Why don't some people get it?

[LC EFA]

TwixVoy  Donating Member  (735 posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 04:34 PM
Original message
Why don't some people get it?

So today at work a couple comes in. They want to buy a $600 TV. They look like typical every day middle class people.

They try to run their AMEX card. DECLINED.

Then they decide they want to apply for one of our credit cards. DECLINED. "What??? I have never been declined for a credit card before this is rediculous I am calling them about this right now" I over hear him on the phone with our credit services. Seems he has a mortgage with a 60 day late payment recently and they won't approve him.

So then he gets his spouse to try to apply for one of our credit cards. DECLINED.

For fu**s sake how many signs do some people need that perhaps buying a $600 TV on credit is NOT a good idea for them? And these two acted completely horrified and depressed over not being able to get the TV.

I have a feeling a LOT of middle class people are going to be in for a major shock when they can no longer finance every aspect of their life.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5205054

This has gotta be a bouncy.

If not, I wonder if you noticed their "I voted for Obama" bumper stickers.

To answer the question; Some people don't get it because they're stupid.

icnorth  Donating Member  (325 posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 04:38 PM
Response to Original message
2. I don't know about you folks
   
but up here north of the 45th. there is one course that should be mandatory in high school and that is basic household economics and budgeting and it isn't.

I find myself agreeing with a DUmmie. Scary Stuff.

GentryDixon  Donating Member  (392 posts) Sun Mar-08-09 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #2
87. My soon to be 40 year old son learned economics
   
in grade school. Sadly, the curriculum has changed over the years.

It got progressively changed by the liberal clowns like the one you just voted for.

dkf  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 04:45 PM
Response to Original message
5. Wow that is a depressing story.
   
I'm sad for the couple, yet it is frustrating too.

This is the problem with liberalism. You should not feel sorry for them. They created the mess they are in and should be mocked for it.

TwixVoy  Donating Member  (735 posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. They sure are stupid
   
work retail some time buddy. You see people pull crap like this all the time.

And oh no I will be out of my job that pays me slightly more than minimum wage once these fools who make a a far better wage destroy themselves because of their own stupidity? Please say it aint so.

Yes. I remember the stories the salesdroids at my last employer told.

AlCzervik  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 05:00 PM
Response to Original message
13. i doubt this actually happened and if it did your lack of empathy for people is amazing
   
it's hard to believe you work with the public and you better hope credit doesn't dry up because you too will be out of a job.

all of yyour threads have a common theme-people are stupid.

Zuiderelle  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 05:42 PM
Response to Reply #13
30. I don't believe it either. How the hell would this person know that they were behind on mortgage
   
payments? The finance department of his store certainly wouldn't divulge that sort of info to a clerk. That's pretty damn far-fetched. Sounds like a RW type of a mythical "welfare queen" story, if you ask me.

You guys are spoiling all my fun !

earth mom  (1000+ posts)  Sat Mar-07-09 06:11 PM
Response to Original message
37. You are ranting at the wrong people. Instead you should be pissed at a system
   
that keeps the middle class, working class & poor OPPRESSED and living paycheck to god damn paycheck!

You may not be old enough to remember, but I remember a time when there was such a thing as disposable income and people had enough CASH to buy the things they needed after they paid for necessities like rent, food & utilities. It wasn't all that difficult 30 years ago-BEFORE REAGAN-to buy the things you needed (within reason)-WITH CASH.

Disposable income is almost non existent anymore. And not only that, but a $600 t.v. is not that far out of line-especially since it's really $300 in todays money.

Which is why I don't see what happened as stupidity, but rather frustration & desperation at a system that has screwed those people and all the rest of us over!

That could be any of us-so have a little empathy why don't you?

And if you want to bash someone-bash the bastards AKA-powers that be-who have screwed ALL of us over ever since Reagan!!!

It's not stupid people, it's the Systemâ„¢ dude..

Lorien  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Sun Mar-08-09 11:08 AM
Response to Reply #51
57. You're the one with superior attitude here. Your acting as if
   
television is some sort of holy right for the downtrodden of society; a Great Cause that you are selflessly a champion of, instead of what it is; a contributor to their suffering. The answer is simple; reinstate the Fairness doctrine. I've already stated my case for that here time and time again, but those that were born post Reagan and raised on the glass teat are more often than not vehemently opposed to it. They have no concept of what it provided, or how different this country was when it was enforced.

