Some Questions I've Been Pondering This Afternoon
@windchimebooks (314)
United States
January 6, 2009 3:31pm CST
I went to the doctor this morning and as usual I was weighed first thing, before anything else.
I wonder why they can't wait to weigh you when you're in the exam room and undressed to some extent? After all, your clothes weigh something and a lot of people don't take off their shoes before weighing, so that only adds to the poundage. So seems to me, by weighing you first thing, they're not really getting your accurate weight, it's always going to be a few pounds more that way I would think. Maybe that's the weight they want for some reason?
Then I had to stop by the grocery store and I started to wonder why on earth cereal, I'm talking about the brand name ones, cost so much? I mean, it's cereal, mostly flakes and grains and what have you. It's not meat. Why would a box of brand name cereal cost around $4? I don't buy them, but I guess others do. Maybe they taste better?
And then, once home, I had to call to ask my insurance company a question. I suppose companies do this to save money, but why do I have to talk to a computer now with every single company I call? All I usually get is a computer voice saying "I'm sorry, I didn't get that." I'm speaking clear English, but of course they didn't get it. They're a computer. Why is it so hard to just talk to a live person on the phone at any company now?
Then I had to go to the bank? Why do you get charged for taking money out of an ATM machine? It's your money and most ATM's are attached to banks. Even if I use Cash Points, or one of the other ATM services that say they don't charge, my bank still charges me a fee for using those. So I either have to get money back at the grocery store (which is actually safer) or I have to drive out of my way to go to my bank to avoid being socked with a $2.50 to $3 ATM fee just to get some of my own money out of my own account. If they don't charge me for using the ATM machine at my bank, why does the same bank charge me for using other ATM machines when it's still just my money coming out of my own checking account?
Just pondering..
1 person likes this
4 responses
@Loverbear (4918)
• United States
8 Jan 09
They weigh you first because it gives the doctor something to talk to you about!!! 
Let's face it, we all never weigh what we would like to weigh and after waiting for the nurse to call you back to the doctor it seems like here is some sort of osmosis that we gain more weight through the padding in the waiting room chairs! I will admit that once I got on the scale and the nurse was checking the weight when I farted and lost a pound!!!
I don't buy cereals because I just can't afford them. I think that three or five dollars for a small box of grain is a bit ridiculous.
Have you ever gotten the feeling that one day while you are shrieking at the computer trying to make it understand you that it will suck you into it's inner workings to be stuck there forever? Or if you're like me you listen through the list of buttons to push for what and one of three things happen. First you heard your button in the beginning and listened through the list just in case there might be a better choice further down the list. By the time they finish the list you've forgotten what button you wanted to push. Secondly I push the button and find out that it was the wrong button and I have to hang up and try again because they didn't put a reverse in their choices. Third you've pushed the right button and you're on hold for the next three days, except when you decide that you absolutely have to go to the bathroom, you manage to get on the toilet, sitting there you finally figure that you're alone enough to pass that bubble of gas that has been waiting to escape---and that's when a live person answers the line...just as it sounds like you've emitted a nuclear bomb! It never fails, they always ask "What was that?" Do you tell the truth or lie and say the dog was barking at the cat?
My other gripe is why do the various service places charge you both arms and both legs to go on a computer and toggle a switch to turn something on? As for the banks, have you ever seen a poor bank president? That money has to be going to someone!!!
Let's face it, we all never weigh what we would like to weigh and after waiting for the nurse to call you back to the doctor it seems like here is some sort of osmosis that we gain more weight through the padding in the waiting room chairs! I will admit that once I got on the scale and the nurse was checking the weight when I farted and lost a pound!!!
I don't buy cereals because I just can't afford them. I think that three or five dollars for a small box of grain is a bit ridiculous.
Have you ever gotten the feeling that one day while you are shrieking at the computer trying to make it understand you that it will suck you into it's inner workings to be stuck there forever? Or if you're like me you listen through the list of buttons to push for what and one of three things happen. First you heard your button in the beginning and listened through the list just in case there might be a better choice further down the list. By the time they finish the list you've forgotten what button you wanted to push. Secondly I push the button and find out that it was the wrong button and I have to hang up and try again because they didn't put a reverse in their choices. Third you've pushed the right button and you're on hold for the next three days, except when you decide that you absolutely have to go to the bathroom, you manage to get on the toilet, sitting there you finally figure that you're alone enough to pass that bubble of gas that has been waiting to escape---and that's when a live person answers the line...just as it sounds like you've emitted a nuclear bomb! It never fails, they always ask "What was that?" Do you tell the truth or lie and say the dog was barking at the cat?
My other gripe is why do the various service places charge you both arms and both legs to go on a computer and toggle a switch to turn something on? As for the banks, have you ever seen a poor bank president? That money has to be going to someone!!!1 person likes this
@Loverbear (4918)
• United States
8 Jan 09
Thank you for the best response! It is so funny that when I am having a bad day I get a happy pill of a best response. Thank you for my happy pill!!!
