What a deal....

Everyone loves a great deal. And we like to think that we got a great deal. But is it always true that an item marked %50 off is really %50 off? Or do they want us to believe that it is %50 off when in fact we are paying 3x the real price. One thing that bothers me a lot is how marketing gets the best of people. I hate it when they say, "A diamond is rare." It is not rare. In a mall, I see more diamond stores than toy stores. And the prices are freaking ridiculous. The same applies to a lot of things.
"Doesn't matter how good of a deal it is. If you don't need it, it is not a good deal."I learned this after I used to buy cheap clothes thinking that it was a good deal and I should not miss out and then never would wear it because it looked cheap. I have gotten better at shopping. Now, I never buy as soon as I need something. I usually wait for a price drop. eg. My old DVD player died on me and I waited 2 months before I got a new one. I could have spent $80 on a reasonable dvd player but I waited for Thanksgiving Black Friday sale and got myself a Sony 5 DVD Home Theater System for $200, Tom Tom One for $120 and a Dell laptop $550. Thanksgiving sales are great but be careful of advertisers. Just get what you want and not what looks like a good deal. This is how they lure you into buying everything and in the end you pay more by buying more. Last year, at these Thanksgiving sales, stores like BestBuy, CircuitCity, etc were giving out coupons on high priority items on a first come first basis. So you would have to come in extremely early and get a coupon which guaranteed you that item. This was done mainly to reduce the crowd rush into the store and avoid injuries when trying to grab the item. Good idea. But then you had people who didn't really need the coupon and started selling them to others. I will admit that I get in line a few hours before for certain things but I will never camp out like some do.
If you every need to buy electronics, online seems to be the best option. I usually research on an item. www.cnet.com is a very good resource. Then I visit sites like slickdeals.net and edealsinfo.com on a regular basis to see when the item goes on sale. You can also get good deals on ebay and ioffer.com. Except for groceries, I buy everything online. Someday I think I will also do groceries online. Always try to use only one credit card with a very low credit limit.
There are lot of ways to shop and spend money. Try to get what you need and not what you want.

Bottom Line: How far will you go to save a few bucks?

Sports that demand blood......

"Hit em hard", "Give em Hell". These were some of the slogans we would shout out cheering our college football team. Yesterday, I went to a hockey game. I noticed the same there. People were cheering when our team player would hit an opponent. People also cheered for a fight. I have to admit, I was one of them. Why do we like to see people get hurt?
Football and Ice Hockey are very popular sports in America and the roughest. I don't understand why it gives us so much pleasure when someone beats the crap out of someone else. And then we are praying when the player doesn't get up. Some get seriously injured and never recover. On the other hand, sports like baseball, soccer and basketball are just as popular and require no hitting. Then why ask for violence in sports. It just doesn't make sense.

Bottom Line: Do we really need to see someone die before we realize that violence in sports is not necessary?

Cultural Shock: YOUR MAMA.....

Ever cracked a mama joke? Goes something like this: Your Mama so fat that her ass is in a different zip code. This is a very common way of joking among friends or taunting someone, but only in the US. In India mama jokes are considered very rude and quite insulting to the point that fights can break out.
The first time I got introduced to Mama Jokes was in my first year in the States. I was a freshman living in the dorms sharing a room with an American kid named Mark (name changed). One day I came back from work and saw a pic of a naked woman stuck to my door and on it said, "Marks Mom". I was furious and scared too. I didn’t know if Mark had gotten into a fight and someone was getting back at him or someone was playing a crude joke. I figured it was better he doesn’t see it, so I took it down. When Mark got in I showed him the pic and not knowing how he would react, I was trying to calm him down by saying that we should go to the proper authorities or that he should just let it go and it is not worth fighting and so on. He had a weird look on his face and he say, "I saw that pic earlier. I left it on there because I thought it was cool." I was in shock for a second. Did I miss something? Didn't take me too long to realize that this is a version of "Your Mama" jokes.
Now I do mama jokes a lot. Especially, with some of my friends. When someone cracks a mama joke on you, the key is to not take it seriously and start thinking about how to get back with a better one. Sometimes they really do get nasty and then you gotta stop your self. Mama Jokes are also used as a competition to see who wins the rap battle or a ghetto debate.
I really don't know how I adopted to this concept. I love my mom just as much as I did when I was in India. Maybe even more. I wonder what the threshold is for a person till he/she can't take it anyone and snaps breaking the other persons jaw.

Bottom Line: Mama Jokes......Good or Bad?

Cultural Shock: When in Rome, do like the Romans

Coming from India when your 17 to a totally new country with no family close by can be a scary thing. It has been 8.5 years since I came to America and I have settled well. I do miss my family and friends at times. I always get one question when I meet new people, "How come you speak such good English?" What they mean to say, "How come you don't have an accent?" I usually tell them that I learned English as my first language in school. The truth is that I embraced the culture and I still try hard to learn certain things. eg. right way to pronounce the V's and W's. This doesn't mean that I have forgotten my Indian culture and that I want to be all American. I just think that if we live in someone else's country then we should learn a few things about that country and the people. We don't have to adopt their culture or be 'all american'. At the same time, you can't be 'all Indian' when interacting with Americans. Is there a solution? I really don't know.
I have been told before that when I am speaking to an American I have a totally different accent than when I speak to an Indian. It is a very subconscious thing. I like a lot of american things: food, football, movies, etc. But I also like indian food, cricket and bollywood movies. Someone once told me that we should not forget our culture, thinking that I was turning American. The truth is that I am proud to be an Indian and I could never consider myself American. I can never lose my culture, my identity. I only think that When you are in Rome, you should do like the Romans.

Bottom Line: How far can one go without losing your identity to fit in?