Posts by restlesscrane152

So, the creator and the client signed an agreement for some copyrighted work. The author is based here in the US, but the client isn't. Now, the client is asking for an invoice, but from what I gather, an individual can't just whip one up as a private citizen.

So, what's the move? What can the author actually send over?

Yeah. It’s just called a debit card. Go ask Bank of America about getting a Visa Electron. Never had any issues with mine, though I haven't used it all that much.

Douglas Reed3 said:I honestly believe most people don't even realize yet that we're headed toward an even larger wave of young people leaving the country...

Oh, they totally do. Why else would there be so much support for the European Union? People are just looking for any way to bail out of this country and find some actual happiness somewhere else.

The only thing those EU folks won't tell you is that the older member states can actually shut their labor markets to new members for up to seven years.

Ashley Collins4 said:The fundamental engine here is interest, and the core motivation is cash—the more
money, the better.
"I have nothing against it; I want to be wealthy too."
Let’s all aim to be rich, since I assume money is, generally speaking,
everyone's motivator. How do we get there?
Right now, we have two main groups, which are subdivided themselves. A small group
of the wealthy, split into rich, wealthier, and the ultra-rich.
And a larger group of the poor, split into poor, poorer, and the destitute.

Now, looking at your idealistic theories—whether a worker works to increase a
boss's profits or for their own salary, whatever. Mostly, they're working to bump up the employer's
profits.
The other idealistic view—that we get to enjoy a diverse selection of products because someone else
wants to get rich (honestly, thinking about it makes me want to sing from pure joy),
is also nonsense. Our daily reality is drastically different and speaks
for itself.

You want to know the difference between the rich and the poor? It's right there!!!
Ha, ha, ha. Someone might say, "Very clever, but without the poor, there wouldn't be any
rich people."

🤦🤦🤦

Seeing comments like that, I realize there's seriously no point in even trying to argue...

Ashley Collins4 said:"I want to be rich."

🤦

Think about it. Why do people actually sell stuff or offer services? You think that baker at the corner shop is selling you bread just because he wants you to stay full? Or an ISP provides internet just so you can have a voice online? Does an employee work to boost their boss's bottom line, or is it all about grabbing that paycheck?

Adam Smith nailed this ages ago—most people are driven by their own interests. That's the genius part of a market economy. Because everyone is out there trying to get rich, the rest of society ends up with a massive variety of products and services to choose from. It just works!

Robert Hall7 said:Good grief, who on earth is mowing large fields this time of year? Seriously, step outside. Walk through a meadow. Mowers and scythes are still tucked away in the garage. Besides, those wildflowers are already past their peak bloom. There isn't even any mowing happening. What are you talking about?

You're totally right. Mowing was the first thing that crossed my mind, but honestly, there's nothing to cut right now.

Still, it's weird to me how people say spring ephemerals are protected when they're literally everywhere you look. 🤷

Kate James11 said:It doesn't actually matter how "rare" it is on paper; even if it's protected by law, there's always the risk of it becoming truly scarce if people start mass-harvesting it to sell at local farmers' markets. It's a lot like all the snakes, lizards, and turtles here in America—they might be legally protected, but that doesn't mean they aren't facing real pressure from habitat loss or over-collection.

Everything has the potential to be protected by law. If I went around culling cats right now, they'd suddenly have "the potential" to become rare. Personally, I don't see the point in protecting something just because it might become scarce, especially since every time someone mows their lawn, half the spring wildflowers get wiped out along with the weeds.

What's next—should we tell landscapers to stop mowing and start transplanting lilacs?

How rare is that flower, really?

As far as I can tell, they're everywhere every single spring. Honestly, wouldn't be surprised if most of them just get mowed down along with the grass...

rustywalker42 said:Please. Those high-rollers have been protected for ages, and those fines were already on the books. Same rules apply to everyone else—the small fry, the nobodies, the guys just trying to get by.

What else are they protecting now? Grass? Is mowing my own lawn gonna be considered a hate crime next? 😁

silentridge3 said:Good grief...

I mean, sure, it’s a bummer that 50 people lost their jobs today, but it isn't exactly groundbreaking news, is it? It's the same thing we saw yesterday, and the day before that... just some local restaurant owner sitting there talking about how his revenue dropped by 20 or 50 percent. Does anyone actually want to sit through a segment like that every single day? Like, do you personally find yourself tuning in specifically to watch those little human interest stories? Is that really how you spend your time?

Look, they cover different professions every few days. Honestly, both sides get equal airtime.

I guess if you're the type who watches TV from sunrise to sunset, you've probably heard it all already...

silentridge3 said:Do you even grasp what this thread is actually about?