I have to relate another "Mom" story. We needed to get a hold of a state building official about a problem in our neighborhood. Mom was told that she was number 13 on his "call" list. Mom decided that she had plenty of time to go to the "reading room" and take care of nature. She barely sat her fanny down on the throne when the phone rang...yep it was the state official! He had known Mom for 25 years and when he saw her name he put her at the top of the list. Well I wasn't hitting on all cylinders when I answered the phone...I told the man that Mom had just gone to the bathroom and it would be a while before she came out. The mighty shout came from the bathroom (along with a lusty fart)"Don't tell him I'm on the toilet". I was going to hand the phone through the door to her so she could talk to him, so he didn't miss the sound effects! As I heard the man laughing like crazy I replied "It's too late, he heard you!!!" When Mom called him back he couldn't resist teasing her about where she was when he called. They both had really good laughs about the bathroom acoustics and peoples timing.
As I heard the man laughing like crazy I replied "It's too late, he heard you!!!" When Mom called him back he couldn't resist teasing her about where she was when he called. They both had really good laughs about the bathroom acoustics and peoples timing.@windchimebooks (314)
• United States
8 Jan 09
Oh, this is tooo funny. Every sentence made me laugh out loud. Especially the part about the phone, maybe because it sounds so familiar.
And yea, I totally disregarded the obvious needs of those poor bank CEO's. I mean, look how broke those poor things are today. After all, 20 mil just doesn't buy as many yachts these days as it used to. (Big smile here).
Thanks for your response. I loved it, great break in the day just to laugh aloud like this.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
6 Jan 09
I always at least try to take my shoes off and my jacket (if I'm wearing one) before being weighed. But yeah, why do they have to do that first off?
There was something about cereal prices going down a few years ago but they've probably sneaked the prices back up since then!
And good luck talking to a real person when you call any large companies any more! Or somebody in your own country, for that matter!
And surely it doesn't cost the banks more than a few pennies at most for you to use somebody else's ATM. Why the heck do they have to charge you 2+ dollars for it? Ridiculous!
@windchimebooks (314)
• United States
6 Jan 09
Yep, I totally agree with all this, thanks for your response, sorry I can't add periods for proper punctuation here, the period key just popped off my computer, oh well, these things happen
1 person likes this
@windchimebooks (314)
• United States
8 Jan 09
Oh, that's so funny. I just saw this (and got my periods back as you can see...on the computer I mean :))
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
17 Apr 09
Hmmm, my answers to your questions...
1. A few pounds is probably not going to make that big of a difference - they just want to know a basic weight in case you need meds or if it affects your health/blood pressure. Weighing 165 vs 168 pounds for example is usually not going to be a big difference medically speaking, even if it does make you feel heavier than you really are! You can take your shoes off if you want though - next time wear slip on ones that you can just slip off real quick when you step on the scale!
2. Cereal is ridiculous. Do you have an Aldi's? They are only $2 a box there and actually pretty good. The boxes are tiny too. I think there are seriously four bowls of cereal in each box. I buy oatmeal - it is $1.79 for a giant tub of it and healthier for you too.
3. When I call those automated phone systems I say "operator" or "customer service" or if that fails start swearing at it in a different language - usually gets me to a live person right away.
4. My bank does not charge any ATM fees if I use ATM's that are operated by certain groups/other banks. Some sort of partnership between banks which is nice, though I don't even remember the last time I used an ATM! Basically the ATM at the bank you go to belongs to the bank, so they don't charge their customers for it. BUT, the atms you see everywhere else like gas stations etc. are usually privately owned/operated for profit. That fee they charge is what the people who own the atm machine use to make money, since they do not actually have access to the money in your account to invest like banks do. I think that's the logic behind it at least, not 100% positive.
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
6 Jan 09
It's really simple all these things make the world go round. And there is an understanding. Maybe you should research these claims and change. Don't buy cereal eat something more healthy. Don't use another bank get extra cash when your at Walmart. Or maybe just forget all about it and stop being so uptight it will give you a heart attack. These are minimal things and we should worry about nothing.
@windchimebooks (314)
• United States
6 Jan 09
Hi, Thanks for your response, actually I'm probably the most laid-back person in the world, even the fact that the key just popped off my relatively new computer so I can't puntuate my sentences with a period now, no matter
I probably ponder these little things to avoid thinking about the big things, but I think about those too, I like your response, but I think you misunderstood the intent of the post, just ponderings, the word "ponderings" itself means "nothing very serious" , just things a lot of people wonder about, and by the way I said in the post I don't buy cereal, I buy it for my sister's kids but I don't like it myself, although a lot of people like it and some of it can actually be good for you, cheers
