Tag: Tribalism

I was in a pawnshop last Thursday, wanting to unload a DVD and blueray player, along with one of the three high-def computer screens I had that fell within the minimum specs they require in order to screw you on the value.

Yeah, I get it… it’s how its goes; business, and all that.

Plus, if things had gone as I’d originally intended, per the initial deadline, that was it, I’d have been gone, the keys on the counter, and selling those at a higher price no longer relevant whatsoever.

However, as I write this, doing so in a world where I sold my other two monitors, left to the one on my laptop (19” and touchscreen, at least), I do regret the $20 I got for the one at the pawnshop, though it’s the same price I ended up selling the other two, anyhow.

The real issue, and a torturous one it is: Going from four screen to one so quickly… I feel so naked and incapacitated.

That. One screen. It’s gotta be the epitome of poverty. Maybe.

I’m not sure about other parts of the world, but I know that new regulations have been continually imposed on pawnshops, the police now tightly linked to many aspects of their business and certain policies have been created to enforce periods wherein goods can’t be resold, abolishing any difference between “loan” or “sale”, and some goods require proof from the police that a verification was done and the good isn’t reported stolen.

And there’s hardly any independent pawnshops left, most belonging to a chain or other. And all are puzzling entities when one considers how these businesses tend to be run and how little effort tends to be placed on the sales and promo end, ditto display and fixtures and thematic or seasonal rotations to attract regular bargain hunters and similar, à la Winners. Also striking are the missed opportunities that ought to readily discernable with the higher ups if a chain—being the Office and Data System's Manager for a 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise made me aware of several facets behind the 'junk' and recycling business, and of a major overlap that exists that pawnshops don't exploit and absolutely should, which I won't say publicly as I've oft been tempted to pitch it privately, though I'm not sure it's a world I really want to play any meaningful role in. And, no, rerouting goods that were picked up is already something that's exploited at the employee end of 'junk removal' companies ("junk" is a misnomer of sorts in many instances), and not at all what I have in mind.  

It's a special type of business that, generally, attracts a special kind of customer, and I’ve no doubt that this explains why, in many such places, ‘customer service’ is given no consideration and the staff receives no training; you’d swear that some are encouraged to see all their ‘patrons’ as deplorables and/or drug addicts and to serve them with whatever disdain they believe is deserved. 

All the refinements and etiquettes of good service are far from guaranteed, like, simply, acknowledging a customer's presence when they come in, the clerk letting them know that they'll be taken care of when they're free / done with the current customer. Nah. If already busy, the guy behind the counter doesn't even make eye contact or shift gear, no matter how long a line up may form; he takes his sweet ass time, casually researching the lowest price that can serve as the basis for the low percentage offered on goods, or he stands by—if not sitting—and focusses on watching a customer check out something they're considering buying rather than letting that customer do their thing as the clerk performs a quick triage, asking what each person in line wants to then provide immediate help or reassure all of a short delay, squeezing in a straightforward, quick-in-and-out transaction while that other customer is testing that thing... But, sadly, multitasking isn't an expected or necessary skill if a pawnshop clerk, it seems; if it takes 20 mins to casually do a 5 mins job, then don't expect a hello before 21 mins, and only if you're next in line.

Talk about adding insult to injury. I don't know what the percentage is, but there's no doubt in my mind that people with some sort of addiction represent  

In such circumstances, I've found that most people don't care so much about who was next per any "first-come" priority, so long as 'things are moving', and anyone who's behind in line that may get served ahead of them doesn't involve anything that's more demanding or bound to take longer than what their own turn is likely to take.

Interestingly, an event like COVID established that pawnshops provide a vital service for many, which is why they, like grocery, pharmacies, and liquor stores, were, for the most part, considered necessary establishments during lockdowns.

Depending on the situation one is in, it provides a source of quick cash at rates that are a bit better than that of credit cards, and, regardless of the reason, sellers are what make buyers possible, hence, without the need that the service answers, clerks who look down on their clients wouldn't have a job from which to do so, and I fail to see highly-respectable and productive citizens in those who happen to clerk in such 'shops'. Keep in mind that, as in all else, there are exceptions, and it's a subset that, nonetheless, based on what I've seen, is typically well represented within that milieu.

Really upsetting in all of this are those online sellers one eBay, Amazon, or other, who offer a ridiculously low price on an item simply to outrank all, and attract the most, but charge an absurd amount on shipping and handling, making the item no cheaper than the average price several times higher than their bogus 'low, low price'. E.g. The average price for Widget W-X2100 in like-new condition is $40 plus and average of $10 for shipping depending on where one lives, but one or two quirky-looking places sell Widget W-X2100 for $9.96 but charge $48 for shipping. They don't pay $48 for shipping; they pay the $10 and pocket the rest, bypassing higher fees and certain withholding periods on the bulk of the payment that ends up not transacting through the platform, only the $9.96 being submitted to such.

