Overheard at Work

[accountingteacher]

What geographyteacher is doing sounds (1) really dumb for himself and (2) super sketchy as it relates to the other people's money.  Wondering if it's even legal...

I think the legal issues would boil down to minor tax fraud.  He's not actually selling securities directly to the public.  He's might be trading within his TFSA, and there have been some cases of the CRA "de-sheltering" TFSA income when the trading has been deemed to be business activity.  I'm sure he's also failing to report the "part of the income they let him keep for himself". 

As far as investment fraud, he wouldn't have actually lied to anyone by telling them he had education or certifications that he didn't have.  (He actually doesn't know what the Canadian Securities Course or the CFA designation is.)  He really believes he knows what he's doing and he has convinced other people he does as well. 

[MandalayVA]

Who are the idiots giving him money?! Everyone in this story is due a very rude awakening.

He said friends and family.  My understanding is that he is the only person in his family to have attended university and that he is an elder in his church.  People in his circles trust him and his judgment I guess.

"But ... but he's an ELDER!!  He would NEVER rip us off!!"

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed. 

[cheapass]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

Religion is the opiate of the masses, after all. Pretty sure over the course of human history more people have been murdered in the name of religion than for any other reason.

[MandalayVA]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

Religion is the opiate of the masses, after all. Pretty sure over the course of human history more people have been murdered in the name of religion than for any other reason.

"God is the leading cause of death."  Christopher Hitchens

[TheStachery]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

[Threshkin]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

[acroy]

Discussing miles driven on cars::

CW1: 'That's the one you drive a lot, right?'
CW2: 'Nah, we've had it 3yrs and only put 62k on it'
CW1: 'oh yeah, that's not much'

!!??

[frugalnacho]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

May Odin smite you all.

[Threshkin]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

May Odin smite you all.

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Odin's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

[GuitarStv]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

May Odin smite you all.

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Woden's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

FTFY

[frugalnacho]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

May Odin smite you all.

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Woden's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

FTFY

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

[GuitarStv]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

May Odin smite you all.

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Woden's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

FTFY

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

I've always been unclear on that point honestly.  I just think Woden'sday is a better analog for Wednesday.

[Threshkin]

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's also amazing how people equate being Christian with being sheep, and being stupid and falling for scams.

+1 to both of these comments.

May Odin smite you all.

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Woden's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

FTFY

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  There are about 170 variations of this name. Standardized spelling is a fairly new concept.  Odin is a very old god.

[gaja]

The jury is out on whether Friday is Frey's, Freya's or Frigg's day. The fun part is that you have kept all the Nordic names, except for Saturday. In the Nordic languages this is the washing day (laugardagur), but you would rather watch the time go by? (Saturn = god of time).

[LeRainDrop]

Who are the idiots giving him money?! Everyone in this story is due a very rude awakening.

He said friends and family.  My understanding is that he is the only person in his family to have attended university and that he is an elder in his church.  People in his circles trust him and his judgment I guess.

"But ... but he's an ELDER!!  He would NEVER rip us off!!"

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's not altogether unusual to hear of church elders using the trust placed in them to secretly rip people off.  Two very recent examples in my life:

• I'm an attorney and represented a contractor/architect who did a shit ton of work for a church that was planning to expand.  Pastor kept promising he would pay for the work.  Pastor never did pay and was lying to his congregation to get them to give him more money for it, meanwhile falsely badmouthing the architect/contractor.
• There's an attorney I work with who told me some other folks in her church group recently discovered that their elder who handled accounting had been skimming a huge amount of the donations for himself.  He got fired and has to pay restitution, but I think the church has agreed not to pursue criminal charges.

[mtn]

Who are the idiots giving him money?! Everyone in this story is due a very rude awakening.

He said friends and family.  My understanding is that he is the only person in his family to have attended university and that he is an elder in his church.  People in his circles trust him and his judgment I guess.

"But ... but he's an ELDER!!  He would NEVER rip us off!!"

