Why giant corporations aren’t “evil”

A lot of people lately think that giant corporations are evil and made up of terrible people who are greedy liars and that small businesses are good and honest and are far better. I’m here to tell you you’re completely wrong.

I’m gonna tell you a made-up story, but it is similar to what probably happened. The setting is 20 years ago in a small town in arkansas. There are 4 department stores in town. One called Wal-Mart, the others department store #1, #2, and #3. They were all pretty good department stores, but the store called Wal-Mart had better customer service, sold better quality products, and so people shopped there a lot more than at department stores #1, #2, and #3. Over time, Wal-Mart accumulated so much money that they opened another store, and another, and another. Now, in 2009, they are a giant corporation with hundreds of stores. People who don’t know this story just assume that Wal-mart is evil and the smaller department stores are much better. Well, 20 years ago, Wal-Mart started off just like the other department stores, but was the best department store there was in the area back then. So then they expanded and got to be a big corporation. They didn’t start off huge, they started off just like the other department stores and because they had better customer service and sold better quality products, they are the huge mega-chain of department stores they are today.

Understand yet? Corporations aren’t evil!

My second story also takes place 20 years ago in 1989, but in Seattle. There is a store called Starbucks, and Coffee Store #1, #2, and #3. The 4 coffee stores were all very small and only had 1 store, but Starbucks made a better cup of coffee than the other coffee stores, and then made enough money to expand. The only reason they are a huge chain of coffee stores now is that they made a better cup of coffee 20 years ago. They started off the same as the other coffee stores, but they got to be the best by making the best coffee, its simple.

So now hopefully you see that small businesses aren’t always the best. Also, larger corporations employ way more people, offer better deals on lots of products, which is always good in a bad economy like this. Also, they offer better healthcare than most small businesses can afford. Larger corporations also circulate more money through the economy, and also give back more taxes to the government, which comes right back to spend on you.

Corporations are not evil!

Scott

Economic Tip

Here is an economic tip that will help everybody.

I bet most of you have a small collection of change in quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies on your dresser, in your purse, or wherever. Most people just put all their change there and forget about it. My friend did the same thing. However, today, we found a ton of coins at his house and we decided to count it all. It was over $40.00. It took like an hour to count it, but in the end it was worth it. If you haven’t picked up the tip yet, it is find your spare change, and then go cash it an a coinstar or just annoy some cashier by paying in pennies and nickels. If you don’t know what a coinstar is, its something that you can find in most Rainbow Foods and other grocery stores. You throw your change in there and it gives you paper money. Here is the coinstar website.

It will be boring and take a while, but it will be worth it in the end. In this economy, find $40.00 in change in your house cannot be a bad thing.

Cinco De Mayo

Well I’m pretty sure that’s how you spell it. Anyways Happy Cinco De Mayo everybody! I didn’t really know what Cinco De Mayo was or why it was important, so I found this-
http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm
It sounds like a very important day. And not just for Mexico. For the US too. You see, if Napoleon III of france had been able to supply the US Confederate army for another year, the confederates might have beaten the Union in the civil war. And obviously it was good for Mexico as well.

Anyways Happy Cinco De Mayo, I’m off to watch TV.
Scott

50,000

Before I start to rant on about some random topic that comes into my head as I’m writing this post, I’m going to thank everyone who has visited this blog. EVER. 50,000 views is the biggest accomplishment you’ve helped me reach so far, but definitely not the last. I remember being happy about 1000 hits. That was 49,000 views ago! Thank you EVERYONE.

I got my cellphone by the way, it’s pretty nice. It’s a Samsung Gravity.

It slides out and has a keyboard, but can also text using the number keyboard like all you flip-phone users have to do. It also has a camera, which has come in handy today since I was in the Smoky Mountains (A National park inside the Appalachian Mountains. (The mountain range on the east coast, if you don’t know your US geography) Anyways I’m on Spring Break, which is why I’m all the way down here in North Carolina. The people down here are nice and have incredibly thick southern accents. Some people’s accents are even more southern than the movies. I like North Carolina so far, it’s a good place. I just ate at one of the best Italian restaurants in the United States, and its right next to my hotel. Tomorrow we’re going to Charleston, South Carolina. I heard that it’s a great city. I’m excited.