The point isn't whether 5,000 people in America should be struggling because their little coffee shops are seeing a dip in foot traffic—not that those folks are any more important than the other 330 million Americans dealing with their own stuff. The whole issue is why these specific 5,000 people are suddenly the most vital subjects for the news media, why their minor inconveniences are framed as national tragedies, and why we have to see them plastered all over the front page of every news broadcast every single day.

I mean, if 50,000 people are out of work entirely, while 5,000 just have slightly lower margins and are weighing whether to close up shop, I guess I’d much rather spend my time hearing some well-founded grievances from one of those 50,000 unemployed souls, instead of listening to some boutique cafe owner complaining while sipping a latte in front of an "ambitious reporter."

Because it's trending! Unlike some workers constantly whining—which, by the way, also gets airtime—about how they haven't been paid on time for 20 years, keep losing jobs, or watching companies go belly up.

Bottom line: after two decades, that kind of News is just plain BORING. Media outlets cover what actually grabs attention, not the same old story we've heard for 20 years just because this time instead of 1,000 people losing jobs, it was 1,050, or instead of a textile plant closing, it was a woodshop, or the owner is German instead of Italian.

Since you totally ignored the rest of my post, I'm assuming you're on board?

@DarkRyder

By that logic, anything besides farming is useless and just a byproduct of automation, meaning every other industry is basically just a drain on agriculture. As for helping the country—anyone paying taxes is helping the state, regardless of what they do for a living.

And if we're talking about who actually creates value, it’s simple: if someone is willing to pay for the service or product you offer, then it’s definitely valuable.

In that sense, one coffee shop selling its service is way more valuable than a furniture factory that can't sell a single piece.

silentridge3 said:

restlesscrane152 I guess what they're saying is...
I mean, isn't it just kind of obvious, I guess, that most of the people hanging out in coffee shops are actually just smokers? It feels like you can barely find a quiet corner without someone blowing a cloud of smoke right in your direction, though maybe I'm just being cynical about it.
I mean, I wouldn't say they're the *only* reason, but if we're looking at a massive 50 to 60 percent drop in revenue, then I guess it’s pretty safe to assume that smokers aren't exactly some tiny, insignificant minority of their customer base. It just seems like such an obvious correlation when you look at those kinds of numbers, though maybe I'm oversimplifying things.

First off, I guess if you really look at the numbers, smokers are actually a bit of a minority in our society these days; most people out there aren't even touching a cigarette anymore.
I mean, look, if you ask me, restaurateurs really ought to be fighting harder to cater to the majority—you know, the non-smokers. It honestly seems incredibly shortsighted that, up until now, so many establishments have been essentially "hosting" a tiny minority of smokers in these thick, hazy rooms, while the actual majority just gets turned away or forced to sit there inhaling secondhand smoke they never asked for in the first place. I guess it’s just one of those things where common sense wasn't exactly the priority, maybe.

I guess you could say this whole shift in the crowd isn't actually a bad thing for folks running the local bars and eateries. If anything, it’s kind of a blessing in disguise, maybe? It basically gives them a chance to pivot from catering to that small, gritty minority—you know, the ones who spend half their night hovering around an ashtray with a lukewarm coffee—and actually start focusing on the much larger crowd that just wants to drink without having to dodge a cloud of smoke every five seconds.

I mean, if you look at the timing, that whole smoking ban thing just happened to hit right when the economy was absolutely cratering, which I guess makes it easy to point fingers. People like to blame the ban for everything, but honestly, the massive slump in sales for furniture, appliances, cars, or even vacations... that wasn't exactly caused by people not being allowed to light up indoors. It’s not like only smokers were out there buying refrigerators and washing machines, right? And the struggle for restaurants and bars—well, a huge chunk of that misery was driven by the financial crisis itself. Even without that smoking ban, things probably would have tanked anyway, I suppose.

I guess I should probably start by saying that whenever someone decides to drop a Quote like that, it really just sets a certain tone for the whole conversation, doesn't it? It’s funny, in a way, how we all cling to these little snippets of text as if they're some kind of absolute truth or a definitive anchor, though maybe I'm just being overly cynical about the whole thing, which, let's be honest, is probably my default setting at this point. It feels like we're all just circling around these ideas, trying to find some sort of footing, but then someone pulls a move like this and suddenly the floor feels a bit more slippery than it did a moment ago, I suppose.

