Mosey
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2002
- Messages
- 1,565
- Location
- Conifer, Colorado
- Tractor
- 2000 New Holland TC29D with 7308 FEL, and top & tilt. 1950 John Deere B. 1940 Farmall A.
I realized I’ve been using the “Off Topic and Just for Fun” forum as a place to gripe (see the “Walmart, what a pain“ thread), but I’ve noticed we tractor types tend to think alike (must be the vibration of the tractor). So, it’s comforting to hear that I’m not the only one who’s fed up with some things.
Anyway, here’s 2 more.
Gripe #1: $99.99.
I’m sick of it! I’m sick of gas being $x.xx9, I’m sick of prices being whatever minus .01 just to make it look like less. Same goes for $x.98 or $x.97, etc. I’d rather just pay the extra few cents and keep it simple. They’re not fooling me, I round it up anyway. Some people are really hung up on it though. I just bought a cell phone (finally broke down and did it). I went up to the counter and told the gal at the Verizon place I had a few questions about the one I saw on display for $100 minus a $30 rebate. She gave me a quizzical look and said they didn’t have any for that price, but have one for $99.99! Geez!
My Dad told me once he heard it all started way back when (I don’t know exactly) because clerks were pocketing the money for items instead of ringing it up on the cash register (so much for the good ol’ days when people were honest!). He said merchants started pricing things as $x.99 to force the clerk to open the cash register and get change and then there would be a receipt printed, so they couldn’t pocket the money. Don’t know if it’s true or not. I think it’s because merchants realized people are gullible and will fall for tricks. It’s sad but true.
Gripe #2: “Press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish”
I’m sick of having to answer this question when I call a government office or use an ATM machine. I’m sick of manuals being twice as thick as they need to be because they have to be printed in 2 languages. If it’s in the USA, it should be in English!
How many people that use my credit union can not read English? I'm guessing it's a very small percentage of the total members. Why should everyone be inconvenienced for these few people? Also, since I am a software engineer myself, I know that it would be possible and should be fairly easy to automatically select the language based on the members card. The first thing a person does is put the ATM card in the machine and the machine has to read the card to determine who it is in order to check the passcode. So, put the choice of language information on the card or in their account info so the machine could easily select the language at that time, then set the display to the appropriate language.
But, that wouldn't be necessary if everyone living in the US could understand English. I read in the news that 26 states have already passed legislation making English their official language. I think that's the right thing to do. I have nothing against diversity and am not prejudice, but we need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand. What's next, German, Italian, Japanese? If I go to another country I don't expect them to speak English on my account, I feel it's my responsibility to learn their language. If the people in this country are going to be united, we all need to speak a common language. I work with several people from all over the world who have learned English well enough to get along just fine. Why do Spanish speaking people deserve special treatment? They should be able to learn English just as my Asian and Indian co-workers have done. I admit English is not the best language and if I was told everyone in the US was going to be required to learn an entirely new and better language, then I would be all for it! But, since a huge majority of Americans speak English, then it makes sense for everyone who wants to live here to speak English as well. If we have several different languages going around, we will not be very "united".
OK, I’m stepping down off my soap box now.
Anyway, here’s 2 more.
Gripe #1: $99.99.
I’m sick of it! I’m sick of gas being $x.xx9, I’m sick of prices being whatever minus .01 just to make it look like less. Same goes for $x.98 or $x.97, etc. I’d rather just pay the extra few cents and keep it simple. They’re not fooling me, I round it up anyway. Some people are really hung up on it though. I just bought a cell phone (finally broke down and did it). I went up to the counter and told the gal at the Verizon place I had a few questions about the one I saw on display for $100 minus a $30 rebate. She gave me a quizzical look and said they didn’t have any for that price, but have one for $99.99! Geez!
My Dad told me once he heard it all started way back when (I don’t know exactly) because clerks were pocketing the money for items instead of ringing it up on the cash register (so much for the good ol’ days when people were honest!). He said merchants started pricing things as $x.99 to force the clerk to open the cash register and get change and then there would be a receipt printed, so they couldn’t pocket the money. Don’t know if it’s true or not. I think it’s because merchants realized people are gullible and will fall for tricks. It’s sad but true.
Gripe #2: “Press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish”
I’m sick of having to answer this question when I call a government office or use an ATM machine. I’m sick of manuals being twice as thick as they need to be because they have to be printed in 2 languages. If it’s in the USA, it should be in English!
How many people that use my credit union can not read English? I'm guessing it's a very small percentage of the total members. Why should everyone be inconvenienced for these few people? Also, since I am a software engineer myself, I know that it would be possible and should be fairly easy to automatically select the language based on the members card. The first thing a person does is put the ATM card in the machine and the machine has to read the card to determine who it is in order to check the passcode. So, put the choice of language information on the card or in their account info so the machine could easily select the language at that time, then set the display to the appropriate language.
But, that wouldn't be necessary if everyone living in the US could understand English. I read in the news that 26 states have already passed legislation making English their official language. I think that's the right thing to do. I have nothing against diversity and am not prejudice, but we need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand. What's next, German, Italian, Japanese? If I go to another country I don't expect them to speak English on my account, I feel it's my responsibility to learn their language. If the people in this country are going to be united, we all need to speak a common language. I work with several people from all over the world who have learned English well enough to get along just fine. Why do Spanish speaking people deserve special treatment? They should be able to learn English just as my Asian and Indian co-workers have done. I admit English is not the best language and if I was told everyone in the US was going to be required to learn an entirely new and better language, then I would be all for it! But, since a huge majority of Americans speak English, then it makes sense for everyone who wants to live here to speak English as well. If we have several different languages going around, we will not be very "united".
OK, I’m stepping down off my soap box now.