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's not altogether unusual to hear of church elders using the trust placed in them to secretly rip people off.  Two very recent examples in my life:

• I'm an attorney and represented a contractor/architect who did a shit ton of work for a church that was planning to expand.  Pastor kept promising he would pay for the work.  Pastor never did pay and was lying to his congregation to get them to give him more money for it, meanwhile falsely badmouthing the architect/contractor.
• There's an attorney I work with who told me some other folks in her church group recently discovered that their elder who handled accounting had been skimming a huge amount of the donations for himself.  He got fired and has to pay restitution, but I think the church has agreed not to pursue criminal charges.

That second one wouldn't be in Chicagoland, would it?

[druth]

Who are the idiots giving him money?! Everyone in this story is due a very rude awakening.

He said friends and family.  My understanding is that he is the only person in his family to have attended university and that he is an elder in his church.  People in his circles trust him and his judgment I guess.

"But ... but he's an ELDER!!  He would NEVER rip us off!!"

It's amazing how many people equate being Christian with being honest and are genuinely horrified when they get scammed.

It's not altogether unusual to hear of church elders using the trust placed in them to secretly rip people off.  Two very recent examples in my life:

• I'm an attorney and represented a contractor/architect who did a shit ton of work for a church that was planning to expand.  Pastor kept promising he would pay for the work.  Pastor never did pay and was lying to his congregation to get them to give him more money for it, meanwhile falsely badmouthing the architect/contractor.
• There's an attorney I work with who told me some other folks in her church group recently discovered that their elder who handled accounting had been skimming a huge amount of the donations for himself.  He got fired and has to pay restitution, but I think the church has agreed not to pursue criminal charges.

I posted in the family thread about my inlaws, but they are constantly being scammed by people who must be trustworthy because they are religious.  They lost 100k+ to a ponzi scheme that was marketed as investing in christian companies, they are in 'life leadership' which is a shitty MLM that mostly targets religious people.

I'm sure that these scams also target the non-religious, but there is a significant subset that specifically seeks out the very religious.  I think religious people in general (for better and for worse) have a lower threshold for who they will trust.  It makes sense, you have a tight knit community that is supposedly based on being a good person.  Infiltrate that and you suddenly have a ton of people to scam.  It doesn't make those people dumb or sheep, just trusting, which isn't a bad trait in many situations but when it comes to money suspicion can be a very good thing.

[LeRainDrop]

That second one wouldn't be in Chicagoland, would it?

No, southeast US.  When my friend joined the board, she asked, "Shouldn't we get an external audit?"  Apparently that's actually not a requirement for religious organizations, at least in our state, and the others all said, "No, no, elder dude has been doing the accounting for xx years, and he's really good with the numbers."  It's a very good thing my friend won out in the end and had that audit done...

[dragoncar]

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Odin's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

That's all wrong, of course.  It goes like this:

Monday = One day
Tuesday = Two day
Wednesday = What day?
Thursday = Third day.  The THIRD DAY.

[moof]

Who are the idiots giving him money?! Everyone in this story is due a very rude awakening.

The stock market is scary as hell to 99% of the population.  People know it is one of the few paths they have to getting rich (other than their weekly lottery ticket purchases), but don't know how not to screw up.  So people want to have their "guy" do it for them, someone they believe they can trust.  Hence Madoff.  Hence hedge funds.

The more confident someone is, the less you can trust them.  Find someone who equivocates every statement, and warns you about every caveat, for they are far more likely to be an actual expert.

[MgoSam]

Who are the idiots giving him money?! Everyone in this story is due a very rude awakening.

The stock market is scary as hell to 99% of the population.  People know it is one of the few paths they have to getting rich (other than their weekly lottery ticket purchases), but don't know how not to screw up.  So people want to have their "guy" do it for them, someone they believe they can trust.  Hence Madoff.  Hence hedge funds.

The more confident someone is, the less you can trust them.  Find someone who equivocates every statement, and warns you about every caveat, for they are far more likely to be an actual expert.

Last year I went camping with a group and one the way back one of the guys was talking about how he wants to start investing in his retirement and decided that he was going to find an "investment guy" and give him $1000 to play with and if he did good with it, he would have him handle all his money. I was lost for

a. Why do you need an "investment guy?"
b. Why not invest in mutual funds or invest on your own (if you must go the stock picking route)
c. Why the bloody fuck haven't you invested before you turned 28....he was an intern at my church for at least a year....the program costs $3500 minimum so it's not like he didn't have the money.

