Theater goers and sports fans are killing us!
Theater ticket prices go up another couple of bucks... but, Gee! You've gotta see the new Harry Potter movie!
Tickets to the ball game are $50! But, Wow! You may not even have another chance to buy tickets to see the team this season!
So the grocer says, "If they'll pay $12 to see a movie, they sure can pay $4 for a gallon of milk!"
The plumber says, "If they can pay $50 to see a ball game, they sure can pay me $100 to come fix their leak."
There was a time when prices were determined by cost to provide the goods or services purchased, plus a reasonable profit for the effort. No longer. The rule today is, What will the market bear?
Fair, honest. reasonable are no longer the language of enterprise. Today we pull a price out of the air. If people pay it, we raise it a little. If they will not pay it, we have a sale, lowering the price temporarily. If they pay the sale price, we take another shot at charging the full price. If they now pay the full price, we again raise it a little.
Every time you smile and agree to pay "a little bit more" for something, you are signaling to someone that raising prices is okay. Only when people begin to walk away from a ticket booth saying they will not pay that much; only when people stop buying something, anything because of price, will someone sit down and seriously search for ways to offer the goods or service for less.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Unintended Consequences
The problems of violence by Mexican drug cartels and the growing resentment against illegal immigration along the U.S. southern border, has led to the dislike of the entire population of Mexico and their thoroughly American descendants in the eyes of many Americans. That is a tragedy.
I live in a city located about 50 miles from Mexico, where persons of ethic Mexican descent are the majority. Having visited Mexico many times, I can attest to the fact that the Mexican people and their progeny, in general, are the kind of people you would like as your neighbors. They have deeply held religious faith and strong family ties. Are there some big cultural differences? Yes. But these differences are not universally apparent.
Last night my wife and I had dinner in one of our city's numerous independently owned "Mexican" restaurants. Actually, that is a misnomer. the cuisine we call Mexican is rarely found in Mexico once you leave the proximity of the U.S. border. In fact, it is probably more common in U.S. restaurants than in their Mexican counterparts.
During dinner, a local group of mariachi musicians came into the restaurant and played for the patrons. They were dressed in what has become traditional mariachi attire... black trousers with silver decorations nicely attached down the outside of each leg, white shirts with a white, satin bow, and black vests.
While the group were not great musicians, they were not bad, and I fully enjoyed their performance. One fellow had obviously acquired his attire at a younger age and had decidedly outgrown the fit. But since they played only for tips, one can understand his inability to afford a new outfit.
I requested a popular Mexican song, made famous by Mexican superstars Juan Gabriel and the late Rosío Dúrcal, but they did not know the song, a testament to the fact that the group were decidedly more American than Mexican.
The musicians played three or four songs and left the restaurant. We finished our dinner with a most warm feeling of affection and appreciation for these friendly people; along with a touch of sadness in the knowledge that many Americans will never learn to appreciate the goodness in so many of our southern neighbors.
The problems of violence by Mexican drug cartels and the growing resentment against illegal immigration along the U.S. southern border, has led to the dislike of the entire population of Mexico and their thoroughly American descendants in the eyes of many Americans. That is a tragedy.
I live in a city located about 50 miles from Mexico, where persons of ethic Mexican descent are the majority. Having visited Mexico many times, I can attest to the fact that the Mexican people and their progeny, in general, are the kind of people you would like as your neighbors. They have deeply held religious faith and strong family ties. Are there some big cultural differences? Yes. But these differences are not universally apparent.
Last night my wife and I had dinner in one of our city's numerous independently owned "Mexican" restaurants. Actually, that is a misnomer. the cuisine we call Mexican is rarely found in Mexico once you leave the proximity of the U.S. border. In fact, it is probably more common in U.S. restaurants than in their Mexican counterparts.
During dinner, a local group of mariachi musicians came into the restaurant and played for the patrons. They were dressed in what has become traditional mariachi attire... black trousers with silver decorations nicely attached down the outside of each leg, white shirts with a white, satin bow, and black vests.
While the group were not great musicians, they were not bad, and I fully enjoyed their performance. One fellow had obviously acquired his attire at a younger age and had decidedly outgrown the fit. But since they played only for tips, one can understand his inability to afford a new outfit.
I requested a popular Mexican song, made famous by Mexican superstars Juan Gabriel and the late Rosío Dúrcal, but they did not know the song, a testament to the fact that the group were decidedly more American than Mexican.
