You (Don't) Get What You Pay For

We are a capitalist society. Fueled by the notion that 'greed is good' and 'more is more' and, you know what? I'm fine with that. People will try to tell you that our society is materialistic and that wanting things, even if you work hard for them, is bad and if you indulge in this behavior you're a terrible person. Why? Well, because....reasons. Greed is bad but consumerism is good (not to mention a lot of fun!). The problem comes in when people/companies/organizations/etc deliver less than you pay for. This is becoming an epidemic across the consumer goods market but, for the sake of time (and sanity) let's look at three. First up on Are You @#*%! Kidding Me list, Applebee's. If you have any interest in time travel I recommend the Applebee's in Yonkers, NY where you can experience the nostalgia of the 'good ol days', you know, the 'we don't serve your kind here' good ol days. Yes folks, I'm here to announce that in the year 2016 African Americans, Black people, whatever you're comfortable with (I, myself, could care less) can still experience second class citizenship at Applebee's. My mother's best friend (my godmother) lost her mother the repast (the gathering that usually follows the funeral) was held at Applebee's. At this point, it needs to be said that my godmother's family is Polish. So there are approximately 40+ Polish Americans mourning the loss of their family member and exactly two people of color; me and my mom doing the same. When it came time to order, the blonde waitress happily jotted down everyone's choices, everyone except for me and mom that is. Now, before you jump on the 'race card' bandwagon allow me to paint you a picture: a table of 20 or so. Waitress who is an older, white lady goes around the table, chirpily greeting each person and taking their order. When she gets to us she pauses and vanishes. Poof! Gone. Without even looking at us (though, to be fair, she did look through us). On the bright side, she did eventually take our orders and apologize; after my godmother got the attention of the manager. For his part, the manager was very apologetic...in a 'these things happen' sort of way. Actually, they don't. At least, not unless you're in the company of Paula Deen. And, even then there are consequences. If Paula is looking for a second career, might I suggest customer service rep for Applebee's? They were about as helpful as their on premises representatives, promising to 'review the matter throughly'. Oh! Well, in that case... And then there is Dunkin Donuts. Let me start by saying that I am a Dunkin devotee but even I have to call them out when eyelashes end up in my coffee. You read that correctly, eyelashes in my coffee. Eyelashes. Plural. There is really nothing I say about this, it needs to be shown, so I've attached a picture. How does that pic make you feel? Sick? You'd think it would make the company sick but when I brought it to Dunkin Donuts attention they gave me an oppose!, said someone would reach out to me and apparently forgot the whole thing. Perhaps they're used to it? Maybe it's part of the summer drink line? Hmm...somehow the iLatte doesn't have the same ring to it as the iPad. Last up on the really?! list; Poshmark. Poshmark is one of those buy/sell/trade apps where someone else's trash can become your treasure. Think a more sophisticated eBay. In fact, I would have said that Poshmark is one of the better such apps that works perfectly...except when it doesn't. I ordered four things off of Poshmark. Two of them were great! The other two, not so much. For reasons known only to the sellers (Danielle; d_suzanne & Kali; kalimarieshy) they decided not to ship. In the case of Danielle's item, I really wanted that purse so when it failed to show up I was (am) pretty upset. But it's the other item, the dress purchased from Kali that has me so infuriated!! The dress is part of my plans for my sister's upcoming birthday. An essential part that took me forever to find. Now I have to start over and hope that I find something similar in time. And the saddest part is, there is another dress that I want for myself for the same occasion but no longer trust the site...

Breathe and Reboot

I glanced at my phone and saw the e-mail and for a moment, I froze. There it was, this was it. just as I've been fearing. The rubber band was snapping (Again). I was looking at a termination e-mail from a job that I had JUST STARTED! The email was short, barely a paragraph, and it was over via an accusation of plagiarism. I take my writing EXTREMELY seriously, I truly believe it is my true talent and I would never cheapen it! It is at this point, amid my rising panic, that I noticed one emotion that was not present, fear. Usually when something like this happens, my insides turn to liquid nitrogen, my brain freezes over, and I litteraly see the world coming to an end before my very eyes. Not this time. This time, as I started to feel the frost kick in I channeled my inner Rapunzel and realized I had the power to heal myself. First, I left messages for both my supervisor and her supervisor, second I hopped on Cragslist, found a job listing I was interested in and scored an interview for the next day. Third, when I finally heard back from my job, I argued the unfairness of my seemingly random and sudden termination, pointed out all I have done for them in the short period of time I've worked for them and the vagueness of their policies. This resulted in the standard 'I'm sorrys' and 'I understand your positions', and the ever popular 'there's nothing I can do'. At first. I pushed, knowing that I deserved better. And received an acknowledgement of the validity of my case as well as my effort n the form of a review. Not a successful review but what I believe was a heartfelt one. And as for that job interview, well, no luck there either but, rather than cry or feel sorry for myself I take a second to remind myself to breathe and reboot.

