I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Saturday, July 23, 2011

A record setting week

For those of you who know me in person, you know that I'm a fairly easy going kind of guy. It takes a hell of a lot to disturb me. And even then, when I'm upset, I usually maintain a live and let live attitude. The, "well, we couldn't agree/come to a deal, s'okay we'll go our own ways" mind set.

Well, this week saw two organizations that became dead to me. (Also here, let me explain that this is emulating behaviors my father modeled for me. That gets an instant heavy push against it in my book. This is how bad you have to screw me over before I pull the trigger on this. I don't want to be like my father in any way, but there comes times when I don't have any choice.)

First up is PNC Bank. PNC didn't become dead to me when they changed the rules in regards to my former job and listed any bills 90 days past due as "uncollectible", which our industry was on 120 day standard. This led them to foreclose after the best 2 months we had in years, and I got laid-off. Pissed me off, enough for me to not want to deal with them, but not enough for me to go around saying, "Do not use." However, Bette's Uncle Benny used PNC (as a previous NCB customer, as was my old job). The double billing for identity protection (for years), the statements that were wrong, inaccurate accounting, and general pissiness in dealing with them over the past month and they're dead to me now.

Really, if you all didn't really want to be in personal and small business banking, why the fuck did you buy NCB (which, BTW, moved jobs out of Cleveland)? Are you on drugs? If any of you have money with this bank, I recommend moving to another bank, credit union, or savings institution as quickly as possible. Not all banks will treat you like this. NCB, which wasn't the best (lets be honest) wasn't this bad. I'm talking hyperbolic curve of reduced customer service. We don't have the time to continually come back into your offices because after assuring us we had everything we needed in place, suddenly we need one more thing. And then another. And then just one more. Please, PNC, roll over and fucking die.

Next up is the NFL. First you allow that bastard Modell to move my Brownies from Cleveland. Didn't you learn from your 10+ point share drop in viewership that year? Then you drag your feet on giving us the newly reconstituted Browns. I went from someone who would stop what I was doing to watch football to someone who just doesn't care about it anymore. I went to high school in Canton, Ohio. We love football down there. My mother has volunteered for Hall of Fame for decades now. I marched in 3 parades (back when the bands wore our wool uniforms). I volunteered for activities with my Mom. You didn't think it was critical to get your labor dispute done in time for Football Hall of Fame?

Hey, you know your fans, the people who give you their money? You might want to stop fucking us over. That's it. You're dead to me. My HoF t-shirts won't even be used as dust rags. When I'm out in bars, if they have an NFL game on the TVs, I'll ask them to turn that shit off. I used to buy NFL stuff for gifts. Never again. You're not getting another dime from me.

To all you fans out there, all the NFL cares about is the money you're spending on their overpriced products. They want you to buy their outrageously priced tickets, $8 beer at stadiums (of which they get a cut), watch their TV programing, and buy their licensed materials (which in any other market would qualify for both monopolistic behavior and price gouging). Need your football fix? There's plenty of Friday Night high school football and Saturday college football. You could probably TiVo a lot of it and never be able to see all of it. Why give your time and money to someone who doesn't give a shit about you.

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