Haven't really spoke to him since so no clue if he found an "investment guy."

[arebelspy]

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Odin's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

That's all wrong, of course.  It goes like this:

Monday = One day
Tuesday = Two day
Wednesday = What day?
Thursday = Third day.  The THIRD DAY.

:D

My wife and I quote this all the time.

"When, huh, what day?"

[solon]

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Odin's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

That's all wrong, of course.  It goes like this:

Monday = One day
Tuesday = Two day
Wednesday = What day?
Thursday = Third day.  The THIRD DAY.

:D

My wife and I quote this all the time.

"When, huh, what day?"

This is a thing? What are you quoting?

[arebelspy]

Friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THiBIXEIU4c

The best part is later in the episode Chandler asks how the audition goes, and Joey like counts on his fingers that it's Thursday using his counting method outlined above.  Can't find a clip of that part though.  :)

[accountingteacher]

It's not altogether unusual to hear of church elders using the trust placed in them to secretly rip people off.  Two very recent examples in my life:

• I'm an attorney and represented a contractor/architect who did a shit ton of work for a church that was planning to expand.  Pastor kept promising he would pay for the work.  Pastor never did pay and was lying to his congregation to get them to give him more money for it, meanwhile falsely badmouthing the architect/contractor.
• There's an attorney I work with who told me some other folks in her church group recently discovered that their elder who handled accounting had been skimming a huge amount of the donations for himself.  He got fired and has to pay restitution, but I think the church has agreed not to pursue criminal charges.

For the record, geographyteacher is not setting out to defraud anyone.  He honestly believes he knows best and that he's helping these people.  I did not set out to call him a criminal or a crooked church elder, just an arrogant fool.  (Did I mention he leases his car and has explained to me how it's the cheapest option?)

[nobodyspecial]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

[dragoncar]

Friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THiBIXEIU4c

The best part is later in the episode Chandler asks how the audition goes, and Joey like counts on his fingers that it's Thursday using his counting method outlined above.  Can't find a clip of that part though.  :)

Here's a terrible quality version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG4C_vdR8do

[arebelspy]

We should watch Friends together someday, Dragoncar.

[MrRealEstate]

Friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THiBIXEIU4c

The best part is later in the episode Chandler asks how the audition goes, and Joey like counts on his fingers that it's Thursday using his counting method outlined above.  Can't find a clip of that part though.  :)

Here's a terrible quality version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG4C_vdR8do

In the event anyone else works for an evil company that doesn't allow youtube links to work, search Joey Explaining Thursday third day in youtubes search bar.

[marty998]

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Odin's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

Italian days of the week:

Lunedi: Moon (Monday)
Martedi: Mars (Tuesday)
Mercoledi: Mercury (Wednesday)
Giovedi: Jupiter (Thursday)
Venerdi: Venus (Friday)
Sabato: Saturn (Saturday)
Domenica: Day of God (Sunday)

[nanu]

This made me remember how the words in English for the days of the week have pagan roots.  Many Norse.

Monday = Moon day
Tuesday = Týr's day
Wednesday = Odin's day
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = Frigga's day
Saturday = Saturn's day
Sunday = Sun's day

4 days named after Norse gods, 1 Roman, 2 celestial.

Italian days of the week:

Lunedi: Moon (Monday)
Martedi: Mars (Tuesday)
Mercoledi: Mercury (Wednesday)
Giovedi: Jupiter (Thursday)
Venerdi: Venus (Friday)
Sabato: Saturn (Saturday)
Domenica: Day of God (Sunday)

Hebrew days of the week are the easiest - Sunday through Friday (yes, the week starts on Sunday... Remember Genesis 1:1?) are simply "first day", "second day", etc'.
Then Saturday is "Sabbath", which literally means "strike" or "sit", as in, a day you don't work on

[LennStar]

And the Japanese now use

Moonday
Fireday
Waterday
Woodday
Goldday
Earthday
Sunday

Which is western-based but with the planets exchanged for their element by the Chinese.

