Keeping your word

This is yet another thing that really shits me. We’ve all heard the sayings: “My word is as strong as oak”, “My word is my bond”, blah, blah, blah.

Here’s the rule: If you say you’re going to do something, do it.

There’s no arguing with that. And there are no exceptions. That’s right, I’m talking to YOU Ben & Jerry’s and Lindt. These are two of the big organisations that have promised something and not come through.

I’ve mentioned before that my GF has a food blog. She was contacted by both of these companies with the promise to provide some product for her to use in recipes for her site. But did they come through? Of course, f**king not.

The thing is, by going back on your word, you’re perpuating our litigious society. If you promise me something and then don’t come through, then the next time we come to an agreement, I need it in writing. And that’s IF we do business again.

I know I’m only one bloke, but if a company screws me over like that, then I won’t deal with them again. And I don’t just mean large corporations either. I don’t care whether you’re as big as K-mart, or a corner store family business. Customer service is a major issue and if you can’t keep a promise, then I don’t want to deal with you.

We deal with this shit every day, don’t we? Whether it’s someone at work promising you something and then failing to deliver, or a store you’re dealt with who promise things (free delivery, stain protection, extra bonuses, etc) and then lets you down.

I say F**k ‘em. And I’d encourage all of you to do the same. If you let these people take advantage of you, they won’t change their ways. And before you know it, we end up with a retail industry like we have now, where they don’t give a shit about their customers.

Sadly, I find myself arguing with people and companies all the time. Sadly, most people DON’T care so much about customers/colleagues any more, so you find you have to fight and argue just to get what was agreed.

So if you tell someone you’re going to do something, bloody well do it. And if you can’t guarantee 100% that you will be able to come through for someone, then DON’T MAKE THE PROMISE. Simple.

Thongs

I hate thongs. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this in a post before, but I don’t really care. After getting out of the house yesterday, I’m going to mention them again.

Now, for all my international readers, I’m not talking about g-strings here. God knows, I LOVE g-strings. I’m talking about flip-flops, or whatever you want to call them. Those rubber things that you wear when you’re using a public shower, collecting the mail, or putting out the bins.

Regular readers will know that I broke my foot a week ago. I’m hobbling around on crutches, but yesterday we ventured out and went to the movies. We went and saw Thor, which I thought was pretty good, but I won’t get into that here.

What annoys me, is when you go out somewhere and people (mainly guys) are wearing thongs on their feet. Thongs are NOT shoes, gentleman. Thongs are to be used for the activities mentioned above.

For a start, they’re not a fashion item. They don’t look cool and they don’t make your other clothes look good. Even girls should be paying attention here. They get away with it because they don’t just have rubber thongs, they have gold and silver ones, and they also have ones with some bling. And let’s face it, the girls have boobs, so they get away with pretty much anything.

For the ignorant ones out there, it’s actually ILLEGAL to drive with thongs on. On the way to the cinema yesterday, we stopped for fuel, and a couple of bogans pulled up in a V8 ute. The driver got out, wearing cammo long shorts and thongs. Nothing would make me happier than if there were cops around to stop this bloke and give him a lecture – or a ticket.

I’ve seen guys (and girls) get relatively dressed up for a nice dinner, and top off their ‘outfit’ with thongs. And I don’t mean just a clean t-shirt and jeans. I’ve seen guys with collared shirts ($100+), good quality jeans ($100+) and a pair of what we call double-pluggers ($5 at K-mart). Morons.

And I accidentally mentioned cammo shorts, so now I have to whinge about them. I’m in the Army. Camouflage is NOT a fashion item, morons. I won’t discuss it’s  practical application, but it annoys me to see guys walking down the street wearing cammo shorts. I just don’t get how they look fashionable. I don’t see it.

The other military item that shits me, are the ones that have rank on them. I saw Jamie Oliver wearing a shirt with Sergeant stripes on it. Why? Honestly….why? A shirt like that does nothing for me, except scream “Wanker”. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jamie. In fact, it’s Jamie who got me in the kitchen. Before Jamie, I could never manage to touch raw meat.

But dudes, stop wearing MY daily work clothes! I see it every f**king day at work. I DON’T need to see you walking down the street in some kind of bullshit knock-off. I don’t walk down the street wearing a Target uniform in yellow, do I?