Am I Just Getting Old?

I had a couple of experiences this weekend, things that have happened over and over again and I finally decided to write something about it.  It seems to me that I am either getting old and cranky or people in the service industry are getting more and more lazy.  I remember a time when you heard things like ‘work ethic’ and ‘when you choose a job, it’s your choice so no matter what it is you should be the best at it you can be’.  Where have these attitudes gone?  Let me give you a couple of examples.

I went to a local pizza place on Saturday night, one that offers cheap pizza in three different configurations.  When we go we always order a ‘combo’ that includes two pizzas, a soda and bread sticks.  I walked in, the only customer there at that moment, walked to the counter and said “I want a number 3, one sausage and one pepperoni.”  The cashier/order taker responded by saying “One pep and one sausage?”  I said yes and set down a $20 bill, then went to the cooler to get my soda.  When I set it down on the counter, next to the pizza, and collected my change a confused expression came over the cashier and she said she would have to charge me for the soda.  We did finally clear it up, but the whole time I was wondering what the problem was in the first place.  I have been accused of speaking too loudly many times, but never have I been known to speak too softly or to mumble.  The cashier/order taker is there to A. Listen, B. take money, C. get food.  By that list one would say that 33% of her job is to listen to the customer, I would argue that it is higher, but still.  If 1/3 of your job is to listen, and you can’t even catch a simple order then what is your problem?  I find that I repeat myself more and more when I go to places and order food.  I used to work in fast food, I remember how important it is to listen.

Second incident this past weekend was at a breakfast restaurant.  It was a busy Sunday morning granted, but I don’t like to make that an excuse.  If you have a busy day at a restaurant, you still have only so many tables.  You can never get more busy than your busiest day, no matter how many people are waiting to be seated, you still have only so many tables.  The waitress took our order, and after a negligible wait brought our drinks.  Instead of setting them in front of the people who ordered them she set them on the end of the table, and waited for us to claim our drink.  It had been less than a minute.  Then after another wait our food came out.  The food was right, but again she couldn’t remember who ordered what.  She also brought an extra order of hash browns, that I am sure was from someone else’s table since her ticket didn’t have the extra order on it.  I understand that being a waitress can be stressful.  I have worked fast food and retail, I understand that customers can have a very negative effect on an individual, and customer service is ver stressful.  What I don’t understand is a person that has two tasks, and cannot perform 100%.  All our waitress does is take orders, and carry food and drink.  She doesn’t make the food, I didn’t see her have to clean anything in the interim, and I didn’t see her managing anyone.  Take orders, and carry food.

I said above that I used to work in fast food, and I know that at least one of my readers knows exactly what I am talking about, we used to work together at the same fast food place.  Back at this time we operated a drive through window, with one person at the one window, taking orders, taking money, and handing out food.  You had a two register setup, no computer screen keeping track of orders, and no machine making the drinks for you, and we still managed to hit our target time in line, which if I remember right was three and a half minutes.  That’s from speaker to drive away, the amount of time a customer was allowed to wait for our store to make its goals.  Now they have two, sometimes three windows, half a dozen people doing each task of the drive through, a machine filling the drinks, a computer bank keeping track of what goes where, touch screen registers, and two speakers to take orders and I can’t remember the last time I was in and out of a drive through in less than five minutes.  Perhaps it isn’t a problem with lack of technology, but a lack of work ethic everywhere.  It seems like we are creating a society that strives to work as little as possible, all the while complaining about not making enough for what little they do.

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Attorney General Casts Insult After Injury

I heard the news today like everyone else did, and I sat for some time thinking of what it would mean.  Something that has been said over and over still sticks in my mind.  Say this phrase to yourself and tell me in all honesty if it does not make you feel sick to your stomach.  “The mastermind, and his helpers, responsible for the heinous attack against America will be tried in our court system, benefitting from all the rights of an American citizen under our constitution.”  That thought went through my head and I honestly felt physically sick.  Then I watched the Attorney General speak.  He was asked a simple question that he refused to answer.  He was asked what would happen if something went wrong, and there was a mistrial, or a hung jury, or Gods forbid he is found innocent even after confessing.  Not only did he make a statement that did not answer the question he made a statement that craps all over our justice system, while professing that this trial will show the rest of the world how great our system is.

“I would not have authorized the bringing of these prosecutions unless I thought that the outcome . . . would ultimately be successful,” he said. “I will say that I have access to information that has not been publicly released that gives me great confidence that we will be successful in federal court.”

