The world at large is entirely too expensive. Why is gas more than a monthly mortgage payment?
There is a scene in one of my all-time favorite shows (Arrested Development) where one of the greatest characters ever created (Lucille Bluth) says to her son Michael (Justin Bateman)... "It's one banana, Michael. What could it cost? $10?"
When the show aired it was an absurdly brilliant line.
In 2021? $10? Could be!
Redditoru/OutrageousSea5212wanted to compare notes on what we've all paid way too much money for, by asking:
What's something that's unnecessarily expensive?
Rent. Specifically rent in New York and California. Sometimes for a good laugh, while I'm on a wine date with myself, I look at rent prices online. And I guffaw.
Numbers
Teacher Appreciation School GIF by Texas Instruments EducationGiphy"Graphing calculators. They've been using the same model for 20+ years (17 if we're talking a TI-84), and the prices are ridiculous."
Fees Away
"Ticketmaster's service fees."
"Wow, by far my most popular comment ever! Just wanted to edit to say that if you're able, always order your tickets by calling or visiting the performance venue directly. You can avoid a ton of the fees you would otherwise be charged, and the customer service is nearly always several grades better than what you'll get with a faceless entity that really doesn't care about you at all."
- Boy11jb
A Cheaper Farewell
"Funerals."
"Costo sells coffins btw (online), and they're much cheaper than what the funeral home is selling them for."
"Edit: this is one of those Good Guy Costco things they do, similar to not raising the prices of their food. AFAIK they think it's a rip off what funeral homes charge, and so they offer them online with shipping at a price much, much lower than what funeral homes charge."
"BTW, if you've not had to pick a casket yourself, let me tell you: a lot of funeral home's cheapest casket is literally cardboard with fake wood vinyl on the side. It's there as the "cheap" option so that you pick the one above it (which is more money, of course.)"
- ihahp
Airport Thievery
"Vending machines on the secure side of airports. You can't bring the $2 coke you bought within line of sight of the checkpoint through because it could be a bomb. You can buy another one once you get past security however! But now it's $6. The machines are literally within sight of each other."
- intashu
Ridiculous...
GIF by HULUGiphy"Chemotherapy. My infusions are $18k apiece. I'm lucky that it's not for cancer and I only get it twice a year and I have insurance but like… wtf."
Don't even get me started about the prices of medical care in this country. It's criminal.
Color Coded
printer GIFGiphy"Printer ink."
"Epson Eco-Tank ET3760 changed our lives…..not the world's best color printer but it gets the job done."
People Describe Their Best Chance Encounters | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Flying Receipts
"Emergency medi-flight. I understand the cost of fuel, wear and tear on the helicopter, as well as the pilot and medical staff. But $5,000 a mile? My ambulance ride to the heliport and ensuing helicopter ride ended up about $250,000."
"That's because the hospitals know that they can overcharge insurance because they'll knock it down. If you ask for an itemized bill for your hospital stay, you can fight tooth and nail and they'll eventually be reasonable. They just do it cause they know they can get away with it via insurance companies."
Keep me in the Dark
"Lamps. I work in manufacturing and have a good idea of how much stuff like that would cost to manufacture, and I couldn't believe how obnoxiously expensive light fixtures were when I bought some new lamps given how shoddy even moderately high end ones are built. Yet IKEA sells something made from probably the same factory for $10."
Knowledge is Pricey
"I'm shocked I haven't seen college textbooks. That crap is incredibly overpriced here in the US."
"I haven't thought of those in a few years but I remember every semester jumping through hoops trying to weasel my way out of paying full price for textbooks. And the people who have replied must not have been in school when ONLINE ACCESS CODES hit the scene."
"Now every single class has some reason to charge you 120 dollars so you can do your homework. So sure you bought the 4th edition instead of the 5th and saved 90 bucks. But now you have to buy the online code and pay 120 anyways. That crap should be criminal."
A Girl's Bestie
"The diamond market is such a racket that for a period of years during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Debeers executives were unable to set foot on US soil because they would have been arrested by the DOJ for price fixing. The crooked company eventually agreed to plead guilty and paid over $300 million in fines and settlements. The cost of doing "business". - https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48041-2004Jul13.html"
- bishpa
Stay Home
Rob Gronkowski Football GIF by Tampa Bay BuccaneersGiphy"Any food or beverage sold at a sporting event or concert. And the parking as well."
