Do we work for and pay for all this convenience in order to live our lives, or do we live our lives in order to work for and pay for all this convenience?
COLIN BEAVAN
I recommended a Chemex coffee maker to my boss at work. He had been using a Mister Coffee but made the switch to the Chemex and loved it. Then, he stopped loving it and went with a French press. He said the Chemex took too much time. This filled me with disgust.
I told another fellow about ditching those high dollar cartridge razors and canned shave creams and using a safety razor and shave soap. He told me that this style of shaving took too much time. This filled me with disgust.
I mentioned to a coworker that I always bring my lunch to work instead of eating out. Naturally, he said he didn't have time to make his lunch. This filled me with disgust.
Here is something I don't understand. How valuable is the time of these people? I can understand the President not having time to fix his own lunch or even wipe his own butt. But what are these people doing that is so important that they have to economize every minute of their day? And are they really saving time when they have to work longer hours to pay for all the time they saved on this convenience?
Convenience always comes at a cost. I can make a deli style vegan sandwich for about 50 cents at home. I can buy the equivalent sandwich from a deli or sub shop for about $5. For the time I spent waiting in line watching the guy make the sandwich that I could have made myself and paying for the sandwich to the brain dead cashier at the checkout, I could have made my own sandwich and eaten it. I haven't saved any time on this at all. In fact, I lost time on this. Then, I have to pay for the high price of this lousy service which means I have to work longer on my job to pay for the labor I saved at the sandwich shop. In the final calculation, I have lost both time and money on this transaction. Where's the convenience in this?
I never shop at convenience stores except to buy gas. I find that I can go to the grocery store and buy my convenience items for less money in the same amount of time. This is because convenience stores have one overworked clerk and a jerk who scratches his lottery tickets at the counter just after buying them. Where's the convenience in this?
I never buy coffee from Starbucks. This is because it takes 30 minutes to finally get the cup of ashtray flavored coffee which will cost me another 30 minutes of labor on the job to pay for the coffee I could have made in ten minutes at home for a fraction of the cost. Where's the convenience in this?
Our society has become accustomed to having people do everything for them. This is why families eat four to five times a week at some fast food restaurant. This is why workers hit up Starbucks everyday for their caffeine fix. This is why convenience stores can get away with charging almost $2 for a bag of chips that would cost a fraction at a real grocery store. It makes no economic sense, but most people are stupid on these matters. And when you call them out on this stupidity, they always make the time argument. These things save time, and time is money.
Time is money. If your time is worth $100 an hour, paying $10 for lunch makes sense since making it yourself would cost $50 in the opportunity cost. But people making $10 an hour will pay $10 for a meal that just cost them an hour of their lives. Then, they are mystified why they have to find a second job to make ends meet. Yet, they could work one job and be fine if they just made their own sandwich.
Do you want to save more money? Do you want to save more time in your life? Do you want to be able to work less? Do you want higher quality experiences? Then, make your own sandwich. As much as possible, make your life less convenient. The irony is that you will find that you have all the time you need and money accumulating in your accounts. And that is very convenient.
Thank you for reading!
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