And you have absolutely NO CLUE as to who I am or what my situation is. I've been unemployed for months. No job, no significant other, no kids to love, no health care, and I'm battling long term depression and fibromyalgia. Yeah, sure, escapism is a distraction, but it doesn't give me "hope".

Many years ago, during the Reagan era, I was desperately poor and living in the basement of a tiny post war home in the ghettos with my abusive former fiance. The African American family that owned the home scraped by on three part time incomes that had to provide for five people. The wife sold Avon on the side to help make ends meet. She sat outside on her porch with her products and engaged passers by to sell her wares. The rest of her family was usually on the porch with her. They had a TV, but real life in their neighborhood was always more interesting. Being poor and struggling doesn't force anyone into a TV habit. Watching TV is a choice for everyone; calling it a "necessity" these days is downright laughable.

Television isn't a right in liberal land anymore ?

Whatever will the poor people do while taking advantage of their "rights" to a free house, free heat, free food and free .. etc.

[MrsSmith]

HarukaTheTrophyWife  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-07-09 10:33 PM
Response to Original message
42. Bounce

LostinVA  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-07-09 05:52 PM
Response to Reply #13
31. Bouncy like a Superball

Strange terminology for the DUmp, isn't it?   

[diesel driver]

You may not be old enough to remember, but I remember a time when there was such a thing as disposable income and people had enough CASH to buy the things they needed after they paid for necessities like rent, food & utilities. It wasn't all that difficult 30 years ago-BEFORE REAGAN-to buy the things you needed (within reason)-WITH CASH.

I am old enough to remember such a time-DURING CARTER-that we had a "misery index", energy rationing, and double-digit inflation....

I remember 30 years ago-DURING CARTER-how difficult it was to get the things you needed, like gasoline, coal, natural gas, etc.  It didn't matter if you could pay for it-WITH CASH-or not, you only got what-THE MAN-would allow you to get....

The reason you got things-WITH CASH-was because nobody could afford a loan at 17.9%APR.  You bought things-WITH CASH-today, because tomorrow, it would either have increased in price, or be sold out....

[Traveshamockery]

Strange terminology for the DUmp, isn't it?   

 

[Lord Undies]

The only real flaw in the Little Goon's story is the fact people, regular people, are still awash in money.  They've just came off eight great years.  Prosperity has never been so evident. 

People are pulling back now, but they still have money.  Lots of money.  People don't live day-to-day on their 401Ks.  They live on what's in their pockets....and those pockets are full.

The Little Goons are pulling out their economic bounces too soon.  What's about to become reality for a large group of the unfortunate isn't George W. Bush's fault.  His terms in the Oval Office were great years for just about everyone.  We never had it so good.  Look how many Little Goons could afford to contribute to DU, travel to stupid baseless protests, and support propagandist moviemakers. 

The reality is, since January 2007 (and in some areas w-a-a-ay before), the democrats/socialists/communists/Little Goons/DUmpmonkeys have done everything in their power to destroy this nation's economy.  We are now about to see the fruits of their labor.  The last person in the world to blame is President George W. Bush.  His stewardship of the economy, up until the almost the end, was extraordinary.  Even 9/11 was just a bump in the road. 

Sometimes I think last September was President Bush's "special gift" to the democrats who were about to buy the farm.

[AllosaursRus]

This won't even make it as a bouncy!

American Express is a pay-as-you-go card! You have to pay it off every month, or you don't use it!

If they were still within the payment period, AE would never deny them!

[AllosaursRus]

Many years ago, during the Reagan era, I was desperately poor and living in the basement of a tiny post war home in the ghettos with my abusive former fiance. The African American family that owned the home scraped by on three part time incomes that had to provide for five people. The wife sold Avon on the side to help make ends meet. She sat outside on her porch with her products and engaged passers by to sell her wares. The rest of her family was usually on the porch with her. They had a TV, but real life in their neighborhood was always more interesting. Being poor and struggling doesn't force anyone into a TV habit. Watching TV is a choice for everyone; calling it a "necessity" these days is downright laughable.