However, for pawnshops, well, there you go, that's what the item is worth, $9.96, justifying the offer of a dollar for an item that, in reality, will cost at least $50 for anyone to have that item, in hand. You point this out, and the reply is: Yeah... but we don't care about shipping; that doesn't concern us. We just look at the price you can buy the item for.

Which earns: OK, but if you want the item, that's not the price you're going to pay; that low price is just a ploy...

And round and round it goes. Don't bother; poor logic almost always accompanies poor customer service.

•       •       •

As I waited my turn last Thursday while at the local pawnshop, a black fellow was pawning a gaming headset and controls, offering all sorts of excuses and reassurances as he kept asserting that he was going to be back as he moaned all kinds of gripes about the cost of living, all whilst also revealing that he spent far too much time playing online and that his girlfriend better not find out that he got money by pawning those things.

He then cursed the times, commenting how the whole economy is tanking and Canada is heading down the crapper before blaming his situation on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet's mission to destroy Canada's economy to better control us all. It was high time he stepped down so Pierre Poilièvre could take over.

"Oh, god! Please don't be so ridiculous," I blurted out, unable to contain myself. "It's global; there's more than conservative idiocy and Trudeau clashing in the world."

"Oh, you're one of those; you get all your news from mainstream media, and that's why you can't know what's really happening," he returned. "They lie to you."

What came next, of course, was a mention of the WEF and Klaus Schwab, and leftist liberals being Commies, and Canada now turning into a toilet ever since Trudeau came into power, because, before Trudeau and the Liberals came into power nine years ago, things were pretty good before COVID, food was that expensive not too long ago.

Sigh. A real genius.

What really disturbed me was his level of certainly, which didn't even offer the slimmest opening for anyone to jam some good sense in there and open up a valid discussion. All he could offer was a solid stream of rightwing xenophobia and immigrant-based bigotry wrapped around Culture War talking points he strung together as if doing so conferred a hidden meaning on the whole that brings enlightened people to some truth.

The guy sounded nuts. And just plain ignorant and gullible when he waved away the effects of the ongoing conflicts and of the failed and backfiring sanctions, pointing out how little I understood, for the real problem in Canada, killing farmers as we speak, is Trudeau and his government's obsession with their "carbon thing... carbon pricing... or is it taxing? His carbon taxes, that's it." 

Not only did the guy display the rightwing I've-no-clue-but-I'm-opposed-to-it attitude that's typically seen whenever certain things may demand that all work toward a change, but he then summed it all up in a manner that was to be expected: imposing Wokeness on all to push their global takeover plan is what's at the root of the evil the world now faces... in Ottawa.

"Of course! there's it is!" I snapped. "Woke is the problem; identity issues are why we should have nuked the world tens years ago. You're a brainwashed mess if you think an asinine Culture War is responsible for where we're heading."       

"Ah-ha!," he yelled. "Who said anything about the Culture War? People like you are always looking to go there; I never even mentioned anything about Culture War stuff. Not a thing, so why do you bring it up?"

The clerk, who initially sided with the black man, opened his mouth, mumbled a few words as he realized the stupidity of what the other man was saying, then pressed his lips together and lifted his hands to signal that he was no longer involving himself in the discussion.

The discussion brought us right on the cusp of a really heated screaming match, which neither of us seemed to want to have, as the tension was instantly deflated through curt, conciliatory remarks offered simultaneously, but just to close the matter, and not in any show of acceptance toward the other's position.

On the bright side: Be happy, USA. That one, he's our moron, not yours. So he can't vote for Trump (nor Biden).

Conservative activist Charlie Kirks' rightwing-uniting, political-fireworks machine, Turning Point USA, held another one of its bi-annual rallies this past weekend.

Republicans are far more adept at solidifying a slogan and uniting a base than the Dems, and TPUSA  now plays an important role toward that end, both with on-campus activism and the flashy, US-flag-imbued and Reagan-styled-patriotism-dripping affairs, where passionately anti-Dem speeches by known rightwing stars—from pundits to politicians to the time's cause-serving flavour-of-the-month—take the cadence of a sermon inspired by a Mussolinian interpretation of a Jerry Lewis comedy roast, such efforts aimed at attracting younger viewers whilst warning them of a 'lefty world' and impressing upon them the wondrous and free times that once were and can be, again, but the Dems have to be destroyed before they destroy America.