[GuitarStv]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

Global warming may be coming into play on that issue . . .

[kayvent]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

Global warming may be coming into play on that issue . . .

We're presently still in an ice age though.

[Metric Mouse]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

Global warming may be coming into play on that issue . . .

We're presently still in an ice age though.

Not for much longer if my Jeep has anything to say about it.

[kayvent]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

Global warming may be coming into play on that issue . . .

We're presently still in an ice age though.

Not for much longer if my Jeep has anything to say about it.

Ice ages have to end eventually.

[nobodyspecial]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

Global warming may be coming into play on that issue . . .

We're presently still in an ice age though.

Not for much longer if my Jeep has anything to say about it.

Ice ages have to end eventually.

Typical Odin worshipper propaganda

Support PETA - Support Fenir

[gaja]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  ....  Odin is a very old god.

But he does marvelously well for his age.

Have you seen any ice giants recently ?

Global warming may be coming into play on that issue . . .

We're presently still in an ice age though.

Not for much longer if my Jeep has anything to say about it.

Ice ages have to end eventually.

Typical Odin worshipper propaganda

Support PETA - Support Fenir

Like it makes any difference what an old cripple does. I doubt he has ever killed a single ice giant himself. Thor is the real hero, despite everything Odin has done to slow him down in his work.

[BTDretire]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  There are about 170 variations of this name. Standardized spelling is a fairly new concept.  Odin is a very old god.

Hmm, is Odin 6000 years old or 13,700,000,000 years old?  /s

[nobodyspecial]

Aren't Woden and Odin one and the same?

Yes they are.  There are about 170 variations of this name. Standardized spelling is a fairly new concept.  Odin is a very old god.

Hmm, is Odin 6000 years old or 13,700,000,000 years old?  /s

I think that as a God you only as old as you feel.
In spite of the unreasonable body image expectations that Marvel comics place on them, being a Norse deity is one area where we are battling ageism.
 

[BTDretire]

Got a good one from my wife's work.

Co-worker A needs to buy a birthday gift for his girlfriend so he enlists co-worker B (female) to help. They come to the decision that a designer purse, original MSRP of $3,000 is appropriate. But holy shit, it's 50% off what a great deal! Only $1,500!. Boom, bought it!

Such a great deal in fact that Co-worker B just HAD to buy one for herself, I mean you're just an idiot if you pass up a bargain like that!

For context, they both have incomes in the $70-80K range.,

  My daughter (25yrs old) invited a friend from out of town to visit her and go to a theme park. The recent hurricane was approaching and my daughter confided that she hoped that they would close so she wouldn't need to buy a ticket. Well, the weather was bad, so they went to the mall shopping. My daughters friend, a waitress at a breakfast restaurant, was buying many assorted items. Then she saw a 'purse', it was
"on sale" marked down from $600 to $450!!! She loved the 'purse', but didn't have enough money. What to do? She backtracked and returned several of the items she had purchased. That didn't work, they put too much as a credit on her debit card.
She went back to the store and the sales person, ask if she new about their credit card
that she could get. Eureka! So she got the card and bought the $450 purse that she loved. After she got the purse, she said, "now we can go into Gucci and they won't look at us funny. (might have said Neiman Marcus)
My daughter is doing pretty well as Mustachian, she saw a $50 key chain she liked but didn't buy it.

[LeRainDrop]

Eureka! So she got the card and bought the $450 purse that she loved. After she got the purse, she said, "now we can go into Gucci and they won't look at us funny. (might have said Neiman Marcus)

Haha!  That is kinda true, though.  During one year of my life, I went into the Coach store on a few occasions.  When I was wearing my summer flip-flops, shorts, and t-shirt, I was ignored or looked down on.  But when I wore my business clothes and my Coach purse, then they were all over me.  I still had the same high income/net worth either way, but my appearance did make a difference in how I was treated at those types of stores.  Pretty ridiculous.  I also remember walking into an Ann Taylor that was practically empty of people, and I was in total casual wear, so was completely ignored, even though it was a rare time that I actually wanted help.  Then I started trying on multiple full suits and outfits, and I couldn't pry the snotty lady away from me.

