a reset

  The fourth is behind us and back to school is racing at us. The local Walmart is undergoing a major redesign and the deals are everywhere. Clearing out the old stock and bringing in the new, moving everything around. They are adding more self checkouts and changing up the way the pharmacy was laid out. Going for a more upscale look is my thinking, Walmart isn't for poor folks anymore! The products are the same though and I suspect not much will really change in that regard. No different than McDonald's ditching Ronald and now calling it McCafe. Yeah, real upscale. And across the street Burger King advocated his throne, but they are still handing out crowns to everyone, I guess that is being inclusive, it isn't just the kids that are king. Well, when you are paying your burger flippers 15 an hour you do need to perk up your image a bit. This isn't your daddy's fast food. No, most of it is manufactured food. Funny thing is, it was never about the beef. Remember when Wendy's was asking about that?

  You know profits are up, they wouldn't be spending all that money on remodeling and rebranding if it weren't. The public is demanding all of that because they are now making fifteen dollars a hour, they are succeeding in life and the places they eat need to reflect that. Yeah well if I'm paying ten bucks for a big mac I want table linen and fiddle music! I'm part of the upper crust you know, I work! It's a sacrifice I have to make. Hey, Starbucks even tells me what clothes I have to wear, I'm being oppressed but I'm working. I'm a valuable team member. I should make more than I do but the owners/operators of these places insist on making a profit and aren't paying as much taxes as they should. Sure they hire tax attorneys and accountants and pay what the government says they have to pay, but they really should pay more so I don't have to. It's just being greedy. They really should make less to give me more.

  The dollar store went to the $1.25 store. I smile as I recall going to the five and dime when you could actually buy things there for a nickel or a dime. That store remained basically unchanged in design and layout for over twenty years at least. I loved it, had that homey feel, familiar and inviting. I knew where to look for the various things I might be going there for. It wasn't departments back then, it was just near the back, on the right hand side, or mid way down the center aisle. The checkout was front and center. Just holler if you want some help. 

  It sure wasn't anything fancy, just utilitarian. Practical and functional to keep the costs down, not trying to impress anyone. I wasn't aware of it at the time but that was the philosophy of an entire generation and I guess it has rubbed off on me. The greatest generation that lived through the great depression, sorta. Most were little kids during that time, my parents were. Still, to hear them tell it they were standing in the breadlines and growing the grapes of wrath! They were picking those grapes in the hot summer sun, twenty hours a day, for pennies. That was how they learned the value of a dollar and a hard days work. I was taught that a fool and their money soon part company. When you can no longer repair something, it may be time to replace it. Waste not, want not was the motto. And don't put on airs!

  Now my generation, the baby boomers, took on a different attitude. Quite a few dropped out and tuned in, at least for a little while they did. The whole commune thing really didn't work out like they thought it would, socialism never does. But we did start demanding a bit more and working a bit less. The big change came along with the introduction of the Diners Club card. That started around 1950 or so. Today we have hundreds of credit cards and that is what that was. Sears and others had revolving credit. We could now just charge those grapes! That started the whole I deserve this attitude. Just charge it. I don't need to actually have the money to purchase something all I need is credit and I deserve that credit! So far we have charged ourselves into debt to the tune of over one trillion dollars, just on credit cards. The average credit card debt is now 6900 dollars. I won't even mention the national debt.

  And here we are today, people demanding socialism while living in a capitalist country. Really they want the best of both worlds, if there is anything good about socialism. Granted the idea sounds great, everyone gets equal treatment and all of that. The problem is, you run out of other peoples money, as Margaret Thatcher pointed out. The other problem with socialism is the reliance on others, you know being dependent. I don't know how all this is going to shake out, I really don't. You can't charge you way out of debt. My thinking is is it going to take a major reset, like Walmart or McDonalds. And that, that is going to upset a lot of folks. Sometimes the best reset you can have is a return to the beginning. It is, after all, how you got here in the first place, with those first steps. Start again and avoid the missteps that created this mess. The past is there to learn from, although all we seem to do is repeat it.