Lowered Expectations

[caddy]

Last night I was at CVS, waiting in line behind the panhandler on our block to buy one of those large cans of Heineken. He had more than enough cash on the counter to pay for it, but the register was ringing it up at the wrong price. The panhandler made the cashier go check the advertised price and change it. I was impressed how on top of it he was, because I know how CVS will totally ring things up wrong if you're not checking on them.

Also recently, a teenaged girl commented that she had the same phone as me. I was impressed by that, because it meant she got the phone that comes free with the cell plan and not a smartphone with a data plan, like many other teenagers have.

I should feel like I deserve a better cell phone than a teenager. I should be annoyed that a panhandler is holding up my line buying beer. I guess I'm so far over the edge of jadedness that I just don't care anymore...

Anyone else impressed when others of lesser means express the same level of frugality that you do? Anyone just not care anymore?

[doxieluvr]

I find that as I age I have more patience for things. I am glad the man stood up for himself. He should be paying the sale price no matter if he has the money to pay more or not.

[Deleted]

I would expect people with lesser money to be even more frugal than I am.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"I am glad the man stood up for himself. He should be paying the sale price no matter if he has the money to pay more or not.":::...

Hell yeah. I remember one of Liz's "avoid overpaying" articles mentioned that grocery type stores are notorious for errors in the stores favor. I've always suspected that some stores don't update their registers on purpose so that people will grab items they think are on sale, but not notice that they aren't.

[haapai]

I'm always happy to see someone make the same choice. And I'm well past the "but I deserve better than you" stage. There was a time when I would have felt a tingle of shame upon discovering that I was carrying a teenagers' phone. That feeling is long gone.

I love seeing anyone insist on paying the advertised price.

[justwhoever]

I don't care any more or less what someone else is doing with their money. Only care what I do with my own.

[thyme4change]

Nope - I still deserve better than most people, and they should realize that and step out of line so I can get on with my day. Especially if they are homeless. I mean, can't they tell that I am a productive, tax paying member of society and they need me to keep their government cheese coming?

[Cookies Galore]

I guess I would commend the panhandler for picking the 40 oz Heinenken. Not exactly great beer, but better than an Old E!

[bean29]

I pretty much agree with Snerdly. I am somewhat glad but I really don't care that much about what other people are doing. Judging what is going on in their lives by what they are purchasing requires too many assumptions. I have enough to keep track of in my own life without adding other people's garbage to it.

I wondered about the comment about teens with data plans. My Kids have Android phones b/c Mom and Dad got Androids and the Data plan covers 5 phones and everyone was due for phone upgrades.

I really like getting e-mails from my kids updating me on what is going on. I often check up on them via e-mail too. Yesterday DD sent an e-mail that she needed a book from the bookstore. I appreciated the heads up so I was planning a run to the store when I left work for the day.

DH and I have tried to order our lives properly. College, Marriage, Kids, House, etc. We can afford everything we have and everything we give our kids.

[doxieluvr]

Jan 20, 2011 10:28:01 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

Better than "light" beer. Really, what is the point of light beer? Stupid.

"Less Calories" as said by Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama

[caddy]

"I guess I would commend the panhandler for picking the 40 oz Heinenken. Not exactly great beer, but better than an Old E! "

Yep -- I was equally impressed that he shopped sale ads and figured out he could get a Heineken at a better value to whatever cheap beer they carried across the street at the gas station.

[caddy]

Also, someone mentioned homeless people. This guy wasn't homeless; he regularly panhandles for beer money at the intersection. He was clean and sober. I thought he was just still into grunge until I recognized him as the guy who regularly panhandles at that corner.

Not a big deal to point that out or anything. Homeless people have circumstances... But this guy is just a lazy bum panhandler... who comparison shops.

[Opti]

I'll have to say what I thought this thread was about and what the OP was about so did not intersect for me.

"Anyone else impressed when others of lesser means express the same level of frugality that you do?"

I rarely think about it. But then I'm not noticing EBT card users everywhere either. Shocking isn't it.

[thyme4change]

How do you know he was clean and sober? And wouldn't his purchase of beer be an indication that he is not following the AA rules?

[Deleted]

Well, I think caddy means he is not an alcoholic. I buy alcohol every once in a while, does not mean anything is wrong with me.

[thyme4change]

How does caddy know if this guy is an alcoholic or not? The guy can't claim to be "clean and sober" and then drink beer. Although I agree completely that an occasional drink doesn't make one an alcoholic, but you can't claim to be "sober" and then go around drinking. Even if you just have one and you don't get drunk the phrase "clean and sober" has a distinct connotation that you are not using or drinking at all.

[caddy]

"How do you know he was clean and sober? And wouldn't his purchase of beer be an indication that he is not following the AA rules?"

I know he was clean, because his hair was clean and combed and his clothes were clean and his shoes were pretty new. I know he was sober, because when the cashier scanned his item, he said something like, "Wait a minute, that beer was marked $x.xx and it's not ringing up at the sale price." And then he walked over to show the cashier where it had been marked down. I've watched drunk people buy beer, and they don't usually act like that, so it was a judgment call.

[thyme4change]

LOL. The term "clean and sober" generally means not using drugs or drinking alcohol.

You went with the more literal - clean as in took a bath, and sober as in not drunk this very moment.

He could still be a raging alcoholic with a stash of drugs the size of Mt. Rushmore - but at that very moment, he was in clean clothes and wasn't drunk.

[caddy]

thyme4change -- it wasn't meant in AA terms at all. I don't equate panhandling for beer money with alcoholism or homelessness. So I was just making the distinction.

[caddy]

"I'll have to say what I thought this thread was about and what the OP was about so did not intersect for me."

Optimist, what did you think the thread was about?

Because I meant it as a joke, that I feel the opposite of some of the posters on other threads, like "I'm tired of being responsible" and others like it.

So when I see a teen with a better phone than me, I'm not jealous just because I'm too cheap to pay for a data plan. And I don't care if people beg for money and use it to buy beer, etc., but impressed that he bought a good beer. I was trying to express an alternate opinion to the other threads floating around... Some of us our too jaded to be judgmental anymore, like someone else posted in response to me.

[thyme4change]

I don't equate panhandling for beer money with alcoholism

Statistically, you are incorrect.

[Opti]

"Optimist, what did you think the thread was about?"

Since lots of people are not getting raises or having to take jobs at reduced salaries I thought it might be in that vein, i.e. lowered expectations for one's personal lifestyle.

On the rest, I'd like to think its compassion and understanding that guide people to be less judgmental not some weird exhaustion from looking down on people constantly.

[caddy]

Quote: I don't equate panhandling for beer money with alcoholism

Statistically, you are incorrect.

You're probably right, thyme4change. I've only known one family friend who panhandled regularly. He has a college degree in engineering, wife, family, but he had a drug addiction. He was arrested a few times, so with his record, the only job he could get was washing dishes. He made much more panhandling with his friend, so he did that. He wasn't homeless, though.

In my area, there are panhandlers and then there are homeless, who live in camps and don't panhandle. It's two separate groups/situations. Maybe it's regional.

[caddy]

"On the rest, I'd like to think its compassion and understanding that guide people to be less judgmental not some weird exhaustion from looking down on people constantly. "

Unfortunately, it's jadedness and not compassion. As women, we can't even walk to our offices downtown without having people on streetcorners yell cat calls at us. It's annoying and I lost my compassion a long time ago. Also, nobody's getting my spare change unless they look worse off than me.

And don't even get me started on teenagers...