Value for Your Dollar

Is it just me, or are we all a little tired of getting...well...shafted. I know this blog is supposed to focus on the positive, so I will try to highlight some things that I think are worth the money spent first.

Every one of my tropical vacations, for example has been worth every penny. Except for the first one, because of the Class 4 hurricane. Even then, there were chocolate swans, so it wasn't a total wash. That's me down there on the right enjoying the ocean in the Dominican. I never met a warm ocean I didn't like - even Puerto Vallarta had its charms, though the most value for your dollar can be found in two places in Mexico: The Royal in Playa del Carmen, where I stayed in the Presidential Suite that is bigger than my house and had a private pool, and this little shanty restuarant on the "wild side" of Cozumel, where they make delicious fish and bring you drinks in a pineapple that looks like a face - Playa Bonita. I have wished to die there both times.

However, some things that have disappointed me this week are as follows:

1. Had my car detailed at Clearwash. For $160.00 they cleaned it outside, waxed it, and shampooed the interior seats and carpets. They also dust the doors and console. This is a lot of money, but it is cold out, and I really didn't want to do all of this myself, like I normally would in the summer. But for $160.00 do you think that they emptied the ash tray? No. And it didn't occur to me to do it because I don't smoke, but SOMEONE does, and apparently there are old smokes in there, that they just left in there. Hmm. If this service cost more like $80, it would be worth it, but I feel a bit ripped off.

2. Very rarely I go get a mani-pedi at a Vietnamese nail place. Why? Because they do the best job and charge a quarter of salon prices. I used to maintain that it was worth it to get everything done by a pro sometimes, and the polish job usually last WAY longer than it would if I had done it. I went this week to VJ Nails in Avenida - a place I have been many times in the past. That was Wednesday. By Friday afternoon both fingers and toes were chipping, and now they look hideous. Seriously? I have had pedicures that last through chlorine, salt water, sand, SPF spray, tanning spray, and still looked great at the END of a vacation. I'm so annoyed. $55 and the polish lasted two days. AND I got welts on my leg from the salt scrub she used on me a little too vigorously. Cool.

3. I am tired of grocery stores being able to leave expired food on their shelves. It is disgusting and should be against the law. I am usually very careful to check dates of dairy or soy items, but this week I went to buy cookies for my play. I was buying large quanitites, so checked the date on one or two and then filled up my cart. When I got back to school, I found an entire container of 24 cookies that was SEVERAL days past its expiration, so obviously couldn't be handed out at intermission.

I guess we are just living in an era when you have to check, request, demand, or throw a temper tantrum if necessary to get what you are promised in a service or for a product. Check clothes to make sure that they are not coming apart at the seems and about to lose buttons. Check that the food hasn't gone bad that you are about to buy. Have your sister paint your toes. Shampoo your own carpets. Make your own lattes so that the espresso is not expired and the milk scorched, or the syrup left out, etc.