The musicians played three or four songs and left the restaurant. We finished our dinner with a most warm feeling of affection and appreciation for these friendly people; along with a touch of sadness in the knowledge that many Americans will never learn to appreciate the goodness in so many of our southern neighbors.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Good old folks!
Sometimes when watching the news, I wonder what my father and my grandfather would think if they saw the same newscast. Usually I imagine they would fall off the sofa laughing!
My grandfather was born in 1862 (died in 1937), my father was born in 1893 (died in 1968). No need to explain that these men survived drought and floods, heat and cold, times of prosperity and times of financial hardship; they saw recessions, depressions, booms and busts and numerous wars.
Yesterday a news report covered the hot July weather that is sweeping the nation. One reporter told the sad story of hardship suffered by someone who had no air conditioning.
My grandfather, who had never heard of air conditioning, would have seemed puzzled and asked "Had no what?"
My father (who, late in his life had a window air conditioning unit) would have explained that air conditioning is a machine that makes your house cooler. Both men would have laughed.
We have become a nation of ninnies who agonize over the loss of some modern convenience which our ancestors did very well without for their entire lives.
Were those times the good old days? Of course not. But those were the good old people. They certainly appreciated the benefits of modern conveniences, but they saw those things as conveniences... not essentials for life.
Sometimes when watching the news, I wonder what my father and my grandfather would think if they saw the same newscast. Usually I imagine they would fall off the sofa laughing!
My grandfather was born in 1862 (died in 1937), my father was born in 1893 (died in 1968). No need to explain that these men survived drought and floods, heat and cold, times of prosperity and times of financial hardship; they saw recessions, depressions, booms and busts and numerous wars.
Yesterday a news report covered the hot July weather that is sweeping the nation. One reporter told the sad story of hardship suffered by someone who had no air conditioning.
My grandfather, who had never heard of air conditioning, would have seemed puzzled and asked "Had no what?"
My father (who, late in his life had a window air conditioning unit) would have explained that air conditioning is a machine that makes your house cooler. Both men would have laughed.
We have become a nation of ninnies who agonize over the loss of some modern convenience which our ancestors did very well without for their entire lives.
Were those times the good old days? Of course not. But those were the good old people. They certainly appreciated the benefits of modern conveniences, but they saw those things as conveniences... not essentials for life.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
The Casey Anthony Verdict - A Great Day For America
I have always deplored the fact that much of our American Culture is a popularity contest. Many years ago a friend suggested that in America no one could be elected to political office who parted his hair in the middle or who wore a mustache. That may not have been true then or now, but it is a fact that appearances weigh heavily on public opinion.
I also deplore the fact that we defer to a person with a visibly perceptible disability, but often vilify someone with an unseen affliction. We show sympathy for any person with a missing limb, but scoff at a mentally ill person who behaves in an uncharacteristic way.
Like many people, I must struggle to hide my disapproval of a obese person or one who is slovenly. In fact, I usually resent the guy who comes into an eatery wearing a soiled baseball cap and sits across from me, wearing the hat throughout his meal. Those appearances are things I very much dislike, but they are hardly punishable offenses.
I was but 3 1/2 years old when the infant son of hero aviator Charles Lindberg was kidnapped in March of 1932. Like the body of little Caylee Anthony, Lindberg's son was later found, decomposed. A small boy myself, I found that event frightening.
That tragic story and the ensuing trial dragged on for three years before a man named Bruno Richard Hauptman was convicted in March of 1935, and executed a year later in April, 1936, when I was seven years old.
Hauptmann was convicted on circumstantial evidence and, while there was no TV and scant radio coverage available in my farm home, I never believed Hauptmann was proven guilty of that crime. That trial and its outcome, in fact, has haunted me.
Now comes the case of Caylee Anthony. Having been blessed with four sisters, three daughters and seven granddaughters, everyone who knows me knows that I adore little girls. As I have blogged before, I believe little girls to be our most precious and fragile asset. They are, after all, the mothers of our next generation. To see a little girl die so young is the saddest of all tragedies.
If that death was because of a deliberate act by an adult, that person should be found and punished to the full extent of the law... but not beyond. They should not be lynched. Not shot like a dog. Their punishment should be inflicted only after there is solid, unshakable proof of their guilt.
As with the Lindberg trial, I did not follow the proceedings of the Anthony trial. That was the job of the jury, not mine. I had no interest in watching the emotional suffering of others, as did millions of TV viewers.
