Just as promised, here's blog entry #61.
During the last week or so, there have been a few topics I'd like to bring up for discussion, or at the very least... to make my voice heard.
First up, I'd like to see in this lifetime, Equal Rights for everyone! And I do mean Everyone!
No more "special privileges" or "special treatment"... no more it's ok for me but not ok for you.
Before I go on any further, let me explain what triggered this train of thought.
The other day I received a phone call from my credit card company, the woman proceeds to inform me that they have not received a payment for the month of December and now with a missed payment and a late fee, I owe $64.00.
I search through my check book register and realize that she's right, seems I never received a bill for last month, and it slipped my mind. I naturally ask for the amount due and offer to pay over the phone.
She agrees to take my payment, then says, "Oh, I see that you live in Massachusetts... in that case, I can't accept your payment over the phone today, as it will not be posted for today's business."
So, let me get this straight... You call me to let me know that I'm over due, I'm willing to pay you, and you can't accept my payment? She said, "That's right...I won't be able to post your payment today, if you know what I mean?" .... Yes, I heard what you said... so what are my other options?....She and I went around and around with this a few times before she finally came out and said, I can't post your payment TODAY, but if you ask, I can post it for tomorrow. If you lived anywhere else I could post your payment today without you having to ask...
WTF is that all about? I know that each state has their own laws/rules, but I never thought it would affect which day my payment would be posted or why the agent had to be so hush hush about it, making me guess what I had to do... Good God!
After that phone call, I started thinking about other things that don't quite add up.
For example, I've seen this many times on credit card applications... you know in the little booklet you get with the Terms and Agreement, blah blah blah... Well in there it states that if you live in these 2-3 States, these rules don't apply to you, If you live in this State or that State then these are your 'revised" rules, If you live in this State well it sucks to be you as this offer is not valid for those residents. Of course it doesn't say that exactly, but you get the idea.
My second example... The bottle deposit, For as long as I can remember there were only a handful of States that actually received 5 cents for every bottle they recycled, with the exception of Michigan with 10 cents per bottle. Why is it that only a few States get a kick back for recycling? If all 50 States and Puerto Rico were offered the same thing, I bet more people would be more inclined to recycle. As I look at this empty 20 ounce bottle of Coca Cola I see that Maine (ME), Vermont (VT), Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA), New York (NY), Delaware (DE), Hawaii (HI) and Oregon (OR) are the only states getting a 5 cent return. Looks like Michigan is out of the picture, which is news to me to be honest.. not sure when that happened.... then again I'm not a big soda drinker.... But it still makes my point!
How is it that the State of New Hampshire can go on as a Tax Free State (not complaining as it does sound like a sweet deal) and yet I live in Tax-achusetts (one of the highest taxes states) and our roads and bridges have not been repaired, the Mass Pike has been paid for 4 times easily and yet there is talk about raising the tolls...
*sigh* I just see so many things that make me shake my head... So many things that don't make sense as far as the double standards are concerned. Maybe it's just me and my way of thinking that what's good for me should be good for you...
But instead we live in a world where what's good for the rich/royalty/government is NOT good for the middle/lower class. What's good for men is NOT good for women...What's good for this Russian family immigrating to the USA is NOT good for this Mexican family immigrating to the USA... What's good for this person with this health insurance is NOT good for this person with a different provider....
I could go on and on about this even further , but I'll spare you... Perhaps it's too hard of a concept to wrap on'e mind around.... Everyone should be treated equally, it's that simple.... no need to complicate matters and make the rules up as we go along... but then again it's what we're good at
Thanks for reading... I'll hope you'll come back for the next entry.
During the last week or so, there have been a few topics I'd like to bring up for discussion, or at the very least... to make my voice heard.
First up, I'd like to see in this lifetime, Equal Rights for everyone! And I do mean Everyone!
No more "special privileges" or "special treatment"... no more it's ok for me but not ok for you.
Before I go on any further, let me explain what triggered this train of thought.
The other day I received a phone call from my credit card company, the woman proceeds to inform me that they have not received a payment for the month of December and now with a missed payment and a late fee, I owe $64.00.
I search through my check book register and realize that she's right, seems I never received a bill for last month, and it slipped my mind. I naturally ask for the amount due and offer to pay over the phone.
She agrees to take my payment, then says, "Oh, I see that you live in Massachusetts... in that case, I can't accept your payment over the phone today, as it will not be posted for today's business."
So, let me get this straight... You call me to let me know that I'm over due, I'm willing to pay you, and you can't accept my payment? She said, "That's right...I won't be able to post your payment today, if you know what I mean?" .... Yes, I heard what you said... so what are my other options?....She and I went around and around with this a few times before she finally came out and said, I can't post your payment TODAY, but if you ask, I can post it for tomorrow. If you lived anywhere else I could post your payment today without you having to ask...WTF is that all about? I know that each state has their own laws/rules, but I never thought it would affect which day my payment would be posted or why the agent had to be so hush hush about it, making me guess what I had to do... Good God!
After that phone call, I started thinking about other things that don't quite add up.
For example, I've seen this many times on credit card applications... you know in the little booklet you get with the Terms and Agreement, blah blah blah... Well in there it states that if you live in these 2-3 States, these rules don't apply to you, If you live in this State or that State then these are your 'revised" rules, If you live in this State well it sucks to be you as this offer is not valid for those residents. Of course it doesn't say that exactly, but you get the idea.
My second example... The bottle deposit, For as long as I can remember there were only a handful of States that actually received 5 cents for every bottle they recycled, with the exception of Michigan with 10 cents per bottle. Why is it that only a few States get a kick back for recycling? If all 50 States and Puerto Rico were offered the same thing, I bet more people would be more inclined to recycle. As I look at this empty 20 ounce bottle of Coca Cola I see that Maine (ME), Vermont (VT), Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA), New York (NY), Delaware (DE), Hawaii (HI) and Oregon (OR) are the only states getting a 5 cent return. Looks like Michigan is out of the picture, which is news to me to be honest.. not sure when that happened.... then again I'm not a big soda drinker.... But it still makes my point!
How is it that the State of New Hampshire can go on as a Tax Free State (not complaining as it does sound like a sweet deal) and yet I live in Tax-achusetts (one of the highest taxes states) and our roads and bridges have not been repaired, the Mass Pike has been paid for 4 times easily and yet there is talk about raising the tolls...
*sigh* I just see so many things that make me shake my head... So many things that don't make sense as far as the double standards are concerned. Maybe it's just me and my way of thinking that what's good for me should be good for you...
But instead we live in a world where what's good for the rich/royalty/government is NOT good for the middle/lower class. What's good for men is NOT good for women...What's good for this Russian family immigrating to the USA is NOT good for this Mexican family immigrating to the USA... What's good for this person with this health insurance is NOT good for this person with a different provider....
I could go on and on about this even further , but I'll spare you... Perhaps it's too hard of a concept to wrap on'e mind around.... Everyone should be treated equally, it's that simple.... no need to complicate matters and make the rules up as we go along... but then again it's what we're good at
Thanks for reading... I'll hope you'll come back for the next entry.
We made the 7 hour trip up yesterday so we could spend the holiday with his family.
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