Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Nothing bloody works

So within a week of a plastic clasp snapping on my nearly-new backpack, I've had the stitching unravel from two pairs of pants in different spots and had my microchipped, high-security debit card suddenly drastically limited to a maximum withdrawal of $1 (with no warning, even though I was at a bank shortly before I discovered it) because it's been "compromised" - for the second bloody time in three months. Nothing bloody works anymore! Ideas of craft and quality have been replaced by finding the cheapest sweatshop labour to make things, making the greatest possible profit on the sale, and either outsourcing or automating complaints and customer service. Even the bank computer that supposedly phoned me to alert me that I needed a new bankcard didn't have the courtesy to leave a voicemail. The bank dings me anytime when I fuck up - if I forget a payment, go over my credit limit, or so forth there's inevitably a penalty; how about compensating me for the fact that I suddenly have no access to my bank account for the night?

And hey, has anyone noticed, now that the Olympics are over, there are suddenly a whole lot more people sleeping on the sidewalks again? I mean, maybe it's just because it's warmer outside, but it wasn't that cold this winter, and it's not that warm now; did someone decide to shut down a few temporary shelters, now that the eyes of the world aren't on us?

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