[esq]

Got a good one from my wife's work.

Co-worker A needs to buy a birthday gift for his girlfriend so he enlists co-worker B (female) to help. They come to the decision that a designer purse, original MSRP of $3,000 is appropriate. But holy shit, it's 50% off what a great deal! Only $1,500!. Boom, bought it!

Such a great deal in fact that Co-worker B just HAD to buy one for herself, I mean you're just an idiot if you pass up a bargain like that!

For context, they both have incomes in the $70-80K range.,

  My daughter (25yrs old) invited a friend from out of town to visit her and go to a theme park. The recent hurricane was approaching and my daughter confided that she hoped that they would close so she wouldn't need to buy a ticket. Well, the weather was bad, so they went to the mall shopping. My daughters friend, a waitress at a breakfast restaurant, was buying many assorted items. Then she saw a 'purse', it was
"on sale" marked down from $600 to $450!!! She loved the 'purse', but didn't have enough money. What to do? She backtracked and returned several of the items she had purchased. That didn't work, they put too much as a credit on her debit card.
She went back to the store and the sales person, ask if she new about their credit card
that she could get. Eureka! So she got the card and bought the $450 purse that she loved. After she got the purse, she said, "now we can go into Gucci and they won't look at us funny. (might have said Neiman Marcus)
My daughter is doing pretty well as Mustachian, she saw a $50 key chain she liked but didn't buy it.

Some people have such lofty goals.

[ender]

Eureka! So she got the card and bought the $450 purse that she loved. After she got the purse, she said, "now we can go into Gucci and they won't look at us funny. (might have said Neiman Marcus)

Haha!  That is kinda true, though.  During one year of my life, I went into the Coach store on a few occasions.  When I was wearing my summer flip-flops, shorts, and t-shirt, I was ignored or looked down on.  But when I wore my business clothes and my Coach purse, then they were all over me.  I still had the same high income/net worth either way, but my appearance did make a difference in how I was treated at those types of stores.  Pretty ridiculous.  I also remember walking into an Ann Taylor that was practically empty of people, and I was in total casual wear, so was completely ignored, even though it was a rare time that I actually wanted help.  Then I started trying on multiple full suits and outfits, and I couldn't pry the snotty lady away from me.

If you are a younger man, the same thing happens at car dealerships.

Wear shorts and a t-shirt and go look at cars and you won't be taken seriously at all. Put on khakis and a polo (or nicer)? Big difference.

[Metric Mouse]

Eureka! So she got the card and bought the $450 purse that she loved. After she got the purse, she said, "now we can go into Gucci and they won't look at us funny. (might have said Neiman Marcus)

Haha!  That is kinda true, though.  During one year of my life, I went into the Coach store on a few occasions.  When I was wearing my summer flip-flops, shorts, and t-shirt, I was ignored or looked down on.  But when I wore my business clothes and my Coach purse, then they were all over me.  I still had the same high income/net worth either way, but my appearance did make a difference in how I was treated at those types of stores.  Pretty ridiculous.  I also remember walking into an Ann Taylor that was practically empty of people, and I was in total casual wear, so was completely ignored, even though it was a rare time that I actually wanted help.  Then I started trying on multiple full suits and outfits, and I couldn't pry the snotty lady away from me.

If you are a younger man, the same thing happens at car dealerships.

Wear shorts and a t-shirt and go look at cars and you won't be taken seriously at all. Put on khakis and a polo (or nicer)? Big difference.

Not sure why I would feel the need to be taken seriously at a car dealership. I certainly don't take them seriously.

[Metric Mouse]

Eureka! So she got the card and bought the $450 purse that she loved. After she got the purse, she said, "now we can go into Gucci and they won't look at us funny. (might have said Neiman Marcus)

Haha!  That is kinda true, though.  During one year of my life, I went into the Coach store on a few occasions.  When I was wearing my summer flip-flops, shorts, and t-shirt, I was ignored or looked down on.  But when I wore my business clothes and my Coach purse, then they were all over me.  I still had the same high income/net worth either way, but my appearance did make a difference in how I was treated at those types of stores.  Pretty ridiculous.  I also remember walking into an Ann Taylor that was practically empty of people, and I was in total casual wear, so was completely ignored, even though it was a rare time that I actually wanted help.  Then I started trying on multiple full suits and outfits, and I couldn't pry the snotty lady away from me.

