I can see the first one. Giving alcoholics alcohol is not charitable.
The second one, I applaud those people. Most of our kids' Christmas presents are from the thrift store this year, and they won't care one bit.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
We furnish most of our holiday presents through yard sale finds.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Yes, the first story is objectionable because the radio hosts are callously exploiting the vulnerable for their own publicity and profits. The second story is a bit unusual, though...at least in the outrage sense. I read the article and noticed only one reference of 'outrage', saying that a Chamber of Commerce member had phoned one of the Compactors and told them they were trying to ruin the economy.
I wonder, did the CoC member's secretary announce them on the phone, or what?
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
The first story bores me.
The second story is remarkable; it demonstrates a fundamental difference between the mindset of those people and my own.
Inevitably, when I'm making a purchasing decision, I measure what it costs me not only in the dollar amount, but the time it would take to obtain it and how satisfied I would be. The first two reasons are a large part of why I purchase all my music; attempting to locate, download, relabel and reorganize illegal MP3s is so time consuming that it becomes a question of numbers: if it takes me an hour to download and assemble an album, have I lost money as compared to buying it in the iTunes store for $9.99? Yep. Hence, I buy all my music. This is also why I'm guilty of making a lot of other purchases that I could probably get used for less; clothes, small items (like toothpaste, etc.) that I could be clipping coupons for, etc. But my budget isn't limited by borderline-livable income or dependents, so the time is much more valuable to me than the saved dollar here and there.
The people in this article are working almost entirely off reason #3: because they feel like opting out of the traditional consumer routine is beneficial enough to them that it is worth having no new things, and worth spending the (what sounds like a) large amount of time hunting up used items.
It's at once very admirable and totally alien to me. There are things I can (and mostly do) purchase used/imperfect/refurbished: most of my clothing, DVDs, games, the occasional computer component, etc. But sheets? Linens? Heck no. I just can't do it.
I've been sitting here thinking about this, while I process orders for people who are giving $1500 popcorn machines to their neighbors as presents, and wondering how I feel about this.
I don't really have an answer yet.
Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :
O&A have been bussing the homeless to that mall for at least five years. The only 'schock' to their radio schtick is that people are continually 'shocked' by unoriginal content.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I am amazed at what some people spend on Christmas gifts. We get an amount every year, it is my husband's holiday pay (firefighters don't get time and a half for working holidays instead the extra money is put into an account and returned to them in November) plus a longevity bonus he gets for being at the fire dept in excess of 10 years. That is our Christmas budget. Every year. It goes up slightly each year because the holiday pay is based on his salary, but usually only 1 or 2%. We don't spend more than that amount and it has never been a problem. And when I say it's out Christmas budget I mean it's the whole thing - not just gifts. Decorations, wrapping paper, everything we buy just because it's Christmas comes out of that budget.
I am amazed when I see people talking about what they're getting their kids and it's apparent to me they are spending more than my entire Christmas budget on one child. I know parents who have children that have their own tvs with cable, their own DVD players and DVD collections, a portable DVD player so they can take movies with them wherever they go, game systems and portable game systems, iPods and cell phones - all in their rooms. One wonders if the parents are just hoping the kid will spend ALL their time in their room so they don't have to worry with them.
I asked a relative for suggestions on what to get their child for Christmas and was directed to the Toys R Us website, where I could sign in and view the kid's list. So now, along with wedding and baby registries (which I think are a good idea, mind you) we can now register our kids' Christmas lists? Does that seem wrong to anyone else?
It seems to me it turns Christmas morning into a time where the kid is checking things off, instead of appreciating and being grateful for what they did get.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
quote:I asked a relative for suggestions on what to get their child for Christmas and was directed to the Toys R Us website, where I could sign in and view the kid's list. So now, along with wedding and baby registries (which I think are a good idea, mind you) we can now register our kids' Christmas lists? Does that seem wrong to anyone else?
It's the battle between surprise and disappointment. Clearly, people who use wish lists would rather miss the surprise than be disappointed.