Live, learn...and then get loves

Remember that diaper commercial: live, learn, and then get Loves? Turns out this makes an excellent life motto. If you're me. Case in point; the issue of trust. Notice how people seem to be a lot less trusting these days?? It's as if everyone became bitter and cynical. More likely they grew up. The simple fact is you cannot live in this world without becoming a bit jaded. (Well, you can but I imagine it takes an awful lot of medication) now, this is not to suggest that you should go through life darkning every doorway with negativity; that will litteraly kill you (or motivate someone else to do it). Rather, trust but verify. If you are job searching and you come across anything promising you thousands of dollars a week, skip it! Unless you want to spend that money on therapy for whatever you had to do to get that money in the first place. If someone hurts/ignores/belittles you more that once, drop them like the bad habit they are. This includes bosses and family members. Your bruised heart/psyche is life's way of telling you it's time for a change. Live, learn, and then get loves... Facebook. That vortex of bravado, emotion, and, more often than not, flat out crazy, where a seemingly innocent comment or like can ignite a firestorm. It's not a broken heart or a bad day that teaches you to build a wall between you and the rest of society, it's Facebook. live, learn, change your privacy settings, and then get loves... There is no such thing as a free lunch. At all. Freebies on the internet? No problem! Have the rest of your life to fill out surveys? We've all been there; we see the free Starbucks. We want the free Starbucks. We click to get the free Starbucks and we get...thrown down a rabbit hole...live, learn, and then...

Parents Just Don't Understand

https://deepnerdmagazine.com/parents-just-dont-understand-new/

There's No Crying in Baseball

"I'm just being honest." "I need to let you know how I feel." Actually you don't. When did this country go from 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' to 'baby mama drama'? If you are having issues with your significant/insignificant other why do you keep choosing douchbags to procreate with? And more importantly, what the hell does this have to do with me? Why must I be subjected to your train wreck of a relationship??? it's called a personal life for a reason. And, speaking of personal; could everyone please get off their soapboxes? I know this is the selfie generation, where indulging every emotion and impulse is encouraged, but, could we please see less of your inner child and more of your outer adult? Once upon a time people boasted about actual accomplishments; graduations, promotions, they, etc. They considered a hard day's work a good thing. Now, if it can't be done online, from the comfort of a bean bag chair, it's not happening. Ot, it might happen but they will complain. God will they complain! The nanosecond a cloud dares to enter those sunny skies, their world will begin to crumble...at least, as far as their Facebook page is concerned. "OMG! My boss just totally chewed me out for being 45 mins late!!" #thestruggleisreal. "This b*itch in my office is all up in my biz, she just totally called me out for taking selfies at work. Thanks mom!" #notcool. "Ugh! Can't believe I'm wasting a perfect beach day at work. Adulting is hard! Yes, it is. And it doesn't get any better, so cry yourself a river, build yourself a bridge, and GET OVER IT!! Seriously, when did whining become the hot, new trend? :Sigh: You're killing me Smalls...

Upgrades You Can Actually Use

Why doesn't Facebook allow you to tag more than one location at a time? Like, where's that upgrade?? And, while they're at it, a WTF button. That would be way more helpful than a dislike button. And what is with the stickers??? What was wrong with the emoticon faces? Too easy?? Ugh! And don't even get me started on Apple! Apple makes the best products known to man...if you ignore the fact that you can't use a USB drive on the iPad. Know what else you can't do on the iPad? Keep track of your words. Why you ask? Because the great and powerful Apple DOESN't HAVE WORDCOUNTER!! Aparantly if you send a document from your iPad you don't need wordcounter, because whomever you're sending your document to will see that it was sent from an iPad and instantly know how smart you are that it won't matter how many words you used. In fact, the only place I see upgrades that actually serve a purpose are apps, and even then...For example; Cups, Retail Me Not, Weather kitty, FreePrints, Akinator, and AliExpress are among my favorite apps (Seriously, download them, you'll love them!). And then there are apps like Let Go and Lyft...yeah, not so much.

That Face You Keep in a Jar by the Door

My last roommate was a petty, self righteous, judgemental, nitwit. She constantly had to remind you how accomplished she was (though, honestly, I lived with the woman for two years and I have no idea what she does) and she always seemed to speak in Seussical, saying things like: our minds don't believe the lies in our eyes. What does that even... Never mind. Only in San Francisco. However, every once in awhile something that came out of her mouth was actually interesting. Like the time my friend Wesley was at my house for Halloween. Wes said: "happy Halloween". She said: "we wear masks every day of the year, today we choose to celebrate". Again, What? But, proving my stopped clock theroy (even broken ones are right twice a day), she makes an interesting point; the guy that sits across from you at work. You know the one, he's always laughing and cracking corny jokes? What's his name?? Is he really that happy? Or does he want you to think he's that happy? The woman in accounting who is always rolling her eyes? What a bitch right? She couldn't possibly be a really great person with a good heart and caring spirit, could she? You get the idea. It doesn't even have to be this dramatic; corny joke guy? Yeah, he is that happy, he loves his life, he hates you and the rest of his co workers, but he loves his life. The ball busting ice queen? She's awesome! She's just tired of people treating her like crap. Or worse, ignoring her altogether. And what about you? How many times a day to you laugh at a joke that clearly isn't funny, or agree to go out when Netflix is calling your name? I'm not talking about being fake, I'm talking about surviving, going along to get along, all in an attempt not to get voted off the island...