PNC Bank has a new commercial out about their rewards programs. Reward programs are a nice feature from a bank, and I think any sane and legal incentive used to gain customers is good. I know I, for one, can indeed be bought.
However, I take issue with something said in their radio ad. The customer says something like "Hey, I pay my bills on time - I get rewards!" This touches on a nerve of mine... a long standing nerve that screams:
Thou shalt not be rewarded for doing what's expected!
You're supposed to pay your bills on time. Some rewards program where you get a damn Applebee's gift card or a Bose Wave music system shouldn't motivate you to do so. What should motivate you are things like collection agencies calling, low credit scores, jacked up interest rates, loss of service, etc..
I've never been one to applaud what's expected, except in babies and small children who are just learning all kinds of new things. Adults know how to walk, read, and not poop in their pants; we should all have those basics down. Other adult basics are under the umbrella of - being responsible for ourselves.
Therefore, I will not pat your head because you do your laundry. I will not give you a gold star for getting to work on time. So I most certainly will not clap and say "My what a big boy/girl you are!" when you pay your bills on time.
This all reminds me of the time my ex-husbands grandmother, who has 5 children, said in an apparent moment of motherly pride, "I only have ONE kid in jail!"
Unfortunately this is also where my head voice came out of my face voice and I said "NONE of your kids are supposed to be in jail."
She didn't talk to me much after that. No matter, she never much liked me anyway. But I digress.
I'm clearly not the only one who feels this way.....
Sam Halpern, the Dad of "Shit My Dad Says", dropped this gem: "A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed." I heart Sam.
Chris Rock said that there are people who want credit for shit they're supposed to do, like take care of their kids - "You're supposed to, you dumb motherfucker!" - and, as mentioned above, not being in jail - "'I ain't never been to jail!' What do you want, a cookie?! You're not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having motherfucker!" - and I love him for it.
Alas all of this was said many years after the incident with the ex's grandmother, but I'm sure she wouldn't have gotten it anyway.
Oh, and that kid of hers that was in jail then? Is pushing 50 and lives in a pop-up camper in her backyard.
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