i had an interesting interaction wednesday

[all.of.me]

i am a street vendor. i deal with a lot of tourists every day.

two women came up to my table. one was spending like wildfire. she was very proud of it. she was bragging how she'd been buying native american made rugs, bowls and jewelry. the other women happened to BLURT OUT that this woman was spending her HUGE BONUS from the OIL COMPANY she works for in HOUSTON!

i must have looked shocked, because the shopping woman almost apologized or maybe rationalized it. she stammered that she didn't 'own any gas stations,' but that this money came from the company she worked for, and that it was almost gone. it got very uncomfortable for a moment, then she paid me and left. it was weird.

then i went home and got REALLY pissed off! i have been telling everyone i see, because this is where the profits go - to the workers! sadly, she didn't even buy one of my things, but some pottery a friend makes that i had on my table....

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. the bonus is the significant part

and yes soemtimes this is how you learn things... hope she had bought your baubles but there are more profits where those came from

[all.of.me]

2. and the bonus must have been significant!

native made rugs are NOT cheap, neither are bowls or jewelry. i figure it was at least five thousand dollars. if each employee gets that, and we are paying $3 for gas, i am pissed.

[bhuddaboy]

3. Cheap Bastards

Rich people do not bother me. But rich people who profit off of unethical behavior do. And if the raping of America by oil companies is not unethical, I don't know what is.

[all.of.me]

5. sounds like my dentist

she is another wildfire spender, while we are struggling to pay our bill. a friend of mine refused to go to her anymore, because she would not support her lifestlye. wise move. unfortunately, this is the only dentist my kids like! so i put up with it.

[blue sky at night]

4. at least they gave it to a regular kind of person...

not just to their executives...our oil profits should be going to find alternative fuels, like in Europe. We are such a backward land...

[all.of.me]

6. yup, good point. at least some of it went to native americans.

the rest to shop owners!

[question everything]

7. And yet, it is good to know that some of the profits go to workers

lower in the totem pole, not only to executives. Though I am sure their share was enough to buy several mcmansions.

[all.of.me]

9. it still irks me

prices go up almost a buck over the course of the last couple months, and this woman comes along with a huge bonus! that was MY money she was spending! it was YOUR money she was spending! i'm sure her regular salary is hefty as it is, too. i'm struggling to put gas in my car, and she is on vacation spending my sweat. that ain't right.

[phylny]

15. Most people employed by big oil do NOT get bonuses of any sort. n/t

[all.of.me]

16. well, i don't think these people were lying.

they were genuine. they could not have made up that conversation and the bloopers. no way.

[phylny]

27. I didn't mean to imply that anyone was lying. I'm just saying that most

people don't get bonuses.

[all.of.me]

28. this may be a new thing, what with all our extra money floating around

[phylny]

29. It may be.

However, my husband has worked for a large oil corporation for almost 25 years, and the practice of giving out bonuses is not widespread, nor is it happening in THIS household right now.

[catnhatnh]

8. You should be MORE pissed off....

...that "this" (the workers) is so SELDOM where the profits go...All major corporations in this country are making money hand over fist, and MOST workers deserve at very least HUGE bonusesfor the constant "productivity increases" trumpeted on the financial pages of our newspapers, if not the full benifits that used to go with employment in a profitable corporation.
I recognize that you mean that you are pissed because it is an OIL company but think about it...one of the hundreds you meet got something they earned...

[all.of.me]

11. see my post #9

the gas prices have really stressed me out to the point of cutting back my lifestyle so i can drive my kids around. this woman has the money i've been sweating about.

yes, it's all about me. ;)

[catnhatnh]

14. I know the feeling...

....next week when I chop back on something I "used to could" afford I'll rant too....
;-)

[all.of.me]

13. and now i've got to thinking to clarify my post

it's not that the workers get this money, but more that it's like an admission that the profits are huge. everyone is always asking where the money goes when prices go up so fast. it seems to evaporate, like there is no accounting for it. the gas station owner will never admit that he is raking it in. so there it was - huge bonuses for employees. at our expense. it just doesn't sit well with me.

[catnhatnh]

17. Believe me,I catch your drift....

...Up here in NH, there was an article in the Union Leader about a "poor" gas station owner driven almost to distraction...it seems that the most common accounting system up here allows them to increase prices on gasoline IN THE GROUND based on replacement cost...ie:this poor bastard had to increase prices TWICE during ONE business day (which he did by watching the futures market for current quotations). I guarantee he did not watch quite so assiduously when prices dropped back down, thereby cutting his FUTURE COSTS...I assume this since I follow the paper closely and NO ONE ever DROPPED their price twice in a day....

[all.of.me]

18. lol - i see what you mean.

hey, i lived in nh for many many many years, in portsmouth, newmarket and lee. i see that's your area. can't say i miss the winters or the humid summers! but fall is fabulous, eh?

[catnhatnh]

19. Yep....

...in spite of gasoline prices, Bush, and fear for the Republic, over these next several weeks I'll load the old Ford down with gasoline, pack a cooler, and take my Mom and Dad (77 and 79) for a trip up US 1 to see the lighthouses of Maine and another across 114 (the Kank) and 302 for the most glorious sightseeing I know...Even while we suffer,life beats the alternative...Funny, I would have taken you for a flatlander....

[all.of.me]

20. a flatlander?! why?

[catnhatnh]

21. Oh sorry...Stereotypes...

...trying to envision a street vendor selling Indian hand crafts my mind rang on the whole Taos/Southwestern/Hopi/Anastazi thing..Where are you?

[all.of.me]

22. taos

i sell jewelry that i make. i can not compete with the natives with turquoise and silver, so i design my own.

[catnhatnh]

23. SEE-

...sometimes stereotypes WORK....and to us up here the Rockies (Sierra Madres and the rest) IS flatlands...LOL

[all.of.me]

24. hahahahahaha very funny!

i LIVE higher than chocorua! ha! 7,000'. that ain't no flatland!

[catnhatnh]

25. Actually...

higher than Denver (I spent a year in Colorado Springs) or Mt Washington (6288 ft) but you got to START from sea level, flatlander...so there.

[all.of.me]

26. nya, nya..... lol

ok. i confess. i was born in chicago. hahahahaha

[tinfoilinfor2005]

10. She may want to save those bonuses.

I bet Enron employees wish they had.

[all.of.me]

12. yeah, no kidding!