Recently my wife and I went out to do something Christmas shopping. While we were out, we also grabbed some lunch, took dinner home, rented a movie, and bought a game to play the next day. It should have been a relaxing weekend, but that wasn’t the case. In 2023, thanks to greedy billionaires and huge, shitty companies, buying pretty much anything is a terrible experience.
As people reading the internet in 2023, I’m sure you’re all aware of how crappy it is to buy…anything these days. So this post is not intended to point out a hidden truth or reveal a new part of the world that you weren’t aware of. Instead, I’m just tired and wanted to reassure you all: Yes, it’s bad out there, it’s getting worse, and it all sucks. It’s so shitty.
Shopping online or in store is terrible
First, even before we headed out to buy some gifts and other items, I was on Amazon trying to shop for other gifts. I hate Amazon. But more often than not, it’s the only option for certain items out here in the Midwest. Still, it sucks. Using Amazon now, in 2023, is like walking through a maze of trap doors and counterfeit items. Is this really a PS5 controller in the color I want? Or is it one of the many fakes and dropshipping scams? You have to check the seller and the price and hope that what you order actually arrives and is not damaged before it arrives at your home. Or stolen from your porch.
Maybe, like us, you decide to say, “Screw Amazon!” and head to local stores or brick-and-mortar supercenters to pick up your items. Good luck! I searched online for a specific item and found it in stock at a store near me. But when I got there, the item I was told was in stock was…not in stock. When I asked one of the few overworked employees in the store about the item, they all seemed far too busy and tired to respond with anything more than “Maybe next week?”
Eventually we found some of our items, but our worries and confusion weren’t over yet because then, as usual, we discovered that most of the checkouts were closed. The Target we were at had about 20 of them, but only two were open. Two workers were forced to check out and serve hundreds of Christmas shoppers. It didn’t go well.
So we went to the self-checkout but found long lines because some machines weren’t working. One person was responsible for managing the machines and all users. It didn’t go well either.
And to be clear, none of this is the fault of the overworked, underpaid workers desperately trying to make a living while being yelled at by Karens for coughing or not smiling enough. Don’t let this desperation distract you from me being mad at the staff at Taco Bell or Target or something. I’m mad at their bosses and everyone above them who are slowly grinding us all into a paste that they can scrape off their boots and throw away when we run out of money.
Anyway, after we left the store we went on a few more trips. And it was the same story. Stores appeared empty, most items relegated to online stores, while overworked employees, expected to hold on to far too much at once, did what they could as Christmas shoppers descended on them like ravenous predators.
Buying anything else sucks too
Meanwhile, we stopped to grab some lunch at Arby’s. However, we discovered that the line at the drive-thru was 20 cars long. So we went somewhere else: a local Taco Bell, which isn’t usually too busy. And fortunately that wasn’t the case, but inside I found a person running the store. Not only is this dangerous, it’s also a terrible way to manage a fast food joint. We went to order our food but the systems at this location were down and we had no cash on us. The single worker suggested that we use the app to buy the food and pay that way. The future sucks.
When we got home we tried watching a movie. But it wasn’t available on any streaming services, so we had to rent it, even though Roku and other sites said otherwise. So instead we decided to watch a movie that I already owned but we hadn’t seen yet, only to learn that Vudu wasn’t there that night for some reason.
When I watched the movie on YouTube using my Moviesanywhere account, the connection was disconnected for security reasons. So we said “screw it” and opened “MAX” to watch a cooking show we enjoyed. But this particular show didn’t load for us, even when everything else was working. It’s great to pay for apps that never work!
Finally we gave up, opened YouTube and watched some nonsense. While we were doing this, my wife tried to buy a game on the Xbox just to do it confused by all the different editions and bundles. And as I was helping to select the right one, the app crashed and we just went downstairs and bought it through the console anyway.
It’s unbelievable how terrible it is to buy anything today. We all have less money than ever and companies have more than ever, and yet they still demand it even more. And now they don’t care how clearly it is clear that all they want in 2023 is that money. They don’t care at all about their employees, their customers or the shopping experience.
Instead, we’re forced to jump through more and more hurdles as prices rise and the simple act of buying something becomes harder and shittier every month.
At this rate, by around 2025, I imagine I’ll have to spend about $200 on a small fast food order placed by a person who maintains a thousand robots making everything in a tri-state area.
I say screw it. Let’s ostracize billionaires, take their money and make this world a better place before we’re all oppressed by the rich. That sounds much better to me.
.