What a truly fascinating "breaking news" story we have here. It seems like ever since someone brought it up, we’re being force-fed these endless little dramas about local restaurant owners on every major nightly news broadcast, day in and day out. It’s just one constant stream of trivial nonsense being treated like front-page headlines on networks like Fox, and honestly, I guess it feels a bit ridiculous when you consider that there are actually significant, world-altering events happening everywhere else at the same time.

What exactly do you mean when you throw around a term like "hospitality professional"? I guess it’s one of those labels that people toss around like they mean something specific, but honestly, it feels a bit nebulous, doesn't it? Maybe you're talking about the person behind the bar at a local pub in Chicago, someone just trying to get through a shift, or maybe you mean the high-end restaurateurs who run these massive, polished establishments in Manhattan. It could be anyone from a small-town diner owner to some corporate executive managing a hotel chain like Marriott. It’s a broad spectrum, really—it might imply a certain level of grace and service, or it might just be a fancy way of describing someone who works in the service industry, which, let’s face it, can be pretty soul-crushing sometimes. I suppose there's a difference between someone who truly lives for the art of hosting and someone who is just punching a clock, but I don't know, the line seems pretty blurry to me.

I mean, what kind of guy actually goes through the whole grind of culinary school just to come out the other side as a chef, a server, a pastry specialist, or some kind of high-end hotel manager? It’s a lot, I guess. You spend all those years mastering the art of the perfect souffle or learning how to balance a tray while navigating a crowded dining room in downtown Chicago, and then you realize that the industry is basically just one giant, beautiful, exhausting whirlwind. Maybe it's the passion for the craft, or maybe people just have a weirdly high tolerance for standing on their feet for twelve hours straight, but I can't help but wonder what drives someone to commit to that specific life path.

Or maybe you’re thinking about what I mean by a "hospitality professional"—you know, an American? Because, honestly, in the States, everyone seems to be in the service industry in some capacity. It feels like every single American is born with a server's degree already tucked in their pocket, and then, of course, you have all those mobsters or pro athletes who suddenly become "small business owners," which is just a fancy way of saying they own a local bar or a diner. So, if I’m an American, I guess that technically makes me a hospitality professional too, if we're going by that logic.

Look, if what I was trying to get at—and I guess I was just trying to point out that since I’m not some professionally trained hospitality expert, you know, like someone who went to culinary school or spent years grinding as a server or a pastry chef—was basically just a roundabout way of saying, "then maybe just keep quiet because you clearly have no clue how grueling life actually is for a small business owner running a local pub," then I honestly think I owe you an explanation. I mean, maybe I didn't phrase it right, but I was really just attempting to say that unless you've lived the struggle of owning a dive bar or a neighborhood diner, you probably don't grasp the sheer weight of it all.

I can't help but wonder, I really do, just how much schooling someone actually needs to go through to pull off owning a bar—you know, to actually be the one calling the shots behind the counter instead of just scrubbing floors. I guess it’s one of those things where you wonder if there's some formal degree involved or if it’s all just learned on the fly through trial and error, which seems more likely, honestly. And then there's the grind of it all... I mean, how many hours is this person actually pulling in every single day? It’s probably exhausting, and I can't help but think about the physical toll, like, does their back just absolutely ache by the end of a shift from standing around all night? Maybe. Plus, you have to consider the whole life balance thing; like, is there even enough left over at the end of the month to buy schoolbooks for the kids, or is everything just swallowed up by overhead? And where do they even find the money for extra supplies or stuff for homework? It makes me wonder if they're just scraping by, maybe taking the bus or the subway to get to work every morning just to save a few bucks. It's a lot to juggle, I suppose.

I mean, the real crux of the matter here is how we’re comparing this supposed "hard life" to what everyone else is actually going through. There are so many people out there—way more than just the restaurant owners, I'd say, probably ten times as many—who are feeling the crushing weight of this crisis every single day, struggling just to scrape together enough cash for school supplies or even a bus pass, yet you never see Fox or any other major network putting them front and center in the nightly news cycle...

Already gave you my take on this—just because non-smokers are the majority doesn't mean they're the majority in bars. If you just look at the drop in revenue, it's obvious smokers are still huge clients for owners, regardless of what the general population does.

Shifting the clientele isn't bad for business. In fact, it lets them pivot from the minority (who smoke their cigarettes while sipping coffee) to the majority (who just drink).

Pivot? You mean forces them to? If they wanted to, they could've pivoted to non-smokers without a ban, but for some reason, that's clearly not profitable, seeing as how much revenue is tanking right now. Hmm...

By the way: the "smoking ban" just happened to hit at the same time as the recession. That massive crash in furniture sales, appliances, cars, travel, etc., wasn't caused by the smoking ban. People weren't just smokers when they stopped buying appliances. The dip in bar revenue is largely due to the economy. Even without the "smoking ban," business would have tanked.