I do my best to pregame with sporting and concert events. Otherwise, you go broke. Last time I bought a round at an arena event I purchased two WELL double vodka/sodas and one large Diet Coke... $94. Should've got a small diet.
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Redditor notViperX was curious to hear all the things people believed every modern teenager needs to know, leading them to ask:
"Adults of Reddit, what is something every Teenager needs to know?"
No Means No!
"It's ok to say no to anyone."
"Don't let anyone in your life guilt trip you into doing something you don't want to do or are uncomfortable with."- Purpleraven01
What Constitutes Being "Cool" Is Debatable...
"It's exactly as lame to not do something you want to do because it's too mainstream or popular as it is to do something only because it's cool and the cool kids are doing it."- itsacalamity
Pay Attention in Gym And Spanish Class!
"Learn a second language."
"It's good for your brain, and it's a lot easier when you're young."
"Get active and fit; make it a habit."
"This is one of the most important ways to stave off cognitive decline as you get older."
"Plus, it's great for managing mental health during the transition to adulthood."- HappyHappyKidney
will ferrell anchorman GIFGiphyPut Those Pennies In The Bank!
"Start trying to save money now."
"You will definitely thank yourself later on."- Lastnight97
Sometimes Being Wrong Is The Only Way To Learn You're Right
"Failing is okay."- 2Graves1Ashe
People Are Always Willing To Help!
"When you make a mistake, own up to it."
"People are more willing to help you when you admit you did a dumb thing."
"This goes for school, work, and personal life."
"Forget to make a payment on a loan?"
"Call and talk to the finance company."
"Mess something up on a school project?"
"Tell your teacher and ask for a bit of leeway, Etc."
"People will be more likely to help you if you communicate."
"Start your retirement fund as early as possible."
"Doesn’t matter if you can only afford $5 a week, it’s still $5 more than you would have had otherwise."
"It WILL add up and you’ll thank yourself later."- GreenOnionCrusader
help me 80s GIFGiphyFollow Your Dream, But Have A Safety Net
"Get a marketable skill, unskilled labor sucks."
"You need something that’s going to pay you, it doesn’t have to be your life’s passion, contrary to what my peers were saying at that age, but you do need to be able to tolerate it."-sweetperdition
"If you don't have a passion, learn new skills."
"You might find your passion or something you're good at."- checkmatelocked
Better Safe Than Sorry
"Cashiers don't care if you buy condoms."- induceddaftfan
Safe Sex Love GIF by DUREXGiphyLooking back at things we wish we knew or had done differently will never end up doing us any good.
But giving this advice to young people could save them a world full of trouble.
Rather than mope about the past, we can help improve the future.
"Doctors of Reddit, what's the biggest case of 'faking it' you've ever seen?"
That's One Large Pain Threshold...
"Taking trauma call during surgery residency, had a prisoner come in after a fight and claimed he couldn’t move or feel his legs."
"All the CT scans and MRIs were normal, but we would shield his legs so he couldn’t see them and poke them with needles and other sharp objects, with enough force to cause pain- he never flinched or moved his legs at all."
"He was diagnosed with SCIWORA, spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality."
"He stayed in the hospital for a week, no improvement."
"Always had one guard with him."
"One night they were down in the lobby watching some television but the guard needed to use the restroom."
"The patient said, 'where could I possibly go?'"
"I’m paralyzed!'"
"Guard left him alone for two minutes."
"Patient last seen sprinting down the road, naked butt cheeks flapping in the breeze."
"Made it to a city four hours away by car before he was caught again."
"I have never seen anyone fake it so well."
"Truly playing the long con!"- Wine_and_sunshine
season 8 episode 23 GIFGiphyYou'll Have To Do Better Than That...
"Dermatologist here."
"Patient was convinced she had a melanoma and needed a biopsy and would need to be on workers comp."
"I told her it looked like ink from a marker."
"She demanded a biopsy."