Correct me if I am wrong, but if we already know he is guilty then why are we even having this sham of a trial?  How will this, in any way, show the rest of the world how we hand out justice?  Don’t get me wrong, I think this guy, and his associates should face the most stringent penalty we can hand out, but there is too much that can go wrong.  How often do we hear of cases being thrown out on technicalities?  How many people go free because the defense found some ridiculous loophole in our legal system?  If the prosecutors cannot show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this guy did it he will go free.  He will be released on U.S. soil, to do what he will.  That is the answer that our Attorney General seemed to uncomfortable, or too scared to say.  There is a chance that these guys will walk, even after bragging that they were the ones that orchestrated this attack.

This is another example of politically correct, lovey dovey bullcrap.  Let’s call a terrorist a terrorist, and a war crime a war crime.  I am tired of being told not to jump to conclusions, giving the benefit of the doubt to murderers, and feeling sorry for ‘freedom fighters’.  If you hate this country, or you want to kill Americans, then get out!  If you actually do it, then the wrath of the greatest nation in the world be upon you!

Sickening, just plain sickening.

Congress Really Thinks We Are All Stupid

First let me say, thank you to all those serving and who have served this country in our armed forces.  Those brave men and women who volunteered to do what many cannot or will not do.  They deserve our respect, and we honor them this day.

Now on to the topic, which has been long in coming.  I know that I have been neglect in writing recently, but things have been a little hectic.  Looking for a job, holidays coming up, family stuff and what not, it all adds up.  What I have noticed over the last couple of weeks though is that our congressmen and women must really think we are all morons.  Let’s take a look at what has been done recently with the health care bill recently passed in the House.

We were told that the most important thing is to get health care for all.  Affordable access to insurance for every American, it has to be done, otherwise the whole country will implode!  So they pass a bill that will only insure 95% of citizens.  Um, is anyone else confused?

We were told that it would come in under 900B dollars, so they pass a bill that comes in at around 850B over ten years.  In order to pass it though they have to get in separate legislation to appease the doctors, costing about 250B.  I am no mathematician but isn’t that over 900B dollars?  I mean really, if you had a kid that asked for a video game system but you told him that 300 dollars was the limit.  Your kid makes his choice, a system that costs 299 dollars, but the kicker is you have to also spend 100 dollars for games and controllers so he can use the system would you be fooled?  Why do they think we would be?

They tell us that it is supposed to lower premiums for people, except they come right out and say that younger people will pay more so that older people pay less.  It won’t hurt businesses but they will be forced to provide insurance or pay fines.  No new taxes on the middle class, but we will be paying more money for this system than we pay now.  Correct me if I am wrong, but is anyone out there really fooled by the staggering arrogance of politicians?  I watch them on these talk shows, and when they get asked a question they don’t actually answer it they just parrot the same bull that every other politician spits out.

Let’s put this down the way I see it.  I am not economist, nor am I all that good at math.  I think that I represent the average American out there, middle class, worried about a good job, family, kid in school, etc.  They tell me I won’t be paying more taxes, except they are going to charge me more for insurance.  Ok, so that isn’t a tax, that is me paying more for the same services I get now.  I call that gouging.  They want to tax more on unhealthy food and drink.  Well, I happen to like unhealthy food and drink.  I don’t overindulge, I am fairly young and healthy, and I am not overly concerned that having soda once a day is going to kill me, but they want to make me pay more for it.  Ok, let’s not call it increased taxes, let’s call it punishment to adjust behavior.  Wait a minute…where do they get off telling me to adjust my behavior?  Ok, enough with the taxes.

They tell us that we won’t be forced onto the public option.  Let’s start with small businesses that cannot afford to offer insurance.  I worked for two of them, that for one reason or another could not offer company insurance.  With the new system, those businesses can either offer what they cannot afford to offer, or pay a fine they cannot afford to pay.  Will that business have to shut down?  Will they have to bite the bullet and pay the fine, putting their employees on the public plan?  It’s hard to say what will happen, but what I can say for certain is that our congressmen have no concept of small business and what it takes to run one.  What about big businesses?  What do you think will happen if they find it cheaper to pay the fine to discontinue insurance benefits for employees?  What happens if they find the government plan cheaper to offer than private insurance?

They would like us to believe that the public option offers competition within the market.  It doesn’t take a genius to realize that no business can compete with the government.  Business runs on capital and investment.  Businesses are helped or hampered by what they can bring in and the services they offer.  How can a business that relies on private investment hope to compete with an entity, the government, that essentially has unlimited capital and investment?  When a company needs money they have to look to investors or get a loan, both of which has limits and has to be returned.  If the government needs money they either tax for it or print it.  Businesses cannot do that.  How can you have competition when one of the competitors also makes the rules for the market?  Does anyone really believe that any company could compete, let’s say in the computer market, if Microsoft made all the rules and regulations for the computer industry?  How long would Apple last if Microsoft set the rules for manufacture, distribution, pricing, etc.?  That is what we are about to get if this bill passes the Senate, and anyone that tells you differently is lying to you.