Monday, 17 October 2011

Spare Some Change!

"So how were the trains this morning?  Only ten minutes till we start work.  Do you want a coffee, oh by the way, did they land on the moon OK last night?"

I can imagine a conversation like that in any office around the world today if some country had sent a group of astronauts to the moon.  Even if it was for the first time.

Why?  Life has Changed.

Because there are no real surprises any more.  Everything is so easy and accessible in this day and age it takes a lot to surprise people.

In 1969 people stayed up all around the world to watch the landings live on TV. Now life has changed, they probably wouldn't bother to watch, or wait until it was trending on Twitter.

Today, we live in a society that is abundant.  I really don't care if you think; 'What's he talking about? We have a double dip recession!' 

Take a look around London. 
Take a look on the internet. 
Millions of people are spending millions of pounds, dollars, euros on millions of things.

Look at the carrier bags being carried around Westfield, Oxford Street, Covent Garden, Knightsbridge or your local area.  These people haven't been told we are in a recession. 

A recession is the only thing they don't buy!

Do you really care about the economy?  Why?  Care about your OWN economy!

Our society is one of abundance.  The money is out there.

Unfortunately, the knock on effect of all this is children.  One of the reasons we have a lack of respect in this country is that the majority of people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.  They go into debt because their children want top of the range electronic goods, from games stations to mobile phones.

Ten year olds with mobile phones?  What the Phuq?

I can remember aspiring to achieve something or saving to buy something, and getting a real buzz out of owning something I had taken a while to save up and buy.

Now we just go and get credit and buy it.

Some of the stores sell out of toys and luxury goods at the start of December because the demand is so great.

Life has changed from a time when people worked hard to get something, children were grateful, people were grateful and the average person aspired to achieve things so that they could have a better life.

Technology is supposed to make life easier.  We now find that automatic diallers make your life hell by making your phone ring with useless offers from automatons.
The computer says NO and you cant speak to a human being.
Everytime you call a company you have so many options to press and waiting time has grown that by the time you finally get through to a call center in India -  not only do they not speak English and cant help, you have forgotten what you were calling about!

Life has changed, but not necessarily for the better.

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