"I wiped the area off with an alcohol swab and showed her the ink and that there was no spot on her skin anymore."
"She stormed out threatening to sue."
"I'm just glad I cured her melanoma."- Richter915
No Complaints Here...
"Had a patient come in for a fall who now couldn’t move their legs at all."
"Did a bunch of tests, didn’t find anything."
"The patient was not at all phased by suddenly being paralyzed which was the first red flag."
"Didn’t really believe anything was wrong but the patient was still not moving their legs."
"My options are to admit for a huge work up or get them to walk."
"So I update them saying everything is fine, tests are negative, you can go home."
"Patient gets up, gets dressed and walks out without a word."- meropenem24
There's Clearly One Issue She Wasn't Faking...
"Not a doctor but worked in health care for nearly 20yrs."
"While taking a break from the ICU, due to it being emotionally draining, I worked in home health for a bit."
"I had a patient who clearly had Munchausen syndrome."
"On a daily basis she would call her insurance to see what things would be covered if she was diagnosed with this or that."
"She called her Doctor's office an average of 5x during my shift with her, she would report all kinds of non real symptoms."
"She pestered the doctors into doing exploitive laparoscopic surgery, of course nothing was found."
"One day I walked in and she was rubbing her incisions with rotten cabbage trying to get it infected."
"She wasn't seeking pain meds, except to sell, really she was just as happy with antibiotics or stool softeners, anything, as long as they wrote her a prescription and she got to go to the pharmacy where she did a whole song and dance for them too, claiming allergies and reactions."
"She always increased the exaggeration of her story too."
"One time she fluttered her eyes, after making sure I was looking, and said she lost consciousness in that half a second."
"She called the doctor and claimed she lost consciousness for 5mins, she called the insurance and claimed it was 10min, she called the pharmacy and claimed it was 30min, then she called 911 and told them she woke up on the floor after losing consciousness for 4hrs."
"The worst thing about her was she was a mom."
"Her son was 28 at the time and by all the stories of his childhood illnesses and all her saying how he is severely disabled I knew she basically f**ked up his childhood with Munchausen by proxy."
"She portrayed him as being severely disabled and that's why he would never find a wife."
"I met him, he was healthy and of average intelligence."
"He wasn't looking for a wife, he was gay, but she refused to accept that."
"Working with her was so miserable that I took a couple years off from any and all healthcare after that."- invisible_for_this
GiphyShe Only Thought She Was Faking It.
"Young, 18-20, Woman went running into small rural hospital ER pretending to have abdominal pain."
"Police officer had tagged her going 40+km over the limit which was ‘stunt driving’ as per the new law in Ontario, impound and licsence suspension automatic."
"Cop followed her into ER and apparently said he’d be waiting for her when she left."
"Locum staff such as myself were housed at a small B&B about 15 mins away, and the ER had pre-printed order sets to be done before we arrived."
"When I arrived she flat out admitted that she just came in because she freaked out and didn’t stop."
"I told her we’d give her 45 mins to call her parents/family before I booted her."
"Except, bHCG came back positive, and subsequent ultrasound came back showing extremely early ectopic."
"Officer figures out something is up when he hears air ambulance call come in over radio."
"She was completely asymptomatic and just worked out that she dodged both charges and a life-threatening issue by accident."
"It was definitely a WTF moment."
"A little more info, small rural hospitals in Northern Ontario often service areas from more than an hours drive away and still only have a catchment area of 2000-3000 people."
"When on-call it was just that, we would do our days in the community clinic, then maybe hospital rounds, then go home and be on call; we wouldn’t be at the hospital, there wasn’t an on-call room where you would stay for example."
"There were lots of times that you’d go a full night without being woken up, or maybe just a call from the acute care inpatient wing."
"Locums were short term contracts for places that didn’t have full time medical staff for whatever reason."
"It’s hard to attract clinicians if you don’t even have broadband internet in the community."
"They generally pay very well."- Graigori
It's hard to blame someone for faking illness to get out of something that they really don't want to do.
But when you actually try to get doctors involved in your deception, you might want to question if it's really worth it.
After all, let's not forget the story of "the boy who cried wolf"...
