I just realised, as I bounced around my blogosphere today, that most of the posts which captured my interest are about the same thing.
People with money assuming that what is a negligible amount of money to them is also negligible to other people.
Over at Aunt B.’s we’re talking about how a 40-cent gas tax is being proposed by 435 wealthy people under the assumption that forty cents isn’t a lot of money. Here I’m whinging about Apple’s $20 tax on early adopters of the iPod Touch, and over at MCB Ivy is dealing with the major crimp in her lifestyle caused by Dreamhost’s “little billing error.”
I can understand how people can be out of touch with the way other folks live. When you get caught up in the perils and pitfalls of your own lifestyle, it’s easy to have blinders on. What I don’t understand is why, when made aware that some things which are a mere nuisance to you are major deals for other people, that some folks are downright cheeseholes about it.
I’m talking specifically about the comments at Dreamhost’s blog and other places around the internet.
What happened was that Dreamhost had a major billing error and overcharged its customers by seven and a half million dollars. The problem behind the problem is that many of those overcharged had their accounts on debit cards, and so found themselves several hundred dollars in the red. These very legitimate complaints from people who are wondering how to pay their mortgages, student loans and grocery bills are being met with derision and scorn. (Is that redundant? Prolly.)
People who are fortunate enough to not miss $400 are indeed blessed. But they are sort of squandering that blessing by making comments like
Guys, if you’re so damn poor that a year’s worth of hosting bills puts you into overdraft or maxes out your credit card, you need to save your money and stop spending it on webhosting. What in hell’s the matter with you?
I think with all the talk of Equal Rights and all the focus on equality there is often the temptation to forget that not everyone is equal financially.
You see it at work when people assume that a $10 contribution to this or that flower bouquet for this or that person is not a hardship. You see it when everyone assumes that all folks can afford restaurant meals or Netflix memberships. Or when governments assume that 40 cents a gallon won’t keep people from buying their kids new shoes.
Hear, hear!
(you populist, you)
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Excellent post, Kat. That’s something that always gets my goat too, but I have never been able to express it as eloquently as you just did.
It’s really easy to tell someone they need to learn how to spend their money better, when you have plenty of money to spend. It’s a whole ‘nother ball of wax when you barely have enough money to get by as it is.
Well said.
Great post!
When I worked in the corporate world, there were constant “group gifts” organized for birthdays, weddings, births, etc. Several people in my department became indignant because others in the department were contributing only $2 or $3 to the gifts instead of the $10 or $20 the righteous ones expected. It was actually suggested that people who didn’t contribute money or only contributed $1 or $2 wouldn’t get to sign the card that went along with the gift.
I was amazed that the folks in that non-profit, religious organization were so judgmental. If someone wants to wish me a happy birthday, let them wish me a happy birthday whether or not they can contribute financially. We all have times of famine and feast.
Good post. I’m kind of living this one, right now myself.
As much as I love Dave Ramsey, his followers have a tendency to show the attitude of the commenter at Dreamhost.
I was once like that, but life has a way of showing you the other side sometimes – especially if you’ve forgotten it, like I had. I won’t say it’s God’s plan, neccessarily, but won’t say it isn’t, either.
I’d have to respond to that DreamHost commenter by saying, “If you’ve got so much damn money in your checking that a year’s worth of hosting bills doesn’t put you into overdraft, you need to start managing your money better by putting some of that over into your savings where it can be earning you interest.”
On the gas tax thing: I computed it the yesterday when I saw B’s post. A $.40 hike on every gallon would cost me a meal (perhaps 2) everytime I fill up.
I came across your blog through a friend’s blog. I think this is a really thought provoking post, and I think it’s interesting that you have this take on the issue when you support Ron Paul who is favor of the ‘fair’ tax. The Fair Tax would replace income tax with sales tax, and thus would take more money away from the people who have the least amount of disposable income. Someone who makes too little right now to have income tax removed from their paycheck would automatically have to pay the extra sales tax of the fair tax. Just something to think about, since we are concerned about not oppressing the poor anymore than they already are.
We put gas in the car yesterday morning. We “put gas in” as opposed to “filled” the car, and for thirteen gallons, were privileged to pay $43.00. My comment was that at that price, we should be dabbing it behind our ears.
iyi