Cash Only This...

ROBS RANT

Is anyone else sick of having to pay cash for everything you purchase?  I mean give me a break. Now when I worked as a bartender and carried wads of cash in my pocket, it wasn't a problem, and when there were a couple of places who pulled this bullshit maneuver, I was fine with it, but when in God's name did the whole Brooklyn area become so brazen?  I once walked into a deli, put all my purchases on the counter, went to pay, and the guy told me "Cash only."  I proceeded to leave everything on the counter and told him he had to be kidding me.  I am proud to say that the deli in question is now closed.  

We all know why businesses ask for cash only, and I think it's time for the IRS to investigate these people. Having a cash only business is beneficial in a few ways: one it allows the company to hide their profits thus allowing them to cheat on their taxes - believe me i know, my family was in the restaurant business for a long time. And two, it allows them to avoid the credit card fees that they are supposed to pay.  

But what I want to say to these cheats is that eventually you will be caught.  And it's called THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS.  If you don't want to pay the fee, then don't open a business.  

And the best is if they don't take credit cards, the least they can do is have an ATM machine in their establishments.  The gaul of these people not only to not accept credit cards, but also not to have an ATM machine in a convenient place.    

CASH ONLY is bull.  I don't go to those places anymore.  And you shouldn't either.

MY ADVICE

i think the only way to stop these lunatics and put a stop to the CASH ONLY movement is to stop shopping and eating there. i think we should all call the IRS and have them investigate these cheaters.  The cost of doing business is exactly that.  They are cheaters, liars, and people who cannot defend their position.  Stand behind me.

Friends, how many of us have them?

Before I go into my rant, on this Veteran's Day, I want to say how much I appreciate and thank the people who do the things I don't have the balls to do, and protect our freedom.  And for all you idiots who think we would have the life we do if there was no military and people to go out there and fight and kill these lunatics who want 9/11 to happen everyday here, you should leave this country, please...From the bottom of my heart, thank you United States Military.

ROB'S RANT

Friends, it's a really interesting word - the meaning even more intriguing.  Think about it.  Who truly is your friend besides some of your family and your Mom?  Who could you call at 3 in the morning from a foreign country when you have just been arrested, and that person would be on the first plane the next morning to bail you out?

There aren't many things we remember vividly from our past - I mean as though we were standing there yesterday - but I will never forget when I was 13 years-old my Mom telling me, "Rob, you'll be lucky when you're older if you can count your true friends on one hand."  And I remember thinking she was crazy because at that time I had about 10-12 guys/girls who WERE my friends.  They came over all the time, we had parties together all the time, we signed each other's yearbooks in June every year, saying "your friend, see you in September."  That was crazy talk.  That couldn't be.  That only happened to her.  But after 8th grade, I learned that her prediction or prophecy, might have had some validity to it because all those supposed friends, 1 by 1, started to disappear.  And it wasn't me, because I have been the same way since I was in kindegarten, it was life.  That's what happens, I guess.  People come in and out of your life all the time.  Some are there for a year, some are there for 25.  Some are there for a minute, and some are there for a lifetime.  But I think why that happens is because a lot of people don't really understand the true meaning of friendship.  I think a lot of people get lost in the drunk talk, and the bullshit of a night out where you profess your undying devotion to each other, where nothing can be wrong, and that life is great.  Well, let me tell you something, I've had a lot of those, and I can barely count my true friends on one hand.

I'm going to tell you right now what being a true friend is about, and I want all of you to think really hard about this and if it applies to you.  You know everyone's a friend when things are going great...  But you'll always know your real friends when you're at the bottom, because they will be there to pick you up.  They will call you first to see if you're ok.  They will take you out when you're feeling depressed and buy you a drink.  They'll talk to you and listen even when they don't want to.  True friends are always friends, even if THEY are having a tough time.  You are always there for each other, no matter what.  Being a true friend is accepting someone for who they are, not for what you want them to be.  It's not judging them, because Lord knows we all have our faults.  It's seeing something in them that either you wish you had or that makes you feel better about yourself and the world.  It's inviting them into your family when they are not your family.  It's trusting them with your deepest fears and your greatest joys, and not having them throw either back in your face.  And it's accepting their faults, and its forgiving them when no one else will.

