Tag: redpill

Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Necessarily Mean You Should.

Rob Says1 Comment

Screenshot_20190606-174016

The other day, my mind got to wandering like it tends to do, and I got to thinking about a prior job of mine. Now mind you, I haven’t thought about this job in years. It was an okay job, as far as jobs went. The pay was decent, the co-workers were okay as well, and the general working conditions were fine. But there was one thing that was a thorn in my side about this particular job:

The company found a way to screw its employee’s out of over-time. Something to do with DOT regulations or whatnot. I’m not exactly sure what they found, or where exactly they found it, but find it they did. Or so they claimed. So because of these DOT regulations, we as a company, fell under some umbrella of sorts and so the company didn’t have to pay us over-time. I was thinking about this old job when I wrote the tweet.

Just because you can, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

What is the first rule of business? To make money.

What is the second rule of business? See rule #1.

I understand that being in business is about making money, I really do. I understand it completely. If your goal isn’t to make money, you have no business being in business.

That being said, there are ways to go about doing business. Sure you can fuck your employees over. You can do the same to your customers too. Or you can do things where you make money, provide a valuable service or product, your employees are happy, and so are your customers. Or you can just fuck everyone over. Yes, I know, I repeated myself.

I repeated myself because it seems that that is the way of business these days. Tell the employees and the customers what they want to hear, and then fuck them over.

I want you all to understand this:

Any business you are dealing with, wants your money. Or they want you to make them money. Refer to the Rule Number One of business. Nothing wrong with that. You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin it once though. Seems that a lot of businesses have forgotten that one.

Awhile back, I remember going with a friend to a comedy club. We were going to see Pauly Shore. I bought the tickets online, that way we wouldn’t have to wait in line to buy tickets, and it was also a way to insure that we had tickets in the event that the show sold out.

We get to the venue, and since the club served alcohol, they required ID to get in. Everybody had to show theirs, including me. Then a problem arose. My friend had accidentally let their ID expire. It had expired by two days. Because of this the club would not let us in to see the show. I thought for sure that I was out a hundred bucks because of this. (The tickets were 50 bucks apiece.) Since it wasn’t the fault of the club, I figured that they would tell me “too bad, so sad.” But they didn’t. They actually offered a refund. And a few days later, lo and behold, the hundred bucks was back in my account. Do you think I’ll be going back to this comedy club in the future? You can bet your sweet ass I’ll be going back.

Now let’s fastforward to another bar that I went to recently.

It’s an outfit that’s not too far from where I live, and I’ve been there multiple times over the years. I walk in on a friday night and the place isn’t packed, but it’s not dead either. Basically it’s about average for a friday night. As I’m walking up to the bouncer to have him check my ID, I overhear some sort of drama going on at the ticket booth that this place has. There’s a girl standing there, in tears, talking to the gal in the booth. Apparently the girl was trying to get a refund on her ticket. Apparently the band that she paid to see had cancelled and wasn’t coming. Apparently that band was supposed to show up that same night that I was there. Who knew?

Anyways, I don’t know all the particulars about why the band wasn’t showing up, hell to be honest, I had no idea that they were even coming and that they were supposed to be there that night. But they weren’t coming for whatever reason. This young girl, probably 22 to 26 if I had to guess, wanted a refund. Sounds reasonable to me. I would want one too. The gal inside the booth looked at the girl’s ticket, pointed at it and said, “All sales are final. We reserve the right to change or cancel shows, with or without notice.” It was right there on the ticket.

The girl was devastated. I felt really bad for her. I totally got her disappointment. If I had paid for a ticket and the band didn’t show up, I’d be disappointed too. The bar was legally in their rights to not offer a refund. After all, it said right on the ticket, “All Sales Are Final. No Exchanges. No Refunds. We Reserve The Right To Change Or Cancel Shows, With Or Without Notice.” Just because they could, doesn’t necessarily mean they should though. I would think that the bar would value her business, especially her repeat business instead of keeping the money from that ticket sale. But hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they don’t care about her business in the future. Maybe their motto is, “We got her money, fuck her.” Seems that way to me.