See? I told you I’d start ranting on about stuff.
Scott

Cell Phones, Model UN Negotiation Tactics, and Tennis

Wow that’s a lot of topics to cover. I’ll go in order.

If you have been reading stuff on my blog for a very long time, you might remember that roughly a year ago I made a post in anger because my parents didn’t want to buy me a cellphone, when a lot of my friends had one. http://amazingscott.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/cellphones/
A week ago in Geography we started getting ready for Model UN. So, we learned some negotiation tactics. I tried to use the tactics to get a phone on Thursday. 5 days later, I’m getting one. They worked like magic. I know this will be useful to people everywhere, whether you’re trying to get a phone yourself, trying to get a raise, or trying to convince someone into doing something, so here they are.

Assume a reasonable stance. Make a reasonable offer/demand at the beginning

Demand more in the first offer. Say you’re selling a car. You want to sell it for at least $3500. So, all you have to do is try and sell it for $4000. Then, you can haggle and barter down until you get the $3500 you want. If you’re lucky and good at this, you might be able to get a little more than you wanted in the first place. If you tried to sell the car at the beginning for $3500, you might end up with $3000. Negotiate down to what you want.

False Demands. This one is complicated and I don’t fully understand it myself, so there won’t be an example. You can get something out of negotiating that you don’t need, and try and use it against someone.

Negotiate from Authority. For most people, this simply doesn’t work. The example makes it very easy to understand. Have you ever asked your parents if you could stay out until 10:00? Then they say 8:00. Then, you say 9:30. Then they say 7:30. If you can tell that they’re going to do this, and you can get something reasonable, play it like ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ and walk away.

Playing Opponents against each other. This is what really helped me get my phone. My mom wanted me to have a phone, and my dad didn’t. All I had to do is sit back and relax while they argue it out. It took a while to get my mom to actually talk to my dad about it, but in the end it worked like magic.

Controlled Anger. This is where you can do one of 2 things. You can get yourself in a ton of trouble, or you can get what you want. If one side knows the other is angry, then they sometimes will give in easier. Make sure you control your anger, if you let it get out of hand, then you’re in trouble.

Aggression. If you are being aggressive with words (Make sure you’re not swearing and making insults to your opponent) then you can get the group to constantly discuss what you want.

Knowing when to surrender. Its always good to know when to stop, to not push something anymore. Know when to take what you have and leave.

Horse Trading. This is bargaining, bartering, and trading. “I’ll give you this if you give me that” sort of talk.

So, if you use all those to your advantage you’ll be a much better negotiator.

On to Model UN. Sometime in April, we’re going to a college in the Twin Cities, and there will be a bunch of pairs of us each representing a different country. We have to put aside our own personal views and just focus on our country’s views. Also we get to eat in a college cafeteria. One of the teachers at my school said that they have an ice cream machine where you can pull a lever and a bunch of ice cream comes out of a pipe thing, similar to what they would have at Dairy Queen. My teacher wants to lay down under it and have someone pull the lever. Maybe I should try that too…

Also I have a St. Paul urban Tennis winter class thing today with 2 of my friends. It started a few weeks ago, and its really fun. Soon I’ll add some of the stuff I learn in there to my Tennis blog, http://tennisnation.wordpress.com

Scott

14

Tomorrow, on February 25th, I’m turning 14. I got a $50 bill from my grandparents on my dad’s side (Thank you! ) And soon I’ll have enough to get the electric guitar I wanted. Also hopefully I’ll get a Lacrosse Stick so I can play around with that for a while and maybe join a youth lacrosse league sometime with my friend who also wants to try it.

In other news, the Minnesota Vikings are planning to build a new stadium. The main goal of it is to boost Minnesota’s economy. It will create 8,000 jobs and bring in $32 million a year. The Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota Gophers are also building new stadiums in the few years to come, and those will probably have similar effects.

