceeded to tell me about the recent increase in crime in my neighborhood, and I pointed out the No Solicitation sign at the entrance to the neighborhood, then I thanked him and closed the door. I figure he wrote down my address and he'll send someone back to rob me later. So far, so good, though.

But here is someone who got really clever and did something about those cold calls.



Okay, it was a mean thing to do to that poor guy, but on some level, you've gotta love it!

Notta Lotta B1tchin' Goin' On

It's been a quiet few weeks or months at most B1tchin' Blogs, mine included. Whazzup with that? Personally, I rant almost every day on the way home (stupid drivers!), but by the time I get home and see all my stampin' stuff, I start playing and then I am over it. I suppose that's a lot healthier, and maybe we are all just getting over the stupidity surrounding us in our daily lives.

However, as I was catching up my Maxine day-by-day calendar at work last week (it was waaaay behind), I saved a few pages that either made me laugh out loud because they were true, or that so perfectly summed up what I would rant about, they needed nothing added.

So without further ado, here are my rants du jour, a la Maxine:

That last one is for my Beloved Reader #2, and you know who you are! ;-) Oh, wait, am I allowed to have a smiley face on a b1tchin' blog?

I Wish I'd Been There

I just got this in an email with no attached credit, or I'd definitely tell you where it came from (from where it came.) This is a perfect summary of all I think is wrong with a lot of people these days. Ooooh, how I wish I'd been there.

STUNNING SENIOR MOMENT

A very self-important college freshman attending a recent football game took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next to him why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his generation."You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive one." the student said, loud enough for many of those nearby to hear. "The young people of today are much more advanced than people your age. We grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on the moon and the internet. We have cell phones, nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars; computers, automated manufacturing, amazing technologies, ...and...," he paused to take another drink of beer.

The senior took advantage of the break in the student's litany and said, "You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were young.....so we invented them. Now, you arrogant little shit, what are YOU doing for the next generation?"

The applause was resounding...

They Cannot Be Bothered (aka: Customer Service, Where Art Thou?)

I was having a really great day; well, except for the fact that most of it was spent at the Day Job, but other than that, things were just going my way, and I was into the Happy Dance phase of the evening...just feelin' good about life, ya know?

The last happy moment I had was when I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things, and I spied a FedEx store in the same plaza. I had a FedEx box to return (stored in the car, just in case...), so I did my final "yippee" and headed across the parking lot with my box under my arm, and went in. At that point things started to go terribly, horribly, downhill.

First, I stood at the counter for at least 5 minutes, with no employee in sight. Finally a young woman came out of the rest room in the back and sauntered up to the counter. All right, I'll give her that - the only one on staff, and ya gotta make a potty stop...it happens! Okay. But then, without so much as a "sorry to keep you waiting", she looked past me with that look like she was doing me a favor by helping me and asked if she could help me. Not even looking at me, mind you, but past me.

I explained that I needed to send the box back to the sender using the sender's FedEx number, and asked her if I could do that here. The address I had scribbled from the mailing label was in the following format:

Company Name
PO Box xxx
123 Street Name
City, State 12345

and I pointed out that I had copied it directly from the mailing label (and I pointed to the label), which I had not taken off the box or covered up yet, as I was not familiar with their process for labels.

She proceeded to tell me she cannot send to a PO Box. Well, that really did not answer my question, so I asked if I could send the box to the street address, which was also listed, using the recipient's FedEx account number. She then decided to look at me, though it was in total frustration, complete with rolling eyes, and she told me I did not let her finish. Finish what?

She asked if this was the correct address, as it had both a PO Box and a street address. Uh, yes, and I pointed to the original shipping label again. She then tossed me a form to fill in, turned her back on me and went to help someone else.

I filled in the form, looked up, and lo and behold - I saw employee #2! Hmmm ... unattended front counter for at least 5 minutes with no one checking on the new customer. Duly noted. (Heck - McDonald's employees promise to serve you within 90 seconds, don't they?)

So employee #2 offerred to help me with the package. But she was in slow motion, and also gave me the sense that she was doing me a favor, complete with heavy sighing, cracking gum, the whole works. What's up with that, anyway? Is it the new rage? There is a woman at our Credit Union with the same, exact attitude and gum, and I just stay way from there. Great way to lose customers....

So anyway, after about another 5 minutes, during which time she did a lot of looking at the form and a little keying into the register/machine thingy, I asked her if the form I had filled in contained a label, because if it did not, then I'd be glad to fill one in while I waited (hint, hint). Nope, it had a mailing label...good! Glad I asked.

Then she went to put the label on the box, taking great pains to not cover up the original label. I had to stop her and point out the original label, and maybe she wanted to cover it up with the new one? She sighed heavily and did just that.

Gracious! What a total pain in the behind! I decided then and there what my problem is: I cannot go out in public any more. Nope, can't do it. My expectations of common courtesy are apparently way too high for today's society, and I figure the best way for me to not blow a gasket is to just avoid these people altogether. There is almost nothing I cannot do over the Internet, and for everything else, I'll do it in the early mornings when these helpless, lazy people are undoubtedly still in bed.