I see! You oughta be rich now for sure! Cause anyone who would believe this shit,probly bought the Brooklyn Bridge from ya and I'm sure you made a nifty profit!!!!!

[RobJohnson]

25 years ago, a 19" table top tv (no remote or stereo) would cost you over $400. Most would pay cash. They would put away money until they could afford the purchase.

[blitzkrieg_17]

Strange terminology for the DUmp, isn't it?   

They're stealing our lines now lol.

[Mike220]

They're stealing our lines now lol.

No, they're "redistributing" them.

[Texacon]

The OP'er has posted something very similar to this before.  I don't think it was exactly the same but I'll bet if someone ran a search they would find it.

KC

[USA4ME]

TwixVoy

I have a feeling a LOT of middle class people are going to be in for a major shock when they can no longer finance every aspect of their life.

The shock will come when they figure out their lord and savior lied to them and he's raising their taxes.

.

[Texacon]

I just ran a quick search for 'twixvoy credit' and this popped up.  Rather interesting read that was posted the 10th of April 2008

A poster named TwixVoy writes:

"I have worked retail for several years. I am in mid-level store management right now. I don't want to say exactly what company I work for, but it is in the top 3 largest. I work at a store in a major city.

There have been some crazy things going on recently. The changes that we are being asked me make per corporates direction makes me think that the people a More..t the top think something VERY big is going to be happening to the economy soon. I don't think the media or the government is giving us the full details of what is actually going on, but I think the CEO's and others at the top are fully aware and are making plans.

For one thing I check sales every day. At the store level we usually compare what sales are today compared to sales for the same day, week, month, and year last year. Sales at our store, our district, and company wide have taken a HUGE drop compared to the same time last year. When I looked at them today my store and every store in our district was down over 30% for the same time last year. The company as a whole is also in the negative for the same time last year. (but not as much, but it gets lower every day)

Honestly at my store I could say that we have done everything in our power at the store level to increase sales, but it just isn't happening. Departments like electronics are literally almost completely empty the entire day. The only departments that actually are getting sales are consumables, health, and chemicals. Just walking the store these are the only departments I ever even see people in ever since christmas ended.

Sometimes I will cover the service desk so a team member can take a lunch/break. When I do I sometimes process peoples credit card payments which lets me see how much they owe and how much they are paying. There are tons of people with THOUSANDS of dollars on their card only making minimum payments. These balances are usually at interest rates over 20%. Then there are people bringing in checks for the full amount, but they are BALANCE TRANSFER checks.... they are just moving it to other cards.

But that isn't what really worries me. What worries me is the changes corporate is making. I have worked here for years, and in the last 4 months I have seen more changes than all that time combined.

We are getting emails all the time from corporate telling us to reduce costs anyway we can. We recently got one telling us to start pulling fluorescent light bulbs, that we don't need all of them in order to provide illumination.... and those bulbs barely use any power.

Corporate has instructed all stores to lower the AC. It has been lowered enough to the point we get complaints from team members and customers.

Corporate has sent us emails telling us to make sure we fill bags to the absolute possibly maximum. They are not even sending us large bags anymore to some stores.

Corporate has recently eliminated (what I would estimate based on how many positions we lost vs the thousands of stores we have) several thousnad management positions at *all levels* of management at stores. This NEVER APPEARED ON THE NEWS! I suspect because it was not a traditional lay off. What corporate basically told us was "Your position is eliminated, but you are not laid off. Once you quit/get your self fired/whatever your position just won't be filled again" So we are basically slowly losing jobs as people company wide quit, get fired, etc.... but the jobs are never filled again. So basically we are cutting jobs, but the way it is being done is preventing it from getting reported in the media or tracked by the government as job losses.

No non-management positions have been eliminated, instead hours have been cut for them.

Raises this year have also been lowered in amount compared to in previous years. They have been lowered enough that corporate is keeping it a secret until we have to tell team members.

The company is also buying less. Our distribution centers are sending us, for example, 3 of a certain item when normally we would get 50.... and they don't send us more until those sell. I have not been able to keep departments full of product despite contacting corporate and asking for more because we are being sent such small amounts of product.

