Money, Money, Money

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world
- ABBA

After a week of paint hell which consisted of Al and I sacrificing our vacation-time to complete all the main floor, we thought it would be nice to relax on Saturday night and go grab a flick with a couple of friends. Now mind you, there was a time when we were at the movies twice a week, but that was B.M. (before marriage). Now that we have our own little home theater, who needs to go out to see a film, so lately we’ve been cinema slackers.....which would explain the sticker shock I felt and hence the reason why I’m writing today about which purchased items and services totally make me feel like I’m being ripped off of my hard-earned moolah.

Lately, it seems the only time we ever catch a movie is after a meal, in which case we are so full we never get around to buying snacks. Also, Pacino DID get a crazy allergic rash 4 years ago after eating buttered movie popcorn (At a specific theater chain only. Apparently he wasn’t the first, something in the fake butter triggered it). So since that fiasco, we’ve steered clear of the movie popcorn. But on Sat night, we were feeling reckless and tired and hungry (blame it on the paint fumes) and we bought ourselves a large popcorn and a soda....(now keep in mind that I haven’t purchased these items at the movies in ages)...WOW, I paid a whopping $10.50 for one popcorn and regular sized, watered down fountain soda. Talk about feeling ripped off! How can anyone justify paying ten bucks for stuff that costs pennies, I tell ya’. Needless to say, I savored each and every kernel like it was the finest Russian caviar.

On to other things that make me feel ripped off......Greeting cards!!! What’s with that. Why in the world does it cost me $5+ tax for a card? For mother’s day, I spent 20 bucks buying cards for all the "moms" in my life. It’s one single sheet of carton paper with 3 lines of writing, a cartoon, some sparklies and an envelope for crying out loud.

Another favorite of mine are pantyhose.....Now come one, people! Plastic and nylon are pretty much the cheapest things out there. Why in the world must we pay $9 for pantyhose which rip as soon as you remove the packaging! I don’t get it, we don’t live in World War era when women rationed pantyhose and nylon was so expensive that they used to draw a line at the back of their calves with eye liner.. Any other item in the world that’s defective you can return. But why must we continue to purchase an extremely flawed product, then gingerly slink our way into the hose making sure no jagged nail, no lingering leg hair or anything sharper than a cotton ball stands in the way of the hose as we inch it upwards. Even after all our efforts, there will always be some stupid thing that will snag onto our hose during the day and make sure to ruin them. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to pay 9$ and wear it one full day. I never could relate to those movies where you see single women putting on makeup in their bathroom with freshly washed pantyhose strewn over the towel rails to dry...mine never make it to the washing stage. As a result, I have forsaken pantyhose for the last few years, deciding to go au naturel.

My last rant will be - not about a product, but a service....mainly a little something called coatcheck. This pet peeve of mine lingers from my clubbing days where we would wait outside in a line-up in front of a club, in minus 30 degree weather, for over an HOUR to get in, only to pay 3$ for coatcheck. Now don’t get me wrong, three bucks is not the end of the world BUT, why should we be forced to pay for something that is a necessity (like paying to use the toilet if you ask me). We NEED our coats in the winter, and the club management FORCES you to check in your coat, and yet they charge you for it (not very nice treatment towards a client who wants to pay you patronage if you ask me) AND they maintain that they will not be held responsible for any lost or stolen items....like the time my friend’s brand new leather jacket was conveniently misplaced. Let me get this straight...you force me to check in my coat, you make me pay for it (besides the cover charge and the drinks that I’m paying for) and then you "lose" my stuff and won’t be held responsible for it?? Why shouldn’t they be held responsible, they’re the only ones to have access to the coats....Grrr.

There are a million other examples of things that make me feel cheated...but I don’t have all day, so gotta run....now that’ll be $10 for reading my blog. I only take cash.