Friday, December 15, 2006

Three things to leave you with

So, I decided I can write on a few things after all. I am about to engage in a live poker night for the first time in so so long. I'm beyond content. Anyway, before I go, let me share with you three things that I just can't stand anymore.

1. Credit cards for people with bad credit. I am seeing these ads everywhere.

Here's an example of one. Asses.
http://www.creditcards.com/bad-credit.php


First of all, if you sell these things, you're probably going to hell. Let's see, who should we make money off of.. I know! People who desperately need money! It is as bad as camping out overnight at the Goodwill Store in your finest, most expensive suit, the day before you know a bunch of needy individuals are going to be there shopping, and then once the place opens, breaking out $2,000, and buying every piece of clothing in the place. Then, you proceed walking the bags out, one by one into your SUV, as you pass the needy folks staring in disbelief and disappointment
2. Drive-thru people always taking precendent over me, standing in line to pick-up my to-go order from a fast-food place.


Okay, fast-food jagbags. I took the time to get out of my car and place an order from you inside, thus avoiding any confusion over the details of the food/currency transaction we are about undertake. I have done you a favor by not helping clog your drive-thru line even more than it already is, and I have also grace your interior with my presence, revealing myself as a patron to any and all citizens that I, yes, am a supporter of this business. I see that as great advertising. Why, then, do you proceed to serve the next 5 cars in line their rediculously large orders ahead of my simple, pre-numbered, no-special-ingredient-needed value menu purchase? I HATE this. I hate how when you go inside to get your order, they wait on the next 20 people inside vehicles, and then get to you, as if staying in your car made you some sort of first-class citizen that deserved special treatment and advanced service. Are they giving them special treatment because surrounding a fast-food place in a steady stream of carbon emissions and engine exhaust is somehow beneficial to the food inside, and therefore a service I could provide them?
If you go inside to get your order, you should get priority ahead of people in drive thru, if anything. Screw that. And if your car line gets too long to process the orders that way, then tough, hire someone smarter who can organize pre-made sandwiches and pre-timed fried foods in a more efficient fashion.


3. People spending 10 minutes circling the parking lot, looking for a close space to park next to the gym.

Someone agrees with me.

I'm not sure if I need to explain this one. You are attempting to pay money to use a facility that will increase your physical conditioning and well-being by engaging in activity. If you are trying to park as close as possible to this place of business, you might be getting a workout, but you are definitely not getting the POINT.

If anyone out there is about to circle the parking lot at their gym for 10 minutes, then give up and go through a McDonald's drive-thru with their bad-credit credit card, and they get their food ahead of me, I will end you.

1 comment:

Geewhiz said...

in regards to the credit cards for people with bad credit...

it depends on which angle you take on this... let us be clear, these credit cards are not risk free to the people giving them out. with people already having bad credit, there is a good chance you will not be able to collect against them (and even if you charge them interest for the rest of their lives, if you are collecting too slowly you'll never make up for your expenses). so an high rate of interest is a must to make up for all the people you won't be able to collect against.

now, let us assume that the companies that offer these credit cards are turning too much of a profit for our tastes... gouging the consumers so to speak (which would depend on how much credit you give to the consumer... if we think they are too dumb to shop around for prices, then we're not getting a very efficient market despite having a lot of competition, but if there is adequate competition because of comparison shopping then the credit card companies would have to bid each other down on the rates their cards offer). we might still want these companies to offer the cards because particular consumers in this situaiton might value having items now instead of later. they are willing to pay much more if they can get something in the present, and they value debt differently than others. in that sense, they pay above the present value of money as the premium they have allocated to such convenience.

yet, you might still say that we should not allow them to pay that extra amount, because they are being taken advantage of. I could go along with that argument, but only if we believe that people are unable to control their spending or not capable of understanding the consequences of that spending. however, if we think they are simply making poor choices, it would seem far too paternalistic for us to say how they should or should not spend their resources.

finally, if the situation is one where people are spending themselves into debt to a point where they become burdens upon society because they cannot support themselves any longer (or are simply keeping themselves in such a position), then i can see another argument that we should not allow such lending to occur. after all, their personal choice is now becoming an infingement upon my life (this assumes that i think people have a duty to support those who cannot support themselves, to which i would have to say... the answer is yes and no). in any case, this situation would seem to have me paying those high interest rates (me -> bad credit spender -> credit card company) and that certainly doesn't sound like an efficient economy since I don't value things the way I am being forced to pay for them.