Wow I love the "I've got mine screw everyone else" people

[TwixVoy]

So today I was talking to my boss about the fact we are still sitting on a ton of christmas merchandise that we are trying to clearance out at huge mark downs but just isn't moving.

She told me in a VERY confident tone "No it can't be the economy. I mean I haven't personally had any problems in my life have you? Everything is the same for me." WELL NO SHIT both of us STILL HAVE A JOB that pays relatively well. I didn't really feel like having a debate about it so I just casually agreed with her. I wonder if it ever occured to her how many of our customers don't have a job, or have a job barely paying enough to survive on....... and that perhaps that was related to the reason sales have gone to hell the past year.

We go through another year of massive declines in sales and she'll be singing a different tune. She also reads the same damn communications I do from corporate about staff reductions all the time, and yet seems blissfully unaware she could easily be part of the next reduction. She also lives pay check to pay check and is in massive debt so a sudden job loss would screw her pretty bad, but she has taken no steps to prepare for that possibility. Completely unaware of what is going on because things are going fine for her personally.....

It's kind of sad in a way that so many people out there think everything is great as long as things are going smoothly for them.... They only seem to care when they PERSONALLY get screwed over. I fully believe this is the reason bush was able to wreak havoc for so long before enough people decided things weren't so great after all.

[lonestarnot]

1. I think you are right. When it's not the shoe on your foot that hurts, from many there is no

empathy for the wearer.

[tekisui]

2. The Reich Wingers love to use that argument.

'I ate a fine dinner tonight. You ate a dinner tonight, didn't you? See there, it's a mental recession. If the media would just quit dirtying our minds with it, we'd all be fine.'

They are full of shit. And, out of touch.

[SoCalDem]

3. When she gets "the memo" from HQ

telling her that her store is being closed down, ask her again:evilgrin:

[Orrex]

4. I wish that Conservatives were the only ones who thought that way

But the attitude is as common here on DU as anywhere. Check out any thread in which someone--in desperation--wishes aloud that someone would "bail out" their student loans, or credit card debt, or medical bills, or mortgage payment. You'll immediately see a number of good Progressives pounce on the poster with cries of "no one bailed me out" and "you shouldn't have gotten yourself into that mess."

The same kind of crap underlies a lot of similarly irrational thinking: "It's cold out today, so global warming is a myth;" "My father smoked for 50 years, so cigarettes don't cause lung cancer;" "I'm just fine to drive even after four or five beers."


It's a selfish, immature way of thinking that has no place in a compassionate society.

[customerserviceguy]

5. There's only one word for it - denial

If she were to allow herself to really feel what is happening, she'd have to be very, very afraid. It's so much easier to say, "It can't happen to me because....(fill in your favorite bullshit reason here)."

There really is an inate human need to 'blame the victim'. It takes a large amount of moral maturity to rise above that instinct.

[justabob]

6. I am curious

what her theory is regarding the massive decline in sales? If it can't be the economy, is it the war on Christmas that is making people not buy heavily discounted Christmas stuff... or what? What kept people from buying during the Christmas rush? Just curious.

[ashling]

7. Samauri quote

It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly.

Hojo Shigetoki (1198-1261)

[Contrary1]

8. She must not do her own grocery shopping. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

9. Forgive Me For Not Believing The Story For A Second.

I say that because in order for a manager, of a retail store no less, to be that 'confident' that it isn't because of the economy with their justification being 'cause they're fine', they would have had to have been in a cave buried deeper than bin laden. I just can't buy it.

[TwixVoy]

10. You would be amazed how out of touch many of my co-workers are

The only people who REALLY have to worry about the sales numbers are the higher ups at corporate. Rather we are down 50% for the year or up 50% for the year makes little difference. (well, ok, we CAN get a bonus at the end of the year for it but it's so small and hard to get no on really cares about it) This causes most people at the stores to only pretend to care about the sales numbers enough to please our district managers.

I have one co-worker who tells me that she THINKS everything is fine because it "seems busy". I tell her well yes it SEEMS busy, but why are the numbers so bad? But in her world everything is good because it "seems busy" to her regardless of what the actual numbers are.

I am amazed that so many people I work with are so out of touch, and find it so hard to put 2 and 2 together.

[texastoast]

11. And the wealthy just want more

I got an email urging all the folks eligible for early retirement to seriously consider it. We are going to turn into a lean machine that works the remainder of us to death, and lose a combined several centuries of experience.

[uppityperson]

12. If it's not the economy, what is causing tons of merchandise to not sell?

I run into people who know "the experts say" the economy is going to hell, but they haven't changed much yet.