Business People

I don't have a problem with someone wishing to go into business and make big bucks. But I often get the feeling that most of them rise to the top by screwing the public and their co-workers. What I was wondering today is whether some of these people do their dirty work in the office and then go home to be the most wonderful fathers and mothers, etc. I sort of assume so, but does their workplace environment poison them? Or do certain kinds of people (nasty, mean, heartless people?) go into business as a profession.

I've been working with an insurance claims person, and it just seems like her job is to make life a living hell for anyone who files a claim. I figure that she has to know how much people hate her. And, frankly, there are lots of these people out there. There's the guy at the paycheck loan place and the guy who tries to upsell you at the rental car place and the credit card people who try to get you to buy a $5 monthly protection plan and so forth.

Today, I was walking the back nine with the crowd following Hale Irwin when I heard a guy say something about his house having 6,000 square feet. I started wonder what a person would do with that much space, but I didn't make any judgments until I overheard him a few minutes later. He was talking about how he helped convert a factory. In a matter-of-fact way, he said he hired 880 people and that he ended up having to fire 660 of them over the next 18 months. Apparently, it was a factory slowdown type of deal. I expected him to say something about how it sucked, but he didn't. That doesn't mean that he didn't feel remorse, but it had me worried.

Probably what bugs me most about the business world and corporate America is that it's not just out to make a buck. They're so focused these days that people spend their entire days trying to figure out how they can give you less for more. I mean, look at soda cans. You can buy little half cans now, and they're not half the price of the larger cans. When the average consumer is up against today's business world, how are we to survive?

Okay, commence calling me a commie bastard and so forth...

 

If the market wouldn't take less for more, then those companies wouldn't survive.

 

Some of your smaller examples don't strike me as "nasty, mean, and heartless."

I rented a car Friday. The agent asked if I wanted to upgrade to a full-size for a few dollars more. Presumably, she asked this because she's been instructed to; it's part of her job. I simply said no, and that was the end of it.

The half-size soda cans? You don't have to buy them; you could save money with a two-liter bottle. But some not-very-thirsty people must prefer a smaller can, rather than drinking part of a full-size can and then wondering what to do with the rest of the soda. They're willing to pay more per ounce for this convenience, and the soda company is happy to accomodate them.

Even the guy who hired 880 people to close down the factory and had to let 75% of them go within 18 months might not be all evil. Perhaps the employees knew the job was temporary, and it was better than no job at all.