We have a very large expensive Cannon printer at my current place of work that requires frequent service. One day our certified repair guy comes in and I’m working in the same room. I didn’t have much to think about so I started up a conversation, starting out by asking him how he got into printer troubleshooting, repair, all that good stuff. His story was not as straightforward as I’d expected and it angered me.
He had gone to school and got degrees in technical geography and cartography with the intention of joining the CIA to analyze intelligence maps and such. After he finished his lengthy schooling he went in for an interview with the CIA, but it appears he was a little late. Basically, he was told that if he was anything but a white male, he would have been hired to his dream job. Instead, diversity for the sake of diversity kicked in and his dream job was set aside for a politically recognized minority, and was probably eventually given to someone with less schooling, less ambition, and less passion for the job.
I’ve always argued that diversity for the sake of diversity tears people apart and promotes racism in some cases, but this was a real person with a real story, and it really boiled my blood. He ended up going through all that school for his dream job but instead ended up taking an entry job in printer troubleshooting, where he’s been for 15+ years.
I was on autopilot at work today and this thought flew through my mind so I thought I’d share.
When you pick up a product in a store (lets use a music store and a CD as examples), you check out the tracks and you look at the price, if it’s not to much you continue to entertain the idea of purchasing it. Once you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t live without the CD, you carry it to the front of the store and set it on the counter. The cashier might make a comment about how they love that band, or they bought that CD last week, or maybe their just stare dumbly at the screen and tell you the price. You eventually hand over the money and finish your transaction and walk out of the store.
What did you just pay for? Did you think the store was going to forward your money to the artist? Of course you didn’t, but you convince yourself that you BUY your music in CD form to support the artist right? Well they already bought the CD from the artist, that’s why you are holding it in your hand. So basically, you just payed the store a restocking fee. Obviously there are flaws in my logic because I’m sure some stores have tabs with artists and exclusive contracts and stuff like that. But the fact still remains, whether you buy that CD or not, it’s already paid for; the store might just have to take a loss if you don’t. Get out there and support your local music store!
P.S. This theory holds true for most products and most stores.
P.P.S I do not condone or pretend to joke about condoning piracy.
For those of you who don’t know, Craigslist is a localized classifieds site ran out of San Francisco. It also has several places for rants and raves and discussions. There is a section called the Best Of, which is community moderated and is pulled from all the local Craigslists.
Here is one that went up recently that reminded me of several of my own similar experiences: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/ott/952526961.html
I’ve made a mirrored version on our server in case the link above goes down: http://cookingpotatoes.net/archived_sites/craigslist_female_hambeast.htm