It's funny, though. I actually blame the Internet for most of today's social ills. We have several generations of people who have cyber-friends, who text their pals or call them on cell phones 24/7, and never actually deal with anyone face-to-face. They are totally into themselves and what they want, and I am just an old b1tch they can point to and laugh.

So I'll continue to do my grocery shopping in the early mornings. I'll shop for office supplies and ink cartridge replacements online. I already shop for most of my clothing online, if I shop for it at all. I get most of my crafting stuff online, except for trips to the LSS, where they know my name and trip over each other to help their customers. If you have a question about a product, they will do their best to help you. If they do not have something, they will order it for you, and call you when it comes in. Gee, I guess I am spoiled, huh?

I am just sick to death of giving my business to companies who hire people that cannot be bothered with helping me, their customer. Too bad, too; that FedEx store could have been convenient for me...

Smile!

This is not a b1tch; it's more of a question...something that bugs me.

When I saw this picture in People Magazine a few weeks ago, I had to stop and stare.

The question begging to be asked here is: Do you think they practice those fake smiles in front of their mirrors? Do you know anyone who actually smiles like that? Do you think men find these smiles attractive? Do you think anyone does?

What's the point? I am truly perplexed.

(They are smiles, right?)

Hollerin' For Your Food

As a customer, I refuse to holler for my food. I do not like standing far back in a line and having someone wave at me from across the room and ask me what I want on my sandwich. Okay, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but not that much, really.

Chipotle. The drill is: You stand in line until you get to the front and Employee #1 asks you what you want. Employee #1 also does Step 1 of the prep for your order, either slapping a tortilla onto a piece of foil or grabbing the Bol, then putting rice or whatever in the vessel, and sliding it aside to Employee #2. Then Employee #1 asks the next person what they want, etc.

You step to the left, and Employee #2 asks what kind of meat you want, then slides your item to Employee #3. Employee #3 asks you what toppings you want, then slides your item to Employee #4, who wraps it up or otherwise prepares it for delivery to you, then slides it into a line for the people at the register(s) to take care of payment.

This sounds like a decent plan, a well-oiled machine, and in a perfect world, or at least not during the lunch or dinner rush, it just might work. But during the lunch or dinner rush, this is a bottleneck waiting to happen. You see, #1 takes your order and slides it to #2, etc. But since they are little non-thinking machines, they crank through those babies faster than the poor guys on the register can ring them up, so a back-log is created. Understandably so. This is not a problem.

What is a problem is #2, 3 & 4 do not stop their automation. They insist on taking care of you, even when they are so far away from you (due to the slew of people waiting to pay) that they yell over to you, waving their arms to get your attention, and try to finish your item so it can get in line with the rest of them and wait for payment.

Unfortunately, this is not a customer-friendly arrangement. Why, just last week, someone got out of line (3 or 4 people behind me) to answer the waving-arm person about her toppings, and then she felt that since her order was complete, it was her right to butt in at the front of the line and pay immediately, ahead of the rest of us who were waiting our turns. She caused much disgruntlement, and happily (for me) she had to wait until her sandwich made it to the front before she could pay (oh, do I sound bitter?)

My point is, no matter how many of these orders they stack up, the line cannot move any faster than the guy can take the money from people. So why, why, why, do they insist on hollering at me to shout out what I want for my toppings? I actually have begun to refuse to do so. I wait until I get in front of them, then tell them what I'd like. And you know what? No one is held up, since there are still enough people in front of me who have not paid that no one is going anywhere, anyway. I find this plan so much more civilized.

Okay, that's Chipotle. Today I went to Subway. Same thing. The woman in front of me was hollerin' to person #3 what she wanted on her sandwich, then #3 looked to me to ask what I wanted, but I refused to yell past 4 other people, so I held up my forefinger in a "just a minute" motion, and she got pissed off, so #3 slid my sandwich aside and yelled at the guy behind me to ask what he wanted on his sandwich. Fortunately, he was with me, so he refused to holler, too. ;-) Compound this adventure with the knowledge that none of the #s 1-3 speak English, and it gets even more exciting. Try asking for "any cheese besides American" and you'll get a blank stare. Ask for "just a little" of something and they look to each other for translation. If I have to deal with non-English-speaking workers, I refuse to do it while yelling past 3 or 4 other people. Even after I'd had my sandwich built and packed for me, I still had to wait for the cashier to take care of several people in front of me before he got to mine.

So what's the deal here? Are these people just super-efficient, and they get points for not being the reason for the backlog? Is Customer Service not an issue in whatever country they left? Or is this a training issue with the various fast-food establishments that they feel "fast" is better than making the customer feel like they are important. Or am I still deluding myself into thinking anyone still cares about good customer service any more?

I mean, it's bad enough that I am eating fast food, but I actually get better service at a place like McDonald's or Burger King, or really anywhere that the people actually talk to you first. Yeah, sure, you are still a number to them as far as order fulfillment, but at least you do not feel like they are throwing your food at you. And they do not yell at you, or make you holler for your food, either.

Maybe that's why I eat in the cafeteria so much these days. True, the food can be unappealing at times, or totally boring (how many salads can one eat in a week?), but if I am in a food line, the server asks me, to my face, what I'd like, and actually treats me like a person, not a number. There's something to be said for that.