Of Trends, Wastefulness and being Prudent

The employees of the company that produces Crown Royal Whiskey are contemplating going on strike. Obviously, they want more money and probably more benefits.

Are they nuts? In this economical environment people should be happy to have a job. And I’m sure they get paid well. Of course, the Union has other ideas. I’ve never been a friend of Unions.

Let’s assume they go on strike. Will it make any difference to most people? Even the ones who drink whiskey? I don’t believe so. There are other producers who make fine whiskey. People will just switch to a different brand, and the ones who refuse to buy another brand of whiskey because they believe that Crown Royal is the best are idiots.

I don’t drink much whiskey. In fact I don’t drink any hard liqueur. The only time I drink whiskey is mixed with either Ginger Ale of Seven-Up, and that only occasionally. The kind of soft drink I mix it with makes no difference to me. I don’t pay an arm and a leg for whiskey. I still have 3 bottles which I bought in Cuba. I paid around ten bucks for a one liter bottle. The whiskey was produced in Spain and it tastes just fine. I don’t see any point in putting expensive whiskey into a mix.

I don’t like paying lots of money for alcohol, be it beer or wine, or anything else. Some people make such a big fuss over the kind of beer or wine they drink, thumping their nose at cheaper varieties. That’s okay with me. Beer is beer. Most beers are alike. I buy the cheapest brand, which for me at this moment is Brewhouse. They charge $20.50 right now for a dozen cans, which in my opinion is still too much.  That’s why I make my own beer.

I also make my own wine. Some of it tastes better than the bought wines. One time we went out for dinner with my brother. He bought a fifty dollar bottle of wine. I tasted it and didn’t even like it. My own wines taste better. I buy kits of pure juice and just add water. When it comes to wine kits, I don’t buy the cheap ones, because they have less juice. The last one I bought had 16 liters of juice, which means I only had to add 7 liters of water. It is fermenting right now and I’m looking forward to drinking it in a few months. It does need aging and one needs to be patient.

The other day I had a conversation with a man who went to BC and bought wine there for $125.00 a bottle. When I sort of raised my eyebrows, he asked, “Wouldn’t you spend $125.00 for a bottle if you really liked it?”

Are you kidding me? I can spend 125 bucks on other things, but never on a bottle of wine. I don’t have that kind of money to throw away. Perhaps if I won Lotto Max I might and then I’m not so sure. No wine tastes that good. If I were a rabbit I may taste the difference. In case you are curious, a rabbit has 17,012 taste buds on its tongue while a human has from 2,000 to 8,000.

Most people are snobs. They believe just because it is expensive and certain people buy it, it must be good. I don’t fall for that mindset. For example, I never cared for Picasso’s paintings. Just because they sell for millions of dollars does not make them works of art.

I’m not saying all cheap stuff is good. Some stuff is cheap because it is crap; that’s why it is cheap. I would never buy cheap tools, unless they were on sale. However, there are some things where price makes no difference. We all have to remember, merchants take advantage of buyers. They know that most people will buy brand names or items that are popular, so they price their wares accordingly.

I went shopping the other day and looked at some shirts. When I saw 40% discount my curiosity was aroused, but when I looked at the ticked and the price was $125.00 after the discount I walked away. I should be put into an insane asylum to pay that kind of money for a shirt. Again, if I were the CEO of a company I just might go for it, but I don’t associate with people who would even notice my expensive shirt. Same goes for pants and other pieces of clothing.

If it weren’t for my wife, I probably would still wear my clothes I wore in the eighties or even earlier. I don’t follow trends. I see no reason to buy new clothes every year. Some people do, they keep on buying new clothes, furniture, appliances, the latest phone etc. and that’s why they never have money, no matter how much they earn.

I grew up after the First World War. We were happy to have clothing at all. I wore used clothing and my mom knitted our sweaters, socks and other items. If they had holes in them, my mom mended them. Nobody worried about fashions or trends.

I think most people in the Western World have never experienced hard times. They have no idea what it means not to have anything to wear or go hungry. That’s why they waste food and other stuff. Nobody fixes anything anymore. It all goes to the dump.

I’ve been doing some cleaning in the storage room and I’m throwing away stuff I’ve had hanging around for years. Stuff that is broken and cannot be fixed. Among the items are 6 battery operated drills. Actually, they work just fine, except for the batteries. They are dead and won’t keep the charge anymore. Replacement batteries cost more than what I paid for the drills. So into the garbage they go. What a shame, but the drills are useless to me and just take up space. So it goes. All of us are guilty of wasting stuff.