Personally, I'm with you.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
I didn't hear the show, so I don't know if it was degrading. My *guess* would be "yes." But it's odd, if it's bad to buy things for others and bad not to buy things for yourself!
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Most of my present shopping is for nieces and nephews. Almost always books. I ask the older ones for lists when I stopped being able to keep track of what they already had.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
eros, I don't find used sheets gross at all. I pick up extras at yard sales and thrift stores. The people in the article got squicked out by secondhand pillowcases; not me. Heck, as long as they're not stained or anything, I even use secondhand towels. (Washcloths I think I would draw the line at. But I don't use them much anyway.) I can see not wanting secondhand underwear or socks. And that's just teenage and adult socks, little kid socks I have no problems with. Other than that, most of my clothes are secondhand (or gifts.) Our kitchen stuff is all secondhand or gifts or both. Our table is secondhand, my bed is secondhand (the mattress was a gift, though.) Our vacuum is secondhand. Our stereo is secondhand. I really can't think of very much that I need to buy new, other than the things those people list as okay.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I wouldn't have any problem with second-hand everything. I just don't have an desire to do it.
But I'm certain I could if I had to.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
"Here's a pack of Luckies, kid! Smoke up!" "But I don't smoke." "No time like the present!"
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
Opie and Anthony are huge idiots.
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
Also, I have no money this year thanks to starting a new biz, so I'm making all my presents. Most of them are INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS BAKED GOODS! I'm working on them right now. My apartment smells so freaking tasty. I could eat the walls.
My sister makes gifts every year - she's very crafty. I love receiving handmade gifts, and I've really enjoyed making them this year. The only reason I haven't in the past is because I just didn't have the time in previous years.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I'm making chocolate truffles for most of my giftees this year. I picked up some plastic food-service containers at Smart and Final, and green cello and red ribbon at Big Lots. Ghiradellis' bulk chunk of chocolate from TJ's, cream and butter on sale from Albertson's, and I'm good for as many as I need to give to for less than $25.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: There are things I can (and mostly do) purchase used/imperfect/refurbished: most of my clothing, DVDs, games, the occasional computer component, etc. But sheets? Linens? Heck no. I just can't do it.
What do you do when you stay at a hotel? (*honestly curious, not trying to make a point with a question)
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:if it caught on, would destroy the economy and our way of life.
Yup. I have known for a long time that if all other Americans lived like my wife and I do, the economy would crash because nobody was spending enough money.
And I'm perfectly OK with that.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Huh. I haven't really thought about getting everything second hand before. I'm a relatively poor college student. I've learned to be pretty thrifty with what I have and am fairly well off as a result.
But thrifty doesn't always equate to buying used. Mostly it equates to using things until they absolutely cannot be repaired.
I'm definitely big into the do it yourself aspect of what they are doing. But I dunno about getting everything used. I think I'd rather buy new -- for most stuff, but not buy often and keep what I have until it loses all function and possibility of repair. And do the repairs myself.
Posted by NicholasStewart (Member # 9781) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:if it caught on, would destroy the economy and our way of life.
Yup. I have known for a long time that if all other Americans lived like my wife and I do, the economy would crash because nobody was spending enough money.
And I'm perfectly OK with that.
If everyone was thrifty and avoided interest wherever possible, companies like Ford & GM would go belly up! There would be a lot of lost jobs. But on the other hand, if we didn't pay interest on all sorts of things (cars, tvs, furniture) and didn't buy things we didn't need, we would all have a lot more money. So what would the end result be? I have no idea.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
quote:I'm definitely big into the do it yourself aspect of what they are doing. But I dunno about getting everything used. I think I'd rather buy new -- for most stuff, but not buy often and keep what I have until it loses all function and possibility of repair. And do the repairs myself.
That's us - hubby and I do a lot of our own repairs around the house, and keep things much longer than most people - we just recently upgraded to a new TV but our old one was more than 9 years old. We pay cars off and drive them into the ground, and usually get a lot of miles out of them (we are very careful about good regular maintenance on the automobiles, his truck is approaching 200,000 miles).