Unfortunately I am sick today. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better than today.

Scott

40,000 Views

Wow! That’s a lot of views. When I started this tiny blog back in May 2008 out of pure boredom, I honestly never thought I’d get this far. But, as you see to your left, I did. There are a few people I’d like to thank…

-Ilan. (http://redcowz.wordpress.com) He makes amazing headers and graphic stuff for me and the rest of the world, he finds time to post everyday (Which if you look back on my blog, I have not managed to do recently) What I think is most impressive about his blog are how is posts that he makes every single day are all very unique, informative, and gets the point through very fast. His blog is just a fun one overall, go visit it, there’s something new every day!

-WordPress. I don’t believe I have to explain ‘why’ as much as I will on other acknowledgments, because without them I wouldn’t even have a blog in the first place, nor will I have met any of the people I’ve met.

-Everyone who has ever visited this site from the day it was created and today (And anyone who will stumble upon this blog in the future, too ) If only 39,999 people had visited this blog I wouldn’t be writing this. THANK YOU.

Scott

Lacrosse

On Saturday, my friend called me and said he has 2 extra tickets to a Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse Game at the Excel Energy Center in downtown Minneapolis (The city right next to St. Paul, if you don’t know your geography). All I knew about Lacrosse was that you have sticks with nets on the end of them and you throw a ball around. I went to the game, it was absolutely hilarious! The goalie was wearing 5 feet of pads, and looked like the Michelin man (You know, the white-inflatable guy from the Michelin tire commercials?) and the rest of the guys wore pads and helmets, just like the Goalie. (Not as many pads though, they have to run). During the game, the hilarious announcer did a bunch of funny things. First, he put the camera on a million random people. Then, he called some teenager up to the announcer box, and put his camera on him. His shirt said “JG Whore” or something like that. He gave the guy a piece of paper, and told him to cover up the “Whore” part of it. The whole stadium was laughing and the teenager probably felt really embarrassed, but hey, it was funny. Then, they invited everyone to get a free Minnesota Swarm lacrosse ball in the 4th quarter. A Lacrosse ball is like a rubber billiard ball! It’s rock solid! I had always thought they used something like a Tennis Ball.

In hockey, if you charge up to another player and slam him on the head with your stick, you’ll get a penalty. In Lacrosse, that’s what you’re supposed to do to get the ball! Lacrosse makes hockey seem like a bunch of 2nd graders having tea at an imaginary tea party in their backyard. It looked really fun, so I’d like to go to another game and get some lacrosse sticks.

Lacrosse looks really fun and hopefully I’ll get to go to another Lacrosse game soon, and hopefully I’ll get some some Lacrosse sticks for my birthday on February 25th.

The National Lacrosse League’s (NLL) website is http://nll.com

Scott

The Rocker on DVD!

Way back in August, a movie came out called The Rocker. It was HILARIOUS! Me and my friend went to see it.

It comes out on DVD tomorrow!
I’m going to buy it on iTunes, and I recommend that you do as well. It is honestly worth the money. Rainn Wilson (Dwight from the Office) does a really great and funny job in the movie. At first, he is in an 80’s hair band, but the rest of his band replaces him with another drummer to get a record deal. Then, he promises he will become more famous than them. 20 years later, after he hasn’t forgotten about his promise for a second, and he isn’t as famous as them. In fact, he’s a normal person. But when he gets a chance to join his high school nephew’s band, he does, and takes them for the ride of their life. It is absolutely hilarious to see someone who would have been cool in the 80’s be in a band with some normal high school kids! I can’t wait until tommorow!

Scott

No School Today!

No, it isn’t a snow day, It is pretty annoying how all the 7th graders think there will be a snow day when I’ve never had a snow day in my life, not to mention just 8th grade. Its some staff development day or something.

Anyways, tomorrow I’m going downhill skiing, then going to a party. Next week is conferences….

In other news, according to Homer Simpson, “Well I did bring this envelope full of money…. and nowadays betting in a bar is safer than any real-estate, stock, or mutual fund investment…”

The quote is actually pretty true if you think about it.

Scott