True, but the ban made things even worse.

And if you're implying that since I'm not an owner in the strict sense (like a hotelier, waiter, chef, or baker) that I should shut up because I don't know how hard life is for a bar owner, then please, explain yourself.

I assumed that since you're so quick to judge whether someone's job is hard or easy, you're obviously in the industry yourself and for some weird reason, it bugs you that you live "so well."

And who's an owner and who isn't is pretty simple—if you work in hospitality, you're in it. If you don't, you're not.

So, asking one more time—are you actually in the industry, which is why you think you can judge the job?

The key here is comparing that "hard life" to the hard lives of everyone else. Those who are also feeling the weight of the recession, who can barely afford school books or a bus pass—there are ten times more of them than there are bar owners, yet Fox or local news doesn't feature them in the headlines every single day...

Oh, awesome. If we aren't all winning, then everyone should just suffer and nobody gets a pass.

silentridge3 said:Well, you called it "nonsense," but I think what you wrote was actually the nonsense part, if you follow me. First off, those two things aren't even the same thing, really. Second, this whole theory that bars have exclusively catered to smokers until now is just... I don't know, it feels wrong. And third, restaurant owners aren't just running strip clubs; they're running diners, ice cream parlors, actual businesses...

Wait, are you seriously out of the loop on what they're saying on CBS and NBC?

"A proposal to repeal" is a daily occurrence, I guess. If we go by that logic, we could sit here listening to the endless whining of hospitality workers or demands for the legalization of prostitution until the year 2080. Every single day, there's some new proposal for legalization.

Maybe enlighten me then. I'm purely interested in the life of a coffee shop owner. You know, their incredibly difficult existence.

Then enlighten me—what's the actual difference? Or is the difference just that it's obvious women mostly walk into salons, while it's not "obvious" that most cafe patrons are smokers?

Second, this theory that cafes have only hosted smokers until now is total nonsense.

Not exclusively, sure. But if their revenue is tanking by 50-60%, then smokers definitely aren't some tiny minority of their customers.

What, haven't you seen it on NBC or USA Network?

Nope. Not really. But hey, giving them the benefit of the doubt—I don't watch them, so I wouldn't know.

Is the "proposal to repeal" a daily topic? By that logic, we could listen to restaurant owners' fairy tales every single day until 2080. Or requests to legalize prostitution. That proposal is a daily thing too.

I don't know which news site mentioned it, but one said the law might be scrapped due to the crisis—so yeah, the topic is current.

Enlighten me. I'm only interested in hearing from cafe owners. And their tragic little lives.

So you're not a restaurant owner?

silentridge3 said:I mean, if you’re running a business and your sales are tanking, you should probably try doing something about it to boost them, I guess.

Are you seriously suggesting that FOX or ABC spent months—like, literally months on end—covering the decline of the furniture industry? Like they were out there in the field every single day, conducting interviews with workers and owners and everything?

No way.

And if we’re going to talk about "old news," then all this pitying of struggling small business owners is also pretty old news to me. If they started airing those segments back in late 2008, why on earth are we still watching them every single day?

Maybe it's because having three or six thousand Americans who have been coasting along in jobs where they basically "chilled out while the money just trickled in" is apparently our most important priority? I guess the country will just fall apart if a few thousand pub owners go under, right?

That’s like telling a nail salon—"hey, you mostly cater to women, maybe try something to attract guys." Like I said—pure stupidity.

Are you seriously claiming that CBS or NBC spent months on end following the decline of the furniture industry? Like they were out in the field every single day interviewing workers and owners?

No way.

What kind of domestic furniture industry do we even have here anyway? 😁

And if we're talking about "old news," then pitying struggling restaurant owners is also old news to me. If they started airing those segments back in late 2008, why are we still stuck watching them every damn day..?

The whole thing is relevant because there's a proposal to scrap that specific law.

Because what's more important than 3,000 or 6,000 Americans who have steady jobs where they've basically been "coasting while the money just rolls in"? Is America going to be most harmed if a few thousand bar owners go under?

I'm guessing you're a restaurateur yourself, so you know how easy that is to say, right?

Yeah, and sure, there will be damage because revenue will drop. But whatever, it'll just get made up through taxes. If there were any God and justice in this world, those taxes would hit nothing but the non-smokers and the self-righteous moralists.

silentridge3 said:I find myself scrolling through the daily news on Fox, or CNN...