We have had trucks cancelled all the time now simply because we sold so little that they can't justify sending so few items to a store.

People are simply NOT buying things. They are not buying anything that isn't a consumable basically. I asked our pricing team to do a store mark down and lower the price on almost all of our TVs by 30-50%. We still have not sold a single one in over a week after! Our TVs were not priced very high to begin with.

Our pricing team is also being sent price increase changes from corporate in huge numbers. I am talking entire aisles of product for them to raise the prices on. The other day we got a STACK of pages of product to increase prices on. We thought it HAD to be a mistake because that has simply never happened before. We have emailed corporate asking if it was a mistake... we have not heard back yet, but I suspect it was not.

Many stores are now changing to non-overnight stores. They will be closed overnight and ALL power except in office areas will be cut overnight to save on costs.

There have even been changes to job descriptions recently. Corporate is basically giving job dutys to people at lower levels which used to be reserved for people at higher levels. Even some management tasks are being given to people in non-management positions. Basically they are paying people less to do what people used to get paid more to do.

Things are NOT looking pretty right now. I can tell you from a consumer spending point of view something is definantely going on.... All these changes tell me the people at the top are trying to brace for something big that is going to be happening to the economy."

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=765_1207803410&c=1

KC

[Karin]

Can anyone tell me how this makes any sense? 

Your acting as if
television is some sort of holy right for the downtrodden of society; a Great Cause that you are selflessly a champion of, instead of what it is; a contributor to their suffering. The answer is simple; reinstate the Fairness doctrine.

[The Village Idiot]

Strange terminology for the DUmp, isn't it?   

They are always stealing our terms

[diesel driver]

I worked at a Walmart in the electronics department last year.

When the "stimulus" checks came out, most people used them to buy big-screen tv's and other high dollar electronic items (laptops, computers, video game systems, etc.)

[BamaMoose]

They are always stealing our terms

The stole the whole Bouncy playbook.

From a different thread, where the DUmmies are speculating on the veracity of a post at Free Republic:

moundsview (74 posts)      Sun Mar-08-09 12:47 PM
Response to Reply #7
15. I don't know, the usual signs are missing
 Didn't begin with "so, I was..."
Doesn't have any cops hiding in the nearby bushes or jumping out from behind a tree...
Absence of Faux News playing in the background...
Should have a car nearby with offending bumper stickers...
No co-workers/bystanders cheering him on....
And of course no weeping conversion at the end...

If it is a "Freeper Fairytale" it doesn't score very well.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5208494#5208714

Where's Fat Che's Little Brother with an ACTIONABLE ALERT for the obvious theft of Bouncy Story^TM intellectual property.

[Chris]

Freeper Fairytale?  How ghey.

RandomKoolZip should sue.  That was HIS drunken injun, dammit.

[The Village Idiot]

I worked at a Walmart in the electronics department last year.

When the "stimulus" checks came out, most people used them to buy big-screen tv's and other high dollar electronic items (laptops, computers, video game systems, etc.)

thats a good thing, right?

[miskie]

I wonder if BouncyBall is as proud as the person who coined the term BOHICA, or the inventor of the lolcat ?

I know I would be 

[diesel driver]

thats a good thing, right?

It didn't hurt my feelings any....   

Only gripe I had was that we couldn't (or wouldn't) keep any digital converter boxes in stock.  One day, we'd have 40 on the shelf.  The next day, there were 2 (if any).  Then, the shelves would be empty for a week....

A lot of our inventory was like that.  We would sell out of an item, but when restock came in, we would get 5 more of an item we already had a shelf full.  Before I left, they were selling new video camcorders, but no media for them to record on!  (i.e., ones that took the "mini DV" disks.  During Christmas, I referred customers to K-Mart, because they had them.  Our Walmart STILL doesn't stock the disks, but they sell the cameras that take them!)

I often wonder if our Walmart is run by Zero's economic team....

[crockspot]

This won't even make it as a bouncy!

American Express is a pay-as-you-go card! You have to pay it off every month, or you don't use it!

If they were still within the payment period, AE would never deny them!

That used to be true, but some years back AX started offering more traditional CC accounts. I know, because I have one that I carry a balance on.