A tech savvy friend who updates her equipment regularly, gave me her old IPhone recently and I went to the AT&T store to see if I could use it without signing up for the $30.00/month data plan. Not surprisingly, the answer was an unapologetic "no". I should have asked why, but I doubt that any answer to that question would have been satisfactory.
I am an inveterate texter, and although I manage perfectly well with predictive text on my little antique of a phone, I wouldn't mind using a phone with the much more efficient qwerty keyboard. I looked around at the keyboard phones that could be used WITHOUT a data plan and the prices seemed pretty reasonable, until I looked at the fine print. In large print the price was $49.99 but in fine print on the sign next to it, they explained that the lower price included a two year contract renewal. If you wanted to buy the phone outright, the price morphed into a whopping $249.99. What diabolical scheme was at work here? **See rant below**
Odds are that I will continue using my current cell phone provider for two more years anyway, so why resist the temptation of a new phone? It was my symbolic attempt to take a stand against the tyranny of those holding us all hostage. Faced with a groundswell of opposition to said tyranny I believe we could effect change. The challenge is that as we embrace each new incarnation of technology, anything resembling a groundswell becomes a trickle.
Cockeyed optimist that I am, I talked with the sales associate about ways to lower my bill. Any change to my plan that resulted in savings in one area would cause trouble in another. I could save a modest amount by lowering my minutes from 700 to 500 per month but I would then be vulnerable to expensive overages as well as a more expensive level of text messaging. I had flashbacks to first year Algebra!
**Walking out of the store, I drifted into a dream-like state as I imagined the back room in which these bizarre and arbitrary rules are formulated. A handful of people were brainstorming about how to wring the most money out of their customers without the customers noticing. I thought of the surveys they must have conducted with people in their target demographic about how much they would be willing to pay for things like unlimited text messaging or data plans before feeling as though they had been screwed.
The contract parameters that my imaginary executives came up with required a graduate school level of math proficiency but no one seemed to mind because they were, after all, getting a $249.99 phone for only $49.99! My mind then meandered to a scene from the 1976 movie "Network" in which Peter Finch exhorts people to stick their heads out their windows and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna' take it anymore!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE&feature=related
As Richard Buckminster Fuller once said....“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Here's to change!
Copyright KKR March 2012
Welcome to anyone with enough curiosity to follow this blog through all potential incarnations to a place of laughter, serenity, enlightenment or simply a way to waste a few minutes waiting in the dentist's office. After having thought about and talked about getting a job for nearly 10 years, I think it's finally time to..... think about it some more. I have a very specific skill set to offer potential employers, as well as an equally specific set of requirements for the perfect job. I have a bachelor's degree in Russian which here-to-for has not enhanced my marketability. You see, I haven't used my degree, well, EVER, and I have forgotten all but the most basic Russian vocabulary such as hello, thank you, please and goodbye.
I am in the demographic which can generously be described as middle age, so I have neither the time nor the physical prowess to climb any ladders, corporate or otherwise. I suffer from extreme SDPD (Self- Deprecation Personality Disorder), mild paranoia, and finally, chronic cashier-ophobia. I have actually been known to give back more change to people than the item they purchased was worth. None of these afflictions have been clinically evaluated, but trust me, they are very real.
I do have several qualities which I feel could be useful in the appropriate vocation. I am a great listener, I can talk on the phone for hours, I can research nearly any topic you can throw at me and I can proofread better than anyone I know. I'm not sure yet how these talents coalesce into a viable occupation, but I remain ever on the lookout for my true calling.
Blogging for profit has taken the world by storm and I believe this may be the answer to my prayers. Conventional wisdom says that one should be willing to blog for nothing before expecting to earn a living wage from it. I have been blogging for the pure enjoyment of it for several years now so I have already made it past that first hurdle. Blogging combines many of my strengths with the added luxury of working from home in stretchy pants. If I could dole out helpful advice or offer a sympathetic ear and possibly even make readers laugh I would consider myself as lucky as HGTV's Urban Oasis Winner
http://blog.hgtv.com/urban-oasis/2011/10/25/meet-the-winner-of-hgtv-urban-oasis-2011/.
So, I appeal to the audience out in cyberspace to join me on a journey whose direction will only reveal itself as we travel along. Hopefully you can help me end years of inertia before it's time for me to retire.
Copyright - KKR Feb. 2012
