u/uselessprofession

Back in the good old days there were many small shops and markets which were directly owned by the person sitting there, and you could haggle prices with them. In my opinion, this was a fine art. One employed multiple tactics such as:

a) Calibrating to meet in the middle - they are charging 20, you are willing to pay 15, so you say 10, they say 18, you say 12, and in the end the difference is split.

b) Appeal to emotion - hey boss I've been an old and faithful customer of yours; come on don't I get a loyalty discount?

c) Business sense - how about if I buy more, can I get a bulk discount?

Nowadays everything is dominated by supermarkets and chain stores and of course we can't haggle prices with the employees - the prices are fixed. I do believe that the loss of this skill is detrimental to us in our careers and daily life because the art of healthily bargaining is not sufficiently practiced enough.

Currently, our first haggle tends to be at our first salary negotiation, first used car bought or first house purchase. The lack of prior practice does not build up enough skill for these crucial moments.

Hallmark romcoms have been the butt of many jokes. "Girl with a career and boyfriend in the city goes back to her hometown for a visit, meets loafer with a heart of gold who is actually heir to a huge farm, and she dumps her workaholic boyfriend to live happily ever after with this new man" gets ridiculed often. Yes, I get that going back to your hometown and suddenly meeting a very nice and handsome man who is also very rich and is willing to do all sorts of crazy stuff to woo you is very silly. Yes, I get that dumping your boyfriend who's only sin was working hard while you're on vacation is silly.

The thing is action movies are also very silly. Am I supposed to believe that John Wick can prevail in a gun fight against a dozen guys, judo throw a guy then use jujutsu on another one to finish both off, then get pushed and roll down a hundred flight of stairs, and then get back up and win another gun fight against a dozen guys again? Obviously not. But we generally all agree to suspend our sense of logic as it's an action movie.

I think it's a double standard. And this is coming from a guy who is a big fan of John Wick.

Hi everyone, I'm starting tennis after 2 years of pickleball, which I am not that talented at. Since I am not talented in any racquet sport, I might as well play the one which I can imagine myself as Roger Federer in. I have had a few lessons and hitting sessions, can hit a semi-ok forehand and backhand (the pickleball swing carries over 60%), but my serve is horrendous.

Anyway, I would like to have a partner to hit with, we can share court fees. If you have a condo court, I will pay for all the tennis balls. Age, gender and all other factors are irrelevant, if you can get the ball over the net that's fine, we can rally. If you are too good you may be bored by my slow strokes, I will buy you drinks to compensate.

I'm ok with anywhere in KL / PJ.

Note:

a) If you are a girl I am not going to hit on you, there are apps for that.

b) If you are a guy or girl, I am not going to try to sell you insurance or MLM, I hate it.

c) I am not hitting with my existing friends because the ones who already play are too good for me at this point, and my friends from pickleball who just started tennis swing at the ball so hard that they send it into unknown realms. My aim is to get better so I can hit with the ones who already play tennis, and to join social games.

Recently I incurred a parking ticket for parking by the roadside. I'm surprised that the traffic police came out on a Saturday night but it is what it is, my bad.

However when I tried to pay online via the government portal, I can't find the summons. In the past I could type in the car license plate to pay, but now I can't. The problem is that the car is registered under my sister's IC, so perhaps it is not showing under my profile. Unfortunately, she is overseas.

If any dear friends, Malaysians, and countrymen have any idea please let me know. This is most peculiar.

Corporate higher-ups always hide behind HR when they want to mass cut employees. I say this is cowardly behavior. The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword, they should personally lay off the employee face-to-face, even if it is all twenty thousand of them.

It is my honest opinion that math, when taught poorly, is an experience akin to an extended operation at the dental office. Many teachers really do not know how to make math classes interesting, or bring out the "why" behind math, and instead resort to rote memorization, which naturally induces sleep in students.

On the other hand, when math is taught well, it is a highly fascinating subject, including the dreaded calculus. I think the reason many people say "oh I'm bad at math" is because it was drilled into them via rote memorization of rules, which would make any subject immensely boring. It's the same with say history, where a teacher who can tell it as a story makes kids love the subject, while one who makes kids recite a list of dates and events drive them up the wall.