Blog 8-Pg 123-Q-1

"Time is money." means that the more time that is invested into something the more likely it is that something will come out of the effort and give someone more often than not, a financial reward. In the world of goods production, it means that the company can add more to the surplus of goods. AND--it's important to always have more than enough because it's quite plausible that we can run out of everything at ANY minute and the entire fucking planet would halt on its axis.

This culture makes it possible to make a fortune off of preservatives. Preservatives stop time, therefore, a consumer can buy article A whenever she wants and the company will not lay waste to their goods or their efforts and will still be able to reach the bottom line, safely and with more wealth than is sometimes even fathomable. Also, in the case of a film actor -- time is money! What does a film star rely on more than any of us regular people? Their appearances! And what do they need to do to keep up with them? They need to stop the markings of time that show across their faces and bodies. If they don't, then they must find an alternative income because a camera is not kind to them after a while, even though it's reality.

Let's talk about the actor some more -- this time regarding adequate compensation for services. I know that it probably takes a lot of "time and effort" to memorize an entire script and become a different person or character and make him or her believable but is it really as truly difficult as being a garbage collector who is constantly putting himself in a possibly dangerous situation? Or what about a janitor? Shouldn't anybody who is willing to clean public restrooms be well-compensated? What would we do without these people? Well, by God, we'd have to clean up after ourselves. That isn't a particularly bad thing either but we take many service jobs for granted, the people who literally make the world turn also bear its weight.

My favorite though, is the guy who puts brand decals (STICKERS) on NASCAR race cars and pockets (at most) $250,000 (annually) a year. Now, I cannot cite this information because, well, my boyfriend's brother-in-law actually has met this guy. Mike, on the other hand, works in the IT department at Metlife insurance. He is in charge of setting up vast amounts of computers, phone lines, networking, and then maintaining it every day. He brings home up to 65,000 and I know that he works hard. I've seen the effects of the stress and I know that his job calls for a lot of critical thinking and it required a good education. So, yes, Mike deserves what he gets...but he doesn't put his life in danger. So, how much are we supposed to pay those people? How much is a life worth? But I guess we should also ask, how much is the risk worth as well.

As I read the blog entries prior to writing mine I saw how all of them describe labor experiences in their daily lives. I, too, have my own stories to add to the pile. The speed variations of the shop floor are always the heaviest burdens of a menial job. I worked at Borders for a while and really felt teeth-clenching boredom when it was slow but then I also felt overwhelming and panicky feeling of anxiety when ever J.K. Rowling pumped out another tour de force. What I also felt was the effect of my managers milking the situation. Making the employees stay until 2 AM to clean up all the "magic", constantly reminding customers to pre-order the book, setting up the spectacle -- these tasks were among the changes that were added to my already-engrossing multitude of daily activities at Borders. When there were slow periods, we were told to make work for ourselves. I always scoffed at this senseless and de-constructive idea. I thought about kicking over some of the many displays or "bays", pushing scores of books off shelves, or just acting like a customer. That would be making work.

Organized labor is the reason for dispensable, practically worthless, consumer "goods". If artisans were still part of our lives then we wouldn't have to deal with items that fall short of time. BUT -- one of the main reasons that everyone is able to buy "stuff" is that it is cheap. Custom-made "stuff" would sell for how ever much it cost to make and we would probably not stand for that after a while but hopefully we would when we find that we don't have to buy another "thing" for a very long time. It's so true and it fucking sucks -- buy cheap, buy twice. Now, I don't know what the production differences are between high-end and low-end shit, but I know that there has to be. When my boyfriend and I were buying apartmentstuffs we got to the bottom of the list where it said "pots and pans" and we just assumed we could ask our parents for their extras. As it turns out, my mother wouldn't part with any of her Revereware and Steve's mother said she had no pots and pans to spare. So, quickly enough we found out that good cookware is expensive. What to do? Well, go to Wal-Mart, which is so unfortunate. We'd been using our pots and pans from Wal-Mart for a little over two years and out of the 5 basic pots and pans we bought we only have one left. But, I should have believed Wal-Mart when they said, "We Sell For Less!". I should have known that after a shorter time than necessary I would be less off when it comes to pots and pans. Now, bring on the Le Creuset! But that's cookware you need a job to buy. Probably a second. And you know, I really just don't have time for that -- nor space on my schedule.