As the girl was about to leave the bar, I pulled her aside real quick and said, “Hey, I overheard what happened there. That doesn’t sit right with me. May I see your ticket real quick?” She showed it to me and that’s how I know about their legalese and their no refund policy. I asked her, “How did you pay for this ticket?” She said, “I bought it online from their website.” I then asked her, “Did you pay with a credit card, debit card, paypal?” She told me that she paid with a credit card.

I then told her, “You should contact your credit card company. Tell them you would like to dispute the charge. Now that’s not a guarantee that you will get your money back for sure, but you just might.”

I used to work in the credit card industry, and as far as I know, the dispute process hasn’t changed much.

Here’s basically how it works:

You buy something on your credit card. You decide you don’t want whatever it was, or it was defective, or you never received it, etc.

The credit card company would usually like you to try and work it out with the merchant at first, if possible. If not then you dispute the charge.

You call them up (you might be able to fill out a dispute form online these days) and explain what the charge is, the day that it was made, ideally the day it posted to your account, and why you want to dispute it.

If you meet their minimal criteria, the credit card company will put the charge in dispute and issue what is called a provisional credit. You also won’t have to pay for that charge that is part of your balance while it is in dispute. It won’t accrue any interest while it is in dispute either, nor will it be penalized as late.

The credit card company then will contact the merchant to get their side of the story. This is all done in some form of writing and/or documentation.

After the credit card company has heard both sides, they will either make the provisional credit permanent and you got your money back, end of story, or they will take the provisional credit away and tell you why they think you need to pay the charge. This too will be done in some form of writing/documentation.

Most of the time, the credit card company will side with their customer, not the merchant. Most of the time. They want to keep you happy, they want to keep doing business with you. They want to keep making money off of you. Honestly, the odds are in your favor. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s worth a shot.

Over the years, I’ve had to dispute a handful of things, and the credit card company sided with me on almost all of them. So for me, it was worth the time and energy to enter those items into dispute.

By the way, you usually have a window of when you can put something in dispute. It can vary from 60 days after the charge posted, up to 2 years or more. That timeline depends on which credit card company you are going through. You’ll need to check with them as to the deadline for disputes.

If the credit card company decides to favor the merchant, you’re not totally shit out of luck. In some cases, you may be able to recover your losses through legal action via civil courts and attorneys. It may not be worth the time, money, and effort to go this route, but you usually have this option as well, but that one is up to you to pursue.

One thing I’ve done either way, win a dispute or lose it, is I won’t do business with that particular merchant again. If they weren’t willing to work something out with me and I had to go an alternate route, then fuck them. You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin them once. To me, they don’t care about me, even as a customer, they just want my money. Vote with your wallet and shop/go/attend somewhere/something else.

Oh, and if you were wondering about that bar that I went to the night the girl got refused a refund? Yeah I left. I didn’t stick around and buy a bunch of drinks. I haven’t gone back there and won’t be going back there either. Because fuck them.

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No Free Lunch

Rob Says3 Comments
assorted gift boxes on red surface
Beware the stranger that comes bearing gifts

I was at a car show with my Dad and his buddies the other day. It was great to get out of the house and get away from everything that has been going on in my life, even if it was just for a few hours. It was great to be able to sit down, soak in the sun, drink a few beers, crack a shit ton of jokes, and listen and tell stories.

My Dad and his buddies are “baby boomers.” Almost all of them are in their mid to late 60’s or even early 70’s now. The majority of them are retired, including my Dad. The majority of them are blue collar, working/middle class guys. They’ve destroyed their bodies doing physical labor in order to make a living and support/provide for their families. Many of them were in the military at one point or another. These guys are “stand up” guys. Most of them, I’ve known them for over 20 years. They would give you the shirt off of their back to help you out, and expect nothing in return.

None of these guys have a social media profile. None of them are on Facebook. Most of them have no idea about Twitter, or what a tweet even is. The bullshit and drama that I see online doesn’t even exist for these guys. Maybe they are on to something here.

Their concerns are about their health, their families, making sure they have enough money now that they are retired to do the things they want to do, and to insure that they have enough to keep them in the lifestyles that they have created for themselves and have become accustomed to. Oh and their cars. Can’t forget about those. Don’t get me wrong, these guys would sell every last car they have in order to pay the bills and keep food on the table. A lot of the guys, my Dad included, consider their cars to be investments of a sort. Buying, restoring, and in many cases, selling cars is a “side hustle” for my Dad. It’s been pretty profitable for him too.

