Times Changing and a few other thoughts

In reply to "Doorstep bank raids plague cash-loving Argentina" post,
Anonymous said...
I stopped at a U.S. Walmart on the "not-so-good" part of town at 10:30 p.m. When the cashier held my 100 Dollar bill up in the light to verify if it was real or not, and again with a fifty for good measure, I felt as if every eye at the front of the store focused on me. It got real quiet too, I think you could've suddenly heard a pin drop. I've had a cashier check my money before, but the crowd never reacted before. Even the cashiers acted nervous. I half thought, I might have to run, WTF? Just played it cool tho, even when I saw the loud freaky people, who were pushing a shopping cart through the store yet were leaving with nothing, at the same time I was. It wasn't much but I exited through the opposite doors.

I was shopping monthly, I think I'll try shopping more often, get less, and man was it reassuring having a sharp knife just in case, some of the characters in the store were big, or shifty (and more importantly - in groups) and all around just plain freaky - WAA-KA!.

The stuff I learned in your book, on this blog, it's like a can of instructions which pop out when you need it like one of those surprise paper snakes. "You're doing this idiot, you know not to do this, so now do X to compensate, be quick about it."
June 12, 2010 11:30 PM

Thanks. There’s things that you may read in my blog and my book that at first you don’t think much about but later on as things change they make more sense, pieces of information that suddenly come in handy later on.

Money getting checked is something we do here all the time, specially with 50 and 100 bills. I do it too so I’m not offended when other people check my money as well. Its just the way it is.
What I do is stay calm, check the money, and then smile back and say good bye have a nice day. It’s nothing personal, its just that there’s a lot of funny money around here so you have to make sure.
What I found interesting in your comment is that the situation itself made you uneasy. That happens a lot and we tend to let it affect us. You feel self conscious about turning around to check your back when your instinct is telling you to do so. “But what will the person behind me think if I suddenly tunr around and stare at him!?” is what our politically correct subconscious tells us and we are often stupid enough to listen to it.

Picked up money that you thought you should check? Better not, I might offend the person that just handed it to me. These are the things you later end up regretting. You have to learn to listen to that gut feeling instead, and learn to let go of the stupid self consciousness that tries to suppress it. As usual, thisisn’t just about survivalism, its good advice that works for everything elsein life as well.

Getting used to say “no” more often, for example. We are brainwashed since we are born by TV, school and most people around us, that you have to be good, but the politically correct version of good extends to more liberal connotations that include weak and eager to please. People will most often say “yes”, even before thinking, just because its the nice thing to do, what pleases others. 

A “no” may not be as popular but its stronger and in many cases it leaves you space to ponder the situation better. When in doubt, get used to saying no first instead.
How many girls have been lured by rapists, asking their victims for help? how many older, good natured folks, have been manipulated into opening their door to strangers that tricked them with some request to which they agreed?

Being so damn nice all the time has cost people their lives, has cost others losing their money to various fraud schemes.
Nice is over rated if you ask me. :-)


Take care,


FerFAL