I honestly can't wrap my head around why every single headline seems to revolve around smoking bans and bar owners. Yesterday, it was "someone said something regarding smoking legislation" (which I guess is just vital information to lead with), today it’s "someone responded to that" (as if we all need this urgent update), and tomorrow it'll be "some tavern owner is complaining about something" (so we absolutely have to see it on TV), and it just goes on and on like that forever...

In America, maybe 30% of people smoke, while 70% don't. And there are roughly 20 thousand small business owners in the hospitality sector—not just coffee shops, but everyone
.
Just imagine if business for everyone dropped by 30%. Or suppose 30% of the local spots close down, meaning 6 thousand business owners—who are probably doing better financially than most teachers or blue-collar workers, given they likely own property and nice cars—have to lock up for good because those 6 thousand people simply can't attract customers unless they allow smoking
.
On the flip side, you have people in America losing their jobs every single day. Furniture factories are crumbling, the textile industry is basically on its knees, and 50 thousand workers in shipyards and steel mills are either nearing the end of the line or are already out on the street...

Why don't Fox or CNN talk about them every day? Why isn't there daily coverage on "what the current situation is in American furniture manufacturing"? What did a factory worker say today, or what kind of tax incentive proposal is being discussed for that specific industry? What is a factory hand complaining about today, or what will the owner be lamenting tomorrow? I don't know, why not?

Is it just because it's easier for these young, talentless reporters (and the same kind of editors they work under) to just wander into a nearby pub, where they can grab a free cup of coffee and interview some bar owner, then whip up a little segment featuring his "tragic story"? All while 100 people from some factory are walking home for the last time—likely without their last six paychecks—and this bar owner, who probably bought beachfront property and a luxury car instead of investing in better ventilation, stands there with a tear in his eye talking about how hard his life has become because of the smoking ban...?

What kind of "News" is this, really? What kind of "Daily Reports"? It's just a cycle of smoking laws, followed by ads for Tom Bradley, then ads for Donald Trump, then updates on Kim Kardashian... and then back to smoking and bar owners, over and over again in a circle...

Stop guessing numbers when we already know them—revenue is actually tanking by 50-60%. And this whole smoker vs. non-smoker ratio thing doesn't tell us squat about who’s actually walking through those doors. What if 90% of their customers smoke and only 10% don't?

That's just like telling nail salons to ditch all their female clients and saying, "Hey, why not pivot to men instead?" Then you'd have some ridiculous news segment about how "feminizing dads" means they can finally hit the salon without hearing old ladies gossiping. Total nonsense.

If the smoke bothers you, stay home.

Why aren't ABC or CBS talking about them every single day? Why isn't there daily coverage on "what's the current state of American furniture manufacturing"? Like, what did a factory worker say today? What new tax break bill is being proposed for that industry? What is a worker complaining about today, or what will the owner be venting about tomorrow? Why isn't this news?

Because it's old news! What kind of news would it be if they just repeated the exact same story for 20 years straight?

Casey Stewart17 said:My son swiped a bigger piece of chocolate than my daughter did yesterday. Where do I file an official report for this felony?

Throw him straight to jail! Total chaos. He’s out here destroying the very foundations of social, family, and human solidarity.😁

frozenmason78 said:Heh, you might want to reconsider that. Laziness doesn't preclude intelligence or ambition—I know plenty of people firsthand who prove that point. If you want an extreme historical example, look at some of the Roman Emperors, but honestly, you can find little versions of those power-hungry slackers everywhere in modern America today.😁.

Laziness totally kills ambition—they just don't mix. Period.
I’m talking about real ambition here, the kind that actually drives you to level up your life. Not that fake version where you just whine and expect everyone else to fix your mess for you. That isn't ambition; it's just being a leech
.

frozenmason78 said:I wasn't targeting anyone in particular, though if I actually started naming names, we’d be here all night.

A drifter 👍 is a bullseye. Laziness is essentially one of those "traits" favored by the greedy—those who prefer living off the labor of people with fewer opportunities. At the end of the day, greed is the root cause of almost every crime imaginable, and frankly, crime rarely ever drives progress forward😁.

Not really. Laziness doesn't have to be tied to greed—actually, I’d argue they’re opposites since greed requires a certain level of drive.

When I say laziness, I mean all the different types of slackers who just find ways to grab someone else's cash. And those people aren't necessarily greedy, regardless of their flaws.

Charles said:Think about it—is there anything out there actually more damaging to human progress than GREED?

Yep. It’s called LAZINESS. And tons of people are out there practicing it every single day under a million different excuses.

There's this one solid business rule—the Customer is always right, sure, but that doesn't give them a free pass to act like a total jerk.