I Got Screamed at for Fetching Cans out of the Garbage at the Gas Station

What does it take for people to value money?

Here in Oregon we get charged a bottle deposit of 10 cents for every can, glass bottle, plastic bottle etc. We can return them and get our money back while they get recycled. Seems like real money to me, but strangely I see cans and bottles laying around all over the place.

I often see them in the garbage at gas stations whenever I am getting gas. I drive a reasonably new pick up that I keep in good order, clean and shiny etc. So I am quite sure I was not being discriminated against as a potentially nuisance person when I got yelled at for picking out cans from the garbage by the attendant. I explained to her that they were worth 10 cents, and that it was also an environmental issue! For crying out loud, that’s why they are worth 10 cents! She would hear none of it. She was pissed! She stormed inside to apparently call the cops……or something, so I reluctantly got back in my truck and went on my way.

I think this incident truly highlights a general lack of appreciation for how quickly seemingly small sums of money can turn in to large sums. This works in both directions of course. I recently commented on an article here in Medium buy a guy who only lately figured out that buying frequent $8.00 smoothies turns into a meaningful amount of money over time. I told him that it seemed to me that only rich people can afford $8.00 smoothies on a regular basis. He was good about it, and even responded that until he did the math due to recent circumstances, he just “didn’t know”.

I must admit that I wasn’t really shocked. I feel like I see people unwittingly spraying money around all the time. I mean who is buying all of this beef jerky? The price per pound is incredible!

How about folks buying these fancy dog treats? It’s like they have no idea that they could go to the meat counter and buy A LOT more of filet mignon for what they are spending! The dogs would like it just as much, if not more.

I have a nephew who not so long ago came to my house and entertained himself with a glass of milk. When he had drained the portion of the glass that he felt like consuming, he then went to the sink and poured the rest down the drain. My head almost exploded when I saw this! How does anyone think this is normal or OK?!?!

This consumer culture has really done a number on us all. So much so that we willfully and semi unknowingly choose to fritter away sums of money that could make a gigantic difference to our well being over time. And the rich get richer and many of the poor and middle class keep treading water in a sea of milk, beef jerky, dog treats, cans, smoothies……..