I just LOVE this advertisement.
My brother called me yesterday asking me if I had seen it, and remarked - "Dad would be turning over in his grave if he saw one of us spend $4 on a cup of coffee!"
How true. Good thing I quit Starbucks back in 2000. The market had just crashed. Business had gone off of a cliff, and I am waiting in line with a bunch of other brain dead consumerists waiting pay $1.82 for a "Grande" when my mind got away from me. At 2 bucks a day I would spend nearly a grande per year on dirty water, I thought to myself. And with that I turned around and went directly to the free coffee my clearing firm at the time (Bear Stearns!) provided for their customers. It wasn't a "Grande", but it was "free" (the clearing fees were absurdly high... ostensibly for, get this... Bear's financial stability!) - and "free is for me". And with that I gave myself a $1,000 take home pay raise.
Ah, but it was not to be.
My oldest thought nothing of ordering a frappy/poofy/machi/euro/fluffy fairy coffee - for $5, and being the overindulgent, slightly-traumatized-from-my-working-class-origins-so-I-spoil-my-kids Dad, I continued to hand over the dough while I waited in the car, refusing to indulge myself while my son happily lapped his yuppie concoction, blissfully unaware that I pretty much resented everything that Starbucks stood for, when...
Epiphany!
I summoned the young pup one fine morning and told him that from this point on he was going to get an allowance of sorts. I say "sorts" because in order to get said allowance he would have a list of chores and responsibilities to complete (since we spend half the year on a farm this is no small requirement) - and complete them he did.
Some time last year we were on our way to the movies when my son asked if we could stop at Starbucks... The moment of truth had come!
When we got there he asked me for some money for his "fairy drink" (sorry, you can take the boy out of the neighborhood, but you can't take the neighborhood out of the boy - and in no way is this meant as a derision to the Gay community - fairy/gay is SOOOOO 1960's - it IS meant as a derision of materially competitive community). I told him "You are on your own. You get an allowance. If you want to spend it on $5 cups of dirty sugar water, that's your business".
After a moment of SHOCK, the pup collected himself and said "Are you paying for the popcorn?" (remember, we were on our ways to the movies). I said, "Of course". And he replied "never mind, I don't need to go to Starbucks".
Even a 15 year old knows that "$4 is dumb", and my father can rest easy knowing his namesake was a chip off the old block.
Mentatt (at) yahoo (d0t) com
7 comments:
As I've mentioned before, the average consumer is now "purchase-exhausted". When given the ability/credit to spend-spend-spend, we take it, being the fallible humans that we are. But I'm starting to see more of my friends and family starting to embrace the "being a Mr. Potter cheapass" way of life, as I have tried to do for the last few years. I still spend money -- no doubt! ($120 for a steak dinner for two last night!! Sin! Sin!), but on the bigger expenses: I cut the cable, I'm a coupon freak (20% off at IHOP!!) all my new clothes are Deloitte T-shirts given to me as gifts, I have a 16 year old Buick, two 13 year old cats, no real vacations except in my own mind, and ownership of a 100 year-old two-flat that can only be described as a big treehouse. Cheap is in, people. Join us in the race to the bottom!!! :)
Look at the Starbucks thing as a chance to teach your kid how to improvise. You can make these kind of drinks for probably less than $0.50 if you use a little creativity.
When I was in college, I would provide myself with a car by finding 2 dead cars with opposite problems. For instance, one car with a bad transmission matched with another with a bad engine. Then you have one long greasy weekend and put the two together. You get a running car for $200 or so.
One such car that I built for $200 went up the Alaska Hwy and back. Another ended up being my work car in the oilfields and got me thru a winter of -35F temperatures in North Dakota in the 80s.
Dear anon @11:31
THAT is a BRILLIANT idea (the 2 car thing). I practically rebuilt my first car from the ground up... I paid $298 and then spend my early working years making it drivable - I only WISH I was as creative as you.
My son is an unbelievably good person/fine young man. Nearly 16, I keep waiting for the "troubles" but,so far (knock on wood), I am just thrilled to be his Dad. Still, we live in the east coast version of Beverly Hills, and it just ain't easy to get the local kids to see the "real world" - because they just don't live in it. I will get back to you on that one.
Of course, if I knew then what i know now, I would not have moved to Palm Beach County. Oh, well. we do the best we can with what we know.
>My son is an unbelievably good person/fine young man. Nearly 16, I keep waiting for the "troubles" but,so far (knock on wood), I am just thrilled to be his Dad.<
Our daughter is home-schooled. We did this in order to help her be a free thinking individual who is free of US groupthink. It's worked well as she is doing great at a top university.
One thing that bugs me about all this younger set is the massive amount of fantasy that comprises a major part of their outlook. It one thing after another- video games, social networking, popular culture ie dvds etc. There is not much time left for reality.
We have been able to instill an understanding of sound financial management ie no debt, a saving ethic, pay as you go etc. Also have been successful at getting her to go against the crowd when appropriate and question the leadership- financial or political. She finds herself in the position of explaining the basics of peak oil to her professors and fellow students. Some of the faculty are aware of the resource issues and take it all seriously- but many don't know.
She is one of the few kids in college who are not piling up large amounts of debt. I guess that's the best it gets?
I find it hard to question the parenting methods for kids who become successes ... but why not? ... :)
Video games: the U.S. Army is starting to realize that the video games make the kids better soldiers
Social networking: if you aren't in a school filled with other kids, you don't get much interaction with the "real world". Also harder to find and interact with a "real" potential spouse.
Pop culture: hey. it's entertainment! :)
DVDs: You have a prob with movies? What would you rather watch? The wall? TV?? The Bible?
Debt: is fine as long as you can make the payments. Most kids don't have access to the capital you need to go to college. I am NOT thrilled with the amount of school debt the kids are accumulating, that's true. But the businesses aren't helping matters by assuming everyone without a degree is worthless.
Question leadership? Question the baby boomers? Who run this country now and have helped to put it in the depression we are now in? They have no use for anyone who questions their authority. I've tried. Your kid should have attended a school with their new "zero tolerance" policies to see.
And remember: peak oil is just a theory. It's never been "proven." Today, the oil just keeps flowing (the gas stations are all filled), and even Jeffers cannot guarantee that no more cheap oil fields will ever be discovered anywhere.
"Everyone without a degree is worthless".
Excellent point, Bureaucrat.
The educational system and the corporate system evolved to form a caste system. Kids coming from poor, uneducated, working class lack the resources of kids from the upper middle class and rich. What better way of keeping them separate? Segregation happened in the White community, too. I know from personal experience. When I worked at Bear Stearns everybody (well every WHITE body) (except me) was an Ivy League grad, the son of a Senator, Congressman, or related to some big shot somewhere. Yes we had our required "minorities" but they were few and far between in the Sr Man Dir ranks... As far as I could tell I was the only working class white guy there. (the white segregation disappears with a little bit of money and a nice suit, sort of).
Rich kids think it was ALL their doing, getting into this school or that program. Never occurs to them no matter how long they live that being born into the right circumstances gave them the leg up and advantages the poor kids did not enjoy.
I am not complaining. I made a small pile of money and feel quite bless. I just can't help but reflect that although white trash guys like me outnumber the rich kids of my era 10 to 1, I don't know many of my ilk that enjoyed the life and material wealth that my Wall Street friends have had.
I guess it also depends how you define working class. To my mind, working class are labor class folks without health insurance or pensions. I do not consider police officers or fire fighters working class. They are a step up from our caste (by my definition).
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