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I was thinking about the 'time is money' meme the other day, as it's one that seems to get traction very quickly with a lot of people - I've used it myself in a
by jka 15y ago
I was thinking about the 'time is money' meme the other day, as it's one that seems to get traction very quickly with a lot of people - I've used it myself in a few situations (regrettably) and discussed it with others.
There are quite a few fundamental problems I see with it:
* It is frequently used as a validation for not doing something undesirable or even just something unanticipated. Opportunities can and do arise in the strangest situations, and sure - sometimes it's clear that it's not worth pursuing a lead - but claiming that your personal time vs. some calculated reward is the justification is often (I've found) just a quick exit clause
* The implication for people who do wait in line is that they are inferior to you, since they somehow fall below the 'worth' measurement - I would never want to even suggest to people that they're somehow less valuable, since I don't believe that people ever are
* It can quickly spread to other areas of your life - it's a gateway drug in the absorption of economics into daily life - are friends money? Are experiences money? Few people would admit to it, but for some people both of the above already apply.
* Personally, I find it an affront to the idea that services should be provided fairly. If it were possible to non-disruptively allow some customers to be served more quickly based on an open, public pricing scale, then perhaps I'd reconsider it (airline priority queues are a possible comparison) - but this is queue-jumping based on bribery. The suggestion that this behavior is, in fact, positive and likely to indicate success in life is one I find pretty disgusting.
- lionhearted 15y agoJust want to address this - > The implication for people who do wait in line is that they are inferior to you, since they somehow fall below the 'worth' measurement - I would never want to even suggest to people that they're somehow less valuable, since I don't believe that people ever are You set the worth on your own time. If everyone pitches in an extra buck to move faster, Starbucks (or 7-11, or whatever) will hire extra staff or something. I'd rather have less stuff, and more time to work on research, recruiting, building, staffing, reading, relaxing, family, etc. Most of my free time lately goes into either reading or thinking about the orphanage I'm building, so that's what waiting in line is screwing up at the end of my work obligations. It's a great trade for me, but everyone sets their own values.
- funkah 15y ago> * The implication for people who do wait in line is that they are inferior to you, since they somehow fall below the 'worth' measurement - I would never want to even suggest to people that they're somehow less valuable, since I don't believe that people ever are Personally, my distaste for waiting in lines isn't because I think those people are "beneath" me somehow, it's because in my experience, people are so wrapped up in getting what they want that consideration of the people waiting behind them often goes out the window. I don't mind waiting for things that inherently take time, but I get really annoyed when entitled people waste others' time because they can, because they are not used to taking 'no' for an answer. The customer is always right, donchaknow. And the probability of this happening increases with the number of people in line. But, I agree with your overall point that "time is money" is typically a poor justification.