- potato chips in bags, but detergent in boxes. So is the detergent going to get smashed or something?
- half-filled boxes to fool me into thinking they really contain the same amount of stuff they used to. I'm not ignorant--I can read the ounces and pounds, ya know.
- snack/junk foods claiming to be healthy. A Twinkie is a Twinkie, even if it's a little Twinkie and still has little to no nutritional value.
Clothing manufacturers have some odd tricks too, like:
- zippers on the side of skirts and pants. I don't know about you, but these are such a hassle to get zipped up for me, and usually end up getting snagged.
- "one size fits all." Uh, have they really looked at Americans? How can something that fits a 5'10" willowy woman with long arms and legs also fit short, stocky me, with my short arms and average legs? We are nowhere near "one size."
- clothes that look great on the hanger in the store, and when you wear them the first time--but are wrinkled and shapeless after one wearing. Wal-Mart clothes are great for this. a tee shirt will look nice for about one wearing, then the color fades, the shape shifts and it looks like you've washed it one hundred times. Not a bargain at any price, even at the resale places.
Then there are the ads! Like:
- buy now and save! How can I save if I'm spending money?
- "all you can eat" buffets. Why is that a good idea? We're fat enough already.
- "Get a free (cheaply made) something-or-other with purchase." Why do I need it? I've got plenty of junk, and another piece of poorly made electronics or tools isn't going to sway me to buy something I don't need.
Okay, those are some of the things that drive me nuts. What about you? What's on your list?
I am with you on the buy and save thing. My wife will tell me that since it was 20% off on these 2 items she was able to save money and buy a 3rd. I look at her and say you spent money so you didn't save a dime. If you had bought the 2 at 20% off and walked away, then you saved money.
ReplyDeleteMy current rant is the WV Department of Motor Vehicles. Not forgetting the incident in 2003where I tried to get tags for a new utility trailer. They honestly acted like I was trying to register a UFO. Many days and mutlple visits later I was finally able to get plates for it.
ReplyDeleteThe latest installment and coincidentally my next visit came last week when I tried to get tags for the truck I recently bought. One issue led to the next where the guy tried to tell me that the letters "FOR" as in "John Doe FOR J&J Publishing" meant that I needed a Power of Attourney for the signature to be valid. Next he asked me what the GVW was. I answered "9000". He said I had to have B tags. Not sure what that meant, but he assured me that for 60 dollars a year I should be able to operate my vehicle. Oh, and then the resultant insurance hike for having commercial tags. Now comes the coup de gras. You only paid 1000. Yup. He said the list price was 6300. I said no the list price is 3500, but apparently he knew better. So I either had to provide a notarized bill of sale, or return the title to the seller have a second copy printed, state the sale price was actually 6300 and admit to attempting to defraud the state. Oh, then pay 5% of 6300 which would be nealy 31% of the actual paid price. Oh and then there is the whole fraud thing...
So it sits in my driveway, entirely useless to me or anyone else due to the bureaucracy and pigheadedness of the DMV.
And I have no ride.
Aaron
I personally take offense to the store clerks who try to get you to sign up for their store credit cards by telling you that will will save 10% on todays purchases if you open an account today. But the store credit card typically has a 20-25% interest rate on it. Now, how is that ever a good deal?
ReplyDeleteI also am annoyed by laundry soap getting concentrated but more than doubling the price. How is that benefitting me? It's not. That in an of itself is enough reason to make your own out of Fels Naptha. I mean you can literally make 5 gallons of detergent for less than $2!!!
Matthew
"one size fits all."
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of the year our Festival coordinator was frustrated by sizing problems with the t-shirts for volunteers and tellers. She said, "Next year, I'm just going to order one size." I grinned at her and said, "That will work, if you arrange to have all the volunteers be only one size." Our shirts are lovely, and a staple of my wardrobe, so I'm glad she still orders many sizes.
My Obama shirt originally came to me in a size that fit the small boy to whom I gave it. They sent a follow-up e-mail saying the women's sizes had run very small and asking anyone with a size problem to re-order, even suggesting equivalent sizes to order. . . good attention to detail.
I was helping with a mailing at the Y yesterday, and as Chris was re-folding some shirts, she said, "Men don't understand how to fold shirts." I remembered that my shirt had been very wrinkled from being stuffed into the envelope -- not sure it's fair to assume it was a man, but it might have been. I wash all new clothes anyway before wearing them, but I might have made an exception for that one. I ended up wearing it slightly damp and turning up the heater fans in the car as I drove to the play.
BTW, one thing that helps when the world seems too crazy is you blog, Sue. The photos and stories provide a mini-vacation. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI agree the one size fits all bugs me and potato chips in bags. Also..
ReplyDelete12 buns in a pkg-10 hot dogs in a pkg.
they want us to eat healthy, yet the healthy food is so much more expensive to buy.
And what about those wonderful soft loaves of bread that are always smashed or misshapen before you get home with them.
And I'm sure there's many more that I can't think of right now.
I've always been amazed at how the picture on the ad (usually food) looks one way, but the actual product looks another...and no one seems to notice. Take hamburgers, for instance. Do the pictures look ANYthing like the actual little flat pale bun with the gray circle of flat meat inside and not-all-the-way melted little square of processed cheese, all looking flat like someone sat on it?
ReplyDeleteAnother pet peeve...processed foods that get further processed to be "healthy"...fat free, fat substitute, artificial sweetener or this and that, and of course cost more...what's with taking out an ingredient and charging more? lol
Oh. And I hate being called on the phone by a computer. Or someone whose English I can't understand. And how about trying to EVER get a live person on the phone if you need customer service these days?
I also don't like any place that is about status and treats their customers like it's the customer's privilege to be there, instead of the other way around. I always want to ask "hey, is the customer still always right?"
:)
All of those so very true. Especially the one size fits all. I never have understood that.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how we share so many of the same irritations. And comforting too!
ReplyDelete