Hanging out with these guys, watching them interact with each other and with “outsiders,” it’s pretty amazing. The joking around, the ball busting, the stories. The lack of caring for things that don’t affect them, I learn from them each time I’m around them. Sometimes it’s something that somebody said. Most of the time, it’s from watching what they do. How they act. How they carry themselves. You’re not going to get an idea of how a man carries himself by reading a tweet. You usually won’t get it in a picture either. Most of the time you have to be there and see it for yourself. You have to see it with your own eyes.

Now I’ve painted the picture for you. I’ve hopefully laid the backdrop down.

So there we are, sitting, drinking, bullshitting, and in walks “Steve.”

Steve is a nice guy. He’s not one of the “inner circle,” but he hangs around the periphery. Most of the guys know who he is, and they all tolerate him to a degree. Thing is though, Steve used to be an “inner circle” guy. He messed that up though.

Steve came in, shook hands, cracked jokes, and told stories with the best of them. And the guys would smile and nod and be polite. Then they would go back to their original conversations almost like Steve wasn’t there. Almost like he had never spoke. Almost like he didn’t exist.

When I met Steve years ago, he was an articulate, well spoken, exuberant guy. Still is. He would do all sorts of favors for you, hell, you didn’t even have to ask. He knew all sorts of people, had all sorts of connections, and would be what some would consider a “man of influence.” Problem is, Steve would do all sorts of things for you and introduce you to all sorts of other people, and then he would expect something in return. Usually it was something that wasn’t worth the “favor” that he did for you. Usually his “payment” was more expensive that whatever it was that he did for you.

Steve did this type of thing to pretty much all of the guys in my Dad’s group. That’s how he ended up on the perimeter. That’s how he got himself “outcast.” They guys didn’t kick him out per se, but they distanced themselves from Steve when they realized that his “gifts” had strings attached. They limited their interactions with him. They started refusing his “gifts,” because let’s be honest here, they weren’t “gifts” if they had strings attached.

Beware the stranger, or even the so-called friend who comes bearing gifts. Especially when you either don’t know them at all, or you don’t know them well. My Brother Ryan, he lives in Illinois at this time. I’ve known him for over 20 years. We’ve seen each other through some serious shit. I’ve had his back, and he’s had mine. He shows up on my doorstep with a gift in hand, I’m not going to think twice about it. He’s giving me something because he wants to. There’s no strings attached.

But if I don’t know you, or I barely know you, and you show up bearing gifts, it’s a caution flag from me. “There’s no free lunch,” is something my Dad told me a long time ago. That little nugget has stood the test of time. There is no free lunch indeed. I hate to sound cynical, but when someone that I don’t know or I barely know shows up bearing gifts, my first thought is, “What’s in it for them? What’s their angle? What do they want from me in return?” This also applies when the gift or the favor is large. Especially when I don’t know the person or I barely know them.

Beware the stranger or even the casual acquaintance that comes bearing gifts. The price may be more than you would want to pay. Look for the hook. It’s in there somewhere. Somewhere there are strings attached, and the cost may be more than what its worth.

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Integrity and Association

Rob SaysLeave a comment

person shaking hands

I went over to my Father’s house the other day, it was and still is, a part of my ritual with him. I go over to check on him, see how he’s been doing, make sure he’s okay, and do some catching up. It’s good for the both of us really.

My Dad mentioned “Andy” to me. He’s the guy that got both barrels from my Dad after my Mom’s funeral. Apparently, “Andy’s” ex-wife “Bobbie-Jo,” committed suicide a little while back. Their sixteen year old daughter found her mom hanging from a noose in the coat closet. I remember “Bobbie-Jo,” she’s around my age now, and she was a really good looking woman when I last saw her years ago. Tragic and sad. Tragic and really sad that it was her daughter that found her the way she found her.

“Andy” is in the upholstery business. One of the best upholsterer’s in this area. I know because I’ve seen his work first hand. Some of this work happens to be some of the seats in some of my Dad’s cars. His work is topnotch.

