July 2005

by the way, which one’s pink?

wow. just watched the live 8 concert. pink floyd performed with both david gilmour and roger waters for the first time in something like 23 years. it was pretty incredible. poor roger waters, though, looked like he was on some serious happy drugs, with a big ol’ cheesy grin plastered on his face… until, that is, he sang the 2nd verse of wish you were here, all by himself… ouch. was david gilmour supposed to sing with him and hung him out to dry? dunno. anyway, that happy smile disappeared real quick. they may have played more than this, but this is all MTV showed: breathe money wish you were here comfortably numb

Read Moreby the way, which one’s pink?

tell me your troubles

hi, thanks for calling we give a shit, inc., the friendly customer service representatives who actually give a shit about your problems. we can’t really DO anything about them, but we know how to listen! tell me your troubles. has one of your utility companies blown you off? are you frustrated by a yellowshirt best buy employee who has no product knowledge about anything? did you get entangled in an automated answering system with no hope of finding your way out? go ahead, just let it out. you’ll feel better.

Read Moretell me your troubles

we give a shit, inc.

i want to start a company called “we give a shit.” people can call in and complain about whatever they want to complain about, and we will be sympathetic and empathetic and listen and soothe, and generally act like we actually give a shit about their problems. we don’t solve; we merely are a shoulder to vent on. there is no automated phone menu to suffer through first. we give a shit, inc. yes, i do realize the totally impractical implications of this — for instance, what if white supremacists called to complain about nonwhite people? there would be no sympathetic ear from me; in fact i’d certainly go off on them. so sure, there’s a million reasons it wouldn’t work. i’m just tired of being treated like an insignificant piece of trash in a big corporate system. what started this rant? i spent waaay too long on the phone today with sbc, attempting for the second time to understand my bill. their bills are the absolute WORST i have ever seen. they are (possibly intentionally, by design) absolutely and utterly the most confusing invoices i’ve ever seen. i’d wager that probably 95% of their customers have no idea if what they’re being charged is correct. i’m a pretty sharp cookie, and i STILL don’t get it even after approximately 1 hour on the phone with three different customer service people, two of whom insist that i have not been overcharged for anything. part of the problem is that charges and credits aren’t always listed on the bill in the month that they occurred, and every line item has a date range attached to it, and the date ranges don’t necessarily match up with the bill date. and some things that are labeled “discount on service” are discounts (with a […]

Read Morewe give a shit, inc.