Casey Anthony has acted in an unusual, largely inexplicable manner. But this was not a popularity contest. The jury, rightfully, did not consider anything but the charges filed against Casey Anthony by the State of Florida. Unquestionably, she lied to authorities - for which she has been convicted. But lying is not a capitol crime. The state of Florida did not prove that she killed her daughter, and I am so grateful for the jury that reached that conclusion.
Having enjoyed a career in the news reporting business, I know we are not permitted to declare someone guilty of a crime unless they are convicted by a court of law. Once that conviction is affirmed, however, we may then legally call them a criminal. Conversely, when a person is acquitted, they are legally innocent. If we are to remain a nation of laws, we must cling to that principle. Agree or not, we must accept the verdict in the Anthony trial.
Casey Anthony did not kill her daughter. We may never know who did, or if it was truly an accidental death, or why Casey behaved as she did. Was she emotionally disturbed, as the defense seemed to infer? We cannot see that disability, if it existed. We can never know beyond the best assessment of medical experts.
She lied to the cops. She has been punished. Now she should be regarded the innocent citizen the court has declared her to be, and allowed, if she so wills, to attempt to put her life back together.
I have always deplored the fact that much of our American Culture is a popularity contest. Many years ago a friend suggested that in America no one could be elected to political office who parted his hair in the middle or who wore a mustache. That may not have been true then or now, but it is a fact that appearances weigh heavily on public opinion.
I also deplore the fact that we defer to a person with a visibly perceptible disability, but often vilify someone with an unseen affliction. We show sympathy for any person with a missing limb, but scoff at a mentally ill person who behaves in an uncharacteristic way.
Like many people, I must struggle to hide my disapproval of a obese person or one who is slovenly. In fact, I usually resent the guy who comes into an eatery wearing a soiled baseball cap and sits across from me, wearing the hat throughout his meal. Those appearances are things I very much dislike, but they are hardly punishable offenses.
I was but 3 1/2 years old when the infant son of hero aviator Charles Lindberg was kidnapped in March of 1932. Like the body of little Caylee Anthony, Lindberg's son was later found, decomposed. A small boy myself, I found that event frightening.
That tragic story and the ensuing trial dragged on for three years before a man named Bruno Richard Hauptman was convicted in March of 1935, and executed a year later in April, 1936, when I was seven years old.
Hauptmann was convicted on circumstantial evidence and, while there was no TV and scant radio coverage available in my farm home, I never believed Hauptmann was proven guilty of that crime. That trial and its outcome, in fact, has haunted me.
Now comes the case of Caylee Anthony. Having been blessed with four sisters, three daughters and seven granddaughters, everyone who knows me knows that I adore little girls. As I have blogged before, I believe little girls to be our most precious and fragile asset. They are, after all, the mothers of our next generation. To see a little girl die so young is the saddest of all tragedies.
If that death was because of a deliberate act by an adult, that person should be found and punished to the full extent of the law... but not beyond. They should not be lynched. Not shot like a dog. Their punishment should be inflicted only after there is solid, unshakable proof of their guilt.
As with the Lindberg trial, I did not follow the proceedings of the Anthony trial. That was the job of the jury, not mine. I had no interest in watching the emotional suffering of others, as did millions of TV viewers.
Casey Anthony has acted in an unusual, largely inexplicable manner. But this was not a popularity contest. The jury, rightfully, did not consider anything but the charges filed against Casey Anthony by the State of Florida. Unquestionably, she lied to authorities - for which she has been convicted. But lying is not a capitol crime. The state of Florida did not prove that she killed her daughter, and I am so grateful for the jury that reached that conclusion.
Having enjoyed a career in the news reporting business, I know we are not permitted to declare someone guilty of a crime unless they are convicted by a court of law. Once that conviction is affirmed, however, we may then legally call them a criminal. Conversely, when a person is acquitted, they are legally innocent. If we are to remain a nation of laws, we must cling to that principle. Agree or not, we must accept the verdict in the Anthony trial.
Casey Anthony did not kill her daughter. We may never know who did, or if it was truly an accidental death, or why Casey behaved as she did. Was she emotionally disturbed, as the defense seemed to infer? We cannot see that disability, if it existed. We can never know beyond the best assessment of medical experts.
She lied to the cops. She has been punished. Now she should be regarded the innocent citizen the court has declared her to be, and allowed, if she so wills, to attempt to put her life back together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)