I’ve got to back up just a little bit. My Dad has been a car restoring aficionado for almost all of his life. Definitely all of my life. Some of my earliest memories of my Dad is him tinkering and restoring cars and trucks. I also remember him creating all sorts of new and creative swear words when something didn’t go as planned or was more difficult than expected. I also remember seeing the occasional tool getting thrown across the garage from time to time.

So my Dad has been doing the car restoration thing for at least fifty years. Maybe longer. My Dad knows his stuff and is very knowledgable about it. Car aficionado’s from all over the state know my Dad. They drop by to ask his advice about particular problems and ways to solve them. My Dad has also helped a lot of these guys restore their cars, or he has done it by himself for them. He’s always been forthright and honest in his dealings with this community of men. That’s one of the reason’s that they come to him, in some cases look up to him, and respect him. Not to toot my Dad’s horn, but when he’s got something to say about car restoration, these guys shut up and listen.

Now back to “Andy…..”

Like I said earlier, “Andy” is a class A upholsterer. His work is some of the finest I’ve ever seen. He uses quality materials and takes great care in his work. He doesn’t come cheap, and his work shows it.

No one questions the quality of “Andy’s” work.

But “Andy” does have a problem. He quotes a price for doing a job, and when it comes time to to pay up, the price has changed from his original quote. Significantly. I’m not talking about an extra fifty or even an extra hundred dollars. I’m talking about a price quote of $800.00 that ends up at $3,400.00 by the time all is said and done. How do I know about this quote and the end price? That’s what he charged my Dad the last time he did work for my Dad. Also “Andy” is horrible about meeting deadlines. What starts off as “a month or so” turns into almost a year.

My Dad isn’t the only person “Andy” has done this to. My Dad started naming a few other men that I happen to know that “Andy” charged way more than originally quoted. As far as my Dad is concerned, “Andy” is ripping people off. So he won’t use “Andy” anymore to do any of his upholstery needs. My Dad also stopped referring people to “Andy” as well. He doesn’t want to see other guys get ripped off, and he doesn’t want his name and reputation tarnished by what “Andy” is doing. He doesn’t want to been seen as endorsing “Andy’s” behavior.

“Andy” used to run his own upholstery business full time. Used to. Now days, he’s working for another business and moonlighting on weekends and evening’s doing upholstery. Why not full time? Because of his reputation.

As a Man, and this applies if you are going to go into business, your most important asset is your reputation. Your word is your bond. If you say you are going to do something, you do it. If you screw up, and we all do, you do what you can to make amends and make things right. “Andy” didn’t learn this lesson, which is why he has no repeat business.

You do something right, and the person you did right by will tell 10 people. You do wrong by somebody, they will go out and tell a thousand.

Perception is reality. How you are perceived is what is real to another person. Who you associate with reflects back on you.

Here’s another story about perception and association…

I grew up with a guy who had friends that were in a gang. Now this guy wasn’t in the gang himself, but he hung out with gangsters. One day, he was shot in the back by a guy wielding a twelve gauge shotgun in a drive by. The gangbanger’s didn’t care that he wasn’t actually in the gang, it was guilt by association. The guy recovered, but didn’t end his association with his gang friends.

Several years later, another incident happened. This time, the guy’s girlfriend ended up as a casualty. Unfortunately for her, she died. Apparently some rival gang members tried and botched a hit on the guy that I knew and she ended up caught in the crossfire. All because of who he associated with.

As a Man, be careful, or mindful, or conscious, or whatever other description you want to throw in here, of who you associate or attach yourself with or to. Guilt by association is a real thing. This goes for real life associations as well as online associations.

At the end of the day, if you are associating with someone who is doing something dishonest or something questionable, what does that say about you? What do you think other’s are going to think about you? If you don’t care, that’s fine. Don’t be surprised when people start distancing themselves from you though. Don’t be surprised when your business suffers because of who or what you are associating with. Perception is reality and guilt by association is a real thing. And sometimes you won’t be able to repair or recover your reputation. In fact, you may just take on a new reputation. A reputation that doesn’t work for you, but works against you.

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