Put me in the camp that's squicked out by used sheets, though. Unless they were white and I could wash them with hot water and lots of bleach. SEveral times. So what money I saved on the used sheets would be pointless because I'd spend so much washing them and they wouldn't last 'cause the bleach would wear holes in them. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I still don't understand the squick with secondhand sheets (although I respect it, and I would never give any of y'all used sheets as gifts ). I wash them twice with bleach and hot water (most I've found are colorfast, despite the bleach) and carry on.
Honest question for those who have the squick: what do you do in hotels? With the sheets/pillowcases, the pillows, and with the blanket and the comforter?
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: I still don't understand the squick with secondhand sheets (although I respect it, and I would never give any of y'all used sheets as gifts ). I wash them twice with bleach and hot water (most I've found are colorfast, despite the bleach) and carry on.
Honest question for those who have the squick: what do you do in hotels? With the sheets/pillowcases, the pillows, and with the blanket and the comforter?
I'm pretty squicked out by hotel sheets, too. In hotels, I usually sleep with all my clothes on.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:If everyone was thrifty and avoided interest wherever possible, companies like Ford & GM would go belly up! There would be a lot of lost jobs. But on the other hand, if we didn't pay interest on all sorts of things (cars, tvs, furniture) and didn't buy things we didn't need, we would all have a lot more money. So what would the end result be? I have no idea.
The end result would probably be a much smaller economy and more expensive goods for everybody. I'm guessing that in many ways, it would be like setting the economy back several decades.
I have no problems with secondhand clothes or sheets.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I'm not crazy about hotel sheets, but my mom used to be an executive with a hotel and I've been in the back where the sheets are washed, and I have some pretty decent faith in the industrial washers and dryers they use. At least at her hotel, they used bleach (all the sheets were white, after all) and I felt okay. Though I do pull them back and examine them, looking for anything that might be a red flag, plus I saw a special on bed bugs and so I always move the pillows and pull back the sheets and mattress covers and check for bed bugs. *shudder*
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I see secondhand clothes and sheets as pretty much the same, I guess-- you wash them, and they're clean. *shrugs*
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Okay, follow me on this. I'll tell you why clothes and sheets are different for me.
I'm a mom of four. I have washed many a soiled sheet, soiled with everything from blood, to throw up, to the results of leaking diapers.
yes, clothes can become soiled too, but I think the frequency of nastiness in sheets is much higher, to me. I see sheets as being akin to underwear, another thing I won't buy used.
I didn't say it was rational, it's just the way I see it.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
The bed, sheets, and blankets I slept on and under last night were all bought used.
edit: I just remembered that one of the blankets was actually bought new.
Posted by Avatar300 (Member # 5108) on :
quote:Originally posted by NicholasStewart:
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:if it caught on, would destroy the economy and our way of life.
Yup. I have known for a long time that if all other Americans lived like my wife and I do, the economy would crash because nobody was spending enough money.
And I'm perfectly OK with that.
If everyone was thrifty and avoided interest wherever possible, companies like Ford & GM would go belly up! There would be a lot of lost jobs. But on the other hand, if we didn't pay interest on all sorts of things (cars, tvs, furniture) and didn't buy things we didn't need, we would all have a lot more money. So what would the end result be? I have no idea.
If we didn't buy these things demand would go down. Production would follow and you'd either see a big decrease in jobs or pay. The economy would probably be a lot smaller and we'd probably experience some pretty heavy deflation.
Having said that, nobody but me gets to decide what I need.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I think the wish list on things like the Toys-R-Us web site are a fantastic idea, as long as there are a variety of price points.
It is NOT a "give me everything" list. It is instead a "if you'd like to give me something, these are things I have noticed that I like". I think it's very considerate, as long not everything on there is expensive.
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
). I wash them twice with bleach and hot water (most I've found are colorfast, despite the bleach) and carry on.