Tag Archive for trick

“Suffer Fools Gladly”

April 1, 2016 Comments Off on “Suffer Fools Gladly”

Enjoy the fun of the day, but, please, consider the person you’re pranking.  We’ve all been the butt of cruel April Fools jokes that have humiliated us, or watched jokes pulled on others that were obviously an expression of the jokester’s prejudices, using the day as an excuse.  These tricks not only feel bad but seem to give some legitimacy to cruelty and prejudices.

There are so many pranks that are harmless and so ingrained in our culture that few people are terribly embarrassed by them, like the Whoopie Cushion, switching the Push and Pull signs on a door, and putting hundreds of post-its all around someone’s office.

But something that is dangerous, will clearly mortify someone, makes a person look stupid, or is based on ethnics, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not okay.  And that means no posting of the victim online, which makes it even worse.

So, go ahead and enjoy the day.  But be mindful of the person you’re pranking and how it will affect him or her.  Remember that your joke reflects who you are as a person.

By the way, the title of today’s posting is from St. Paul.  If you want to know the context and meaning, you can find it at 2 Corinthians, verse 11:19.

 

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Naked and Natural

September 14, 2015 Comments Off on Naked and Natural

Maybe it’s just my slanted way of looking at things, but I think Vanessa Williams’ nude pictures ‘way back when she was forced to relinquish her Miss America title made her a more honest beauty queen.  The pictures showed her in all her glory, without props.  On the other hand, fully clothed beauty contestants have all the advantages that allow them to display their assets (no pun intended) to their greatest advantage.  They have high heels that curve their legs, hidden tape to perk up and enhance their breasts and hold them in place, supportive material in their clothing to accent their curves and hide perceived flaws, “butt glue” to keep the bathing suit bottom in the most flattering position, push-up bra under the swimsuit top to give that ready-to-pop-out look…and these are only the the few tricks I’ve heard about.  If you’re naked, you can’t use any of them.

Not that I’m proposing that beauty pageants should all be held in the nude.  It would be more honest, though.

 

 

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Pay Up and Keep Paying

July 3, 2015 Comments Off on Pay Up and Keep Paying

Ever been tempted to get a payday loan?  It’s so easy…and so dangerous.  As Credo points out, “The dirty secret of the payday lending industry is that there is no money in people repaying their loans on time. The key to the whole profit-making engine that makes lenders’ Wall Street backers rich is tricking people into taking out one loan and then locking them into months or years of debt. Charging hidden fees and demanding sky-high interest rates, payday lenders are little more than legal loan sharks.“

Too many people, vulnerable because of low-paying jobs, a sudden medical or auto expense, and a hundred other situations, fall into this trap.  And it’s legal.

Read more about this at Credo Action.  If you think the Consumer Protection Agency should crack down on payday lenders, use Credo’s webpage to send them a strong message telling them just that.

 

 

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Enjoying April Fool’s Day

April 1, 2015 Comments Off on Enjoying April Fool’s Day

Enjoy the fun of the day, but, please, consider the person you’re pranking.  We’ve all been the butt of cruel April Fools jokes that have humiliated us, or watched jokes pulled on others that were obviously an expression of the jokester’s prejudices, using the day as an excuse.  These tricks not only feel bad but seem to give some legitimacy to cruelty and prejudices.

There are so many pranks that are harmless and so ingrained in our culture that few people are terribly embarrassed by them, like the Whoopie Cushion, switching the Push and Pull signs on a door, and putting hundreds of post-its all around someone’s office.

But something that is dangerous, will clearly mortify someone, makes a person look stupid, or is based on ethnics, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not okay.  And that means no posting of the victim online, which makes it even worse.

So, go ahead and enjoy the day.  But be mindful of the person you’re pranking and how it will affect him or her.  Remember that your joke reflects who you are as a person.

 

 

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Comcast’s Dirty Tricks

December 31, 2012 2 comments

If you have Comcast, be sure to read this.  Because we weren’t happy with our old AT&T phone service, I listened to the Customer Service guy’s explanation of Triple Play.  It would be $24 a month less than what we’re currently paying for TV and Internet, but we’d get phone service for free.  It would be only a year at this price but then go up to a little more than we’re paying now–still cheaper than them plus AT&T.

Today I got the first bill–for MORE than we used to pay, not less.  I called Comcast, waited on hold (they’ve had “an unusually high volume of calls” all the years we’ve been with them), and waded through a hard-to-understand man named Mark.  After being put on hold several times while he researched things, I asked for a supervisor–meaning another 15 minute hold.

Anna came on and informed me that the person who signed me up didn’t see the other equipment we had (modum, DVR, adapter), even though he had read to me right from our account.  That brought the price up.  But that wasn’t the biggest dirty trick.

When digital TV became the only game in town, Comcast gave a free adapter to their customers who needed it, I believe in response to pressure from the government. We have one digital TV and one analog.  Anna told me that 6 months ago Comcast decided to charge $1.99 a month for that adapter.  I asked when and how customers were informed that this charge would be kicking in; she said that Comcast had NOT informed its customers, just began charging.  I expressed my opinion that they can’t just add a charge their customers didn’t agree on.  No response.  She finally agreed to waive the $1.99 a month for a year, so long as we didn’t change our plan.  (The trick here is that, in 5 more months, when they start charging for HBO, which we don’t particularly like, we’ll cancel HBO and, I bet, that will trigger the charge.  So we have 5 months to price out and buy an adapter and, while we’re at it, a DVR to replace Comcast’s expensive one.

Have you checked your Comcast bill lately?  Do it now.  If you see that charge, cozy in with a good book (for your long on-hold time) and call 1-800-comcast.

 

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