MY ADVICE


Being a true friend isn't easy, no one ever said it was.  But when you find that person who you think could be like your family, who you have shared intimate moments with, who you feel has your back, don't let them go.  Don't let a stupid argument get in the way.  Life is too short.  We are all grasping for straws out there.  Believe me, you are going to need your friends one day because as good as it's going for you right now, tomorrow it could all change.

Now there are going to be times when you want to kill that person, or when you feel betrayed or feel like this person isn't your friend, but at the end of the day, if you are true friends, you will apologize, shake hands, and forget it ever happened.  I always say this, and I live by this, I don't have money, fame, power, influence, a woman, a life...wait, hold on, now I'm depressing myself :) but what I do have in this world, is my word and my loyalty.  Those are the only two things I got.  And if I'm you're friend, yes there will be depression, and annoyance, but there will also be a lot of fun and laughter.  Because come on, at the end of the day, when you take a real look at the place we live in, it sucks!  If you don't laugh, you'll cry.  Right?

I've added a new section to this blog.  I hope you enjoy.

POEM OF THE WEEK


Music

The wave of Music shocks your body.
Your hands, they tremble.
Your feet, they stumble.

To feel it is to be it,
To love it is to know it.

An experience in which emotions run high,
and tears flow is a special high with which music lives.

It can hold you and comfort you, and it can bring you in touch with life.

That's why music waves your sights and numbs your joints.
That's why music stands you still and breaks your points.

Your hands, they tremble,
Your feet, they stumble,
Your feelings bumble.

And all the while, it's just the music.

Meter-Mutts, I meant Meter Maids...

ROB'S RANT


If Meter-Mutts could all look like this.  We would take tickets with a massive smile :)))  I know I would.

Meter-Maids...  Now listen, maids is a term of endearment in my book.  But Meter Maid is one of the nastiest, grossest, words I have ever heard.  How many times have you parked your car for 10 seconds to go into a deli to buy a coffee or a bagel only to come out to see a Meter-Mutt writing you a ticket for $115?  And when you come out to ask them to PLEASE stop writing the ticket, they look at you like you're the jerk.  How many times have you come out of your parent's house, or your apartment, leaving your car by a fire hydrant with your blinkers on, only to have one of them writing you a ticket?  We have all had this happen to us.  I can't believe that no one has seriously injured one of these people yet.  And I am not saying that it is ok to physically assault anyone, but if these people weren't sweeping the public schools' bathrooms, they would be doing nothing else.  I have even gotten tickets when the meters were broken.  They give them to you in the hopes that you don't have enough time to take pictures, and send in evidence to prove you are not guilty.  And then sometimes, how do you prove it anyway?  Most of them really aren't nice, and then they want us to be friendly towards them.  Who gave them the rite to play God with the laws?  Who gave them the rite to take our money out of our pockets?  They don't own the city.  They don't make a profit from the tickets they write.  But yet they consistently take out that stupid red pad or mini-computer and write down or scan the most ridiculous fines that I have ever seen.  Then we have to fight them and beg the city to reduce them.

I will tell you this much, some of these people should be arrested.  I don't care what country, state, or world you live in, Meter-Mutts should be held accountable for their actions.  They never give you a break, and sometimes even stand there waiting for the meter to expire so they can write that ticket immediately.  They have the city and state's support, and they never have a word to say.  I swear to God, we all have to hold them accountable.

Read this...

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/24/2485.asp

My Advice

This is a hard one.  I really don't have any advice for this one.  I really despise them, as I know most of you do, too - especially in NYC.  They are bound by no laws and can write tickets even if they aren't legitimate.  And they do.  And it's not like the tickets are $30, $40...Some of them are now like $150 just for parking in the wrong area of the street.  And who can understand those signs in the city anyway?  I've lived here my whole life, and I still can't figure it out.  The only thing I can say is that is not right to hurt anyone, but sometime Meter-Maids push us to our limits.  They should have a class for them called customer service.  Lord knows they need it.  I know this is short, but I hope you enjoy.