I am not fucking kidding. He's been unemployed for 2 years, hasn't paid his mortgage for 18 months and so could be homeless any day, has been selling personal possessions to survive.
And as soon as he get a few thousand dollars, from a one-off job, he decides to spend it on a dog groomer.
Posted 2/6/2012 3:51 pm
I have two friends that did the exact same fucking thing. They were crying poor for months and said they were about to file for BK at any minute. The next thing I know they are sending their dog out to the dog spa as they somehow found some extra bucks in their budget. Now I never believe a fucking word they say about money. I can't stand to be around clowns like this. Other strange purchases include a MacBook Pro (in order to get with the world trend, she told me) and the Triple Play from Comcast (in order to join the civilised world.) I was an idiot for letting them stay with me for free for three months while they shopped around for an apartment.
I loaned him some money just before Christmas so he could get some stuff for his kids.
To give him credit the very first thing he did when he got the money was ask for my bank details to pay me back. No complaints there about his character.
But I said to keep it for now as its just a one off and it has to last as long it can until you get something regular.
I'm not really upset, just stunned. What's wrong with $1.99 for a bottle of dog shampoo and having fun playing with the dog in the bathroom?
My supposedly broke friends do the most stupid things imaginable. As in, they spend an inordinate amount of money on candy and Monster/Red Bull drinks every day. They also reorganise a lot of throw shit away that they could easily sell. A couple weeks ago I yanked some stuff out of their trash bag and sold it for $225. Like, a Makita grinder for example. Why would anybody throw that away?
Posted 2/6/2012 3:55 pm
Things like this give me hope because they make me realize there will always be ways to explot asshats like that commercially. No matter how grim shit gets, there is always some simpering fag or young swaggering dandy or midlife-crisis buffoon virtually drooling with eagerness to hand over his lifeblood for the most ridiculous bullshit imaginable.
I can tell you what's wrong with that: These people do not know how to have fun. Everything is faux and external with them. The thought of cleaning the bathroom "just due to the fact that the dog has needs" rubs them in such a wrong way that they'd never, ever consider it. My friends idea of a real pleasure would be to have somebody walk up to their door, put the leash on the dog, walk it for 5 miles and groom it and return it. That's the kind of thing that gives them wet dreams.
That is FUCKED UP. They are in their early 40s, BTW.
I asked him why he didn't buy the shampoo and wash the dog himself. He replied exactly that, it would make a mess in the bathroom. He's UNEMPLOYED and its a BATHROOM!! Wiping it down afterwards is hardly going to ruin his entire schedule.
He's also getting his previous house cleaners back. He's been unemployed for 2 years. Why does his house need cleaners? Incidentally, he was selling off things to keep paying the cleaners right up to the last minute.
Posted 2/6/2012 4:06 pm
A large number of very good market researchers spent most of the last decade trying to figure out what and how to sell to the world's poorest two billion, who may have only pennies in disposable income but are the largest untapped market in history, potentially. Early attempts focused on practical items, like soap, water-bottles, crank-operated field generators, all kinds of stuff. Some went better than others. But what they found was an across-the-board best seller, whether in rural china or rural india or rural africa, were little bottles of perfume for the women, like those tiny tester vials they give away free in women's magazines. Horrible for the environment, from a pacakaging perspective; all sorts of wrong. But even though you can say negative things about it, I think it is true that something in the human soul always yearns for transcendence, beauty, some kind of escape from the mundane brutalities. Having a tiny vial of channel perfume brought incredible happiness to those women; they felt some connection with something glamorus and beautiful. In a way, although I can't condone financial foolishness, there is something in people that will reach "beyond what is practical" for a little taste of glamor in the here and now. And why not? That's an important part of the human experience to connect with.
My friends also, after taking the dog to spa, took their cars to get details. Their reasoning was that "cars last a lot longer if you get them detailed." SURE THEY DO, YOU FUCKING CLOWNS.
They'd get the cars detailed before changing the oil.
Posted 2/6/2012 4:10 pm
I know a guy who is at least 100 pounds overweight. He has no real marketable skills anymore and was receiving partial disability because, surprise, he has a blown out knee. He now drives a "dial a ride" bus and makes about 11 bucks an hour. He also is on the hook for child support, which is in arrears.
He got a 1000 dollar windfall recently from disability. What does he do? Gets caught up on his rent, calls Comacast and gets the bundle package, including DVR, and takes his kid out to dinner and to Game Stop to buy a new X Box game. Blows that 1000 bucks as soon as he gets it in his greasy fingers.
This is a 48 yo man, who has been a reckless spender his entire life. You just gotta shake your head.
He's been unemployed for 2 years. Why does his house need cleaners? Incidentally, he was selling off things to keep paying the cleaners right up to the last minute.