This iteration was branded "Turning Point Action", and the few speeches I did hear did vibrate with a message meant to inspire action, but one that intensified a fear-induced hatred that sapped out a metaphorical reading of "destroy" to mean "a humiliating defeat," all such figures of speech taking on a more ominous feel albeit one that can be easily denied despite the general hatred steeped in ignorance that's exploited to generate fear through the Culture War they're determined to see as an event that pits True America against Marxist-infiltrated America killers, rather than the gross, asinine exaggeration of an opportunistic GOP versus the vicious 'Woke' overswing made worse by opportunistic Dems.

Every decade for the past 100+ years has been marked by moral debates that see "good and wholesome" struggling to beat back "evil progressive decadence," these battles  always related to changes brought on by increased knowledge about the world and the life-altering technology that this allowed to be introduced into common, daily life. With that comes the mingling and influence of varied cultures, and the reshaping of social mores—marketing and corporations being the biggest culprits as concerns the latter. Thus the dominant culture and the national identity it gives shape to is sure to be challenged by the perceptions and desires of the younger generations who will find themselves in conflict with the imposed ways whose course leads them toward an unnecessarily bleak future, today's problems compounded to an impossible resolve. This usually skips one generation every fourth one.

The Dems exploit this aspect as part of their image, but, having become obsessed with wars, this is reflected domestically, having instigated a deeper divide and delivered a half-ass handling of social issues contributed plenty that provided the firm skeleton on which Republicans, MAGA ones particularly, fleshed out their new Culture War chapter.

Albeit I do agree that there are areas of concern that deserve greater scrutiny, many related topics are sure to strike a public debate, period; fighting that process is ridiculous, but what's opted for. Conversely, on the GOP side, framing these issues in a productive, non-politicized manner is what's needed, but not what's applied; the weaponization witnessed, based on anecdotes and outliers, quickly turn reprehensible their attitude should one remember that fellow Americans fighting for their right to 'be' is what's at the other end of the comic-book Cultural Commie Cult villain they've created in order to win elections.

Dan Bongino is one whose troubling tribal diatribe rested on a truly laughable interpretation of a foe that conflates a fictionalized understanding of "leftism" with outdated and ignorant stereotypes, mishmashing Progressives and communism and trans issues into reductive notions of Stalinism absorbed through Cold War propaganda, repeating the same incredibly stupid arguments that may work with the base he cultivates, but has me questioning what kind of mental deficiency produces such mindsets.

Yes, Dan, those who vote Dem want you to give your iPhone to Bob, who's too lazy to work and buy his own. It has nothing to do with shifting power toward workers and putting a halt to the beyond-incredibly abusive and unfair distribution that's blindly celebrated but achieved through highly-exploitative and destructive means of corporatized control, for whom social welfare is always an unquestioned guarantee... how to explain the last? I mean, without turning into a babbling Libertarian idiot sure to say "small" and "big" followed by "government" too many times without actually saying a damn thing.

You wanna call 'em grifters—and I'm sure that many are—but, no matter how absurd and off the wall some of the claims may be, the conviction appears to be genuine. However, public people adhering steadfast to a surface form and seeking only to validate that interpretation whilst promoting false, negative views that generate hate, "grifter" may not be the right word, but there's definitely lots of honesty lacking there.

By the way, Republicans are mostly responsible for the sorry state of schools, not CRT.

Bongino was let go from Fox News this spring, claiming an inability to successfully negotiate a new contract as the cause, stating that he held no ill-will against his former employer. In combination with Tucker Carlson's forced departure, I'm beginning to wonder whether his termination was related to a clean-up of sorts.

The last speaker I heard, Steve Bannon, is what tied together all the impressions from the bits I'd seen, Bannon's rage, his speech laden with white nationalist lingo, the clarion call that formalised actual war out of the cultural one. 

Carrying both threat and defiance, Bannon proclaimed Trump the unquestioned Republican nominee; the crowd roared. 

The moment crystalized the change that had occurred, the GOP no longer in charge of their party, the establishment Republicans bullied into stepping aside and remaining quiet, this split made visible through more freely expressed attacks aimed toward other conservatives. Those not fully dedicated to their MAGA leader.

DeSantis, having taken aim at Trump, has fallen out of favour. When asked to vote for a second-place choice, those present voted on the one that Charlie Kirk calls "Big Brown Swamee", Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Nothing racist, "Big Brown" is all in good humour... That's my fear with Ramaswamy: he seems to be trying to be more conservative than traditional white conservatives in order to make up for that "Big Brown" aspect... that's used to identify him, hence, his success within that sphere relies on more hardline politics than those of traditional white conservatives, the racist moniker thus applied, and allowed, as jovial derision denoting a conditional form of acceptance.

Of interest, in link with the previous entry: All those present 95.8% replied with "No" to the question: Do you think that US should be involved in the Ukraine war?