If you are a younger man, the same thing happens at car dealerships.

Wear shorts and a t-shirt and go look at cars and you won't be taken seriously at all. Put on khakis and a polo (or nicer)? Big difference.

Not sure why I would feel the need to be taken seriously at a car dealership. I certainly don't take them seriously.

Having recently been car shopping it would have been nice to be taken less seriously. Just answer my questions with the minimum information, let me sit in a car or two, and let me go about my day!

"Let's not worry about what the car costs. Tell me what you want to pay (per month) and I'll see what I can do."

 - Come to think of it, maybe car salespeople do just jerk everyone's chain for shits and giggles, and I lack the sense of humor to fully appreciate it...

[ender]

"Let's not worry about what the car costs. Tell me what you want to pay (per month) and I'll see what I can do."

 - Come to think of it, maybe car salespeople do just jerk everyone's chain for shits and giggles, and I lack the sense of humor to fully appreciate it...

Next time I car shop, I'm going to just email them "I am willing to buy this car today for $X, pending a test drive and confirmation on price. Let me know if this is agreeable" or something.

[firelight]

"Let's not worry about what the car costs. Tell me what you want to pay (per month) and I'll see what I can do."

 - Come to think of it, maybe car salespeople do just jerk everyone's chain for shits and giggles, and I lack the sense of humor to fully appreciate it...

Next time I car shop, I'm going to just email them "I am willing to buy this car today for $X, pending a test drive and confirmation on price. Let me know if this is agreeable" or something.

My husband did this with our last car. He said he is willing to pay $X if they'll give him a particular model/trim within two days, pending test drive and confirmation. He got the lowest price possible within the nearest 200 miles.

[LeRainDrop]

"Let's not worry about what the car costs. Tell me what you want to pay (per month) and I'll see what I can do."

 - Come to think of it, maybe car salespeople do just jerk everyone's chain for shits and giggles, and I lack the sense of humor to fully appreciate it...

Next time I car shop, I'm going to just email them "I am willing to buy this car today for $X, pending a test drive and confirmation on price. Let me know if this is agreeable" or something.

My husband did this with our last car. He said he is willing to pay $X if they'll give him a particular model/trim within two days, pending test drive and confirmation. He got the lowest price possible within the nearest 200 miles.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I bought my car, too.  I emailed all of the [Make] dealerships within a couple hundred miles with the precise details of what I wanted to purchase and asked them to place their bid on all costs for out-the-door, so that I'd have an apples-to-apples comparison.  The lowest bidder won.  The dealership where I had test driven the car was not the lowest bidder and kept trying to scare me that there was no way that the lowest bidder would actually close the deal for that price, that it was just not possible, and they would pull some bait-and-switch when I went to get the car.  Nope, the lowest bidder was honest, firmed up all details by email, and closed the deal precisely as agreed upon.  According to TrueCar, I got a "great price" -- far below sticker price, factory invoice, average price paid, and even below dealer cost (there was a dealer incentive that month).

[theadvicist]

I posted in the family thread about my inlaws, but they are constantly being scammed by people who must be trustworthy because they are religious.  They lost 100k+ to a ponzi scheme that was marketed as investing in christian companies, they are in 'life leadership' which is a shitty MLM that mostly targets religious people.

I'm sure that these scams also target the non-religious, but there is a significant subset that specifically seeks out the very religious.  I think religious people in general (for better and for worse) have a lower threshold for who they will trust.  It makes sense, you have a tight knit community that is supposedly based on being a good person.  Infiltrate that and you suddenly have a ton of people to scam.  It doesn't make those people dumb or sheep, just trusting, which isn't a bad trait in many situations but when it comes to money suspicion can be a very good thing.

It actually kind of makes (sick) sense to target religious people - the very basis of faith is that you believe something that cannot be proven.

I'm not saying that in a laughing at people way, it's just the truth. Religious people do have a lower threshold for believing in things / people than people who have decided to reject religion based on the existence of God being unproven.