Banks Suck

I had to go into a bank today. I hate banks. I of course left all my rights as a human being at the door when I entered. It left me feeling very vulnerable – like someone was going to take advantage of me somehow. My feelings were justified.

I happen to have an eSavings account. Which means that I get bent over any time I want to do something. I have that type of account because it is the only thing I can get from them without having to pay a monthly fee.

So I went up to the teller to ask for my money and he reminded me it was going to cost me $5 to perform what I had asked. I said, “oh, I thought I had a certain number of free transactions per month”.

“Oh no sir. You have an eSavings account which gives you a higher interest rate but you have to pay for any transactions.”

Yeah, a higher interest rate currently sitting at 0.5%. Wow! Half of one whole entire percent! How do I not see how lucky I am with this ridiculously high interest rate?!

I must have twisted up my face when he said that as I tried to understand the logic. I believe that is when he took pity on me, this poor unenlightened person standing in front of him. You see, there is bank sense and then there is common sense. They do not mix. Bank employees are really to be applauded for their long-suffering patience as they are asked to explain bank sense to us uncivilized heathens.

Bank sense says: “Aww, you poor thing, I’ll try to lower myself to your level and explain it to you. We’re actually doing you a huge favour. You gave us your money and we keep it safe for you. This costs us a lot of money so you have to pay us billions to do this for you. You understand right?”

Billions? That’s right:

• CIBC 2015 Net Revenue: $3.6 Billion
• Royal Bank 2015 Net Revenue: $10.0 Billion
• Bank of Montreal 2015 Net Revenue: $4.7 Billion
• And so on…

Then there is common sense (I’ll let you in on a secret: it is far inferior to bank sense). Common sense says, “You’re renovating your branch again? Didn’t you just do that a couple years ago? Why are you charging me so much money every month and then spending it frivolously like this?” Ah, that is bank sense, us regular people are not to understand those higher concepts.

Banks are crooked. They don’t have to be accountable to their clients. What is your alternative? Keep all your money in a safe in your house? Bury it somewhere? You wouldn’t be able to operate in today’s society if you did that. Banks understand this and they exploit it.

Employment Equity

I just received my first Employment Equity Program questionnaire at work.  Apparently since we are doing work for the Federal Government we MAY be subject to the requirements set out under the Federal Contractors Program.  I can hardly explain how furious this makes me.  It is discrimination!

Am I a woman – Nope

Am I an Aboriginal person – Nope

Do I have a disability – Nope

Am I a visible minority – Nope

So, what this means is that if a decision ever has to be made between me and one of the people who can answer Yes to one of the four questions above (all other things being equal) I don’t get the job/promotion/raise/etc.  And, heaven forbid we are far behind our quota in any of the four categories, because then even if all other things are not equal I still won’t get the job.

Do we want to do work for the Federal Government?  Then we’ve got a quota to fill.

…I am just shaking at work right now this makes me so mad.

Eulogy to the Incandescent Lightbulb

Before I start the eulogy, let me say this:  Government, you suck for doing this to us.  You’re always wanting to step in and control what we can and can’t do.  Why on earth did you pick on lightbulbs?  If you want to take away our choice in matters of energy efficiency then why not ban Hummers?  Or outlaw single pane windows?  Maybe put the kaibosh on hot-tubs and sports cars.  You randomly chose lightbulbs to be your battleground.  You trenched in and decided this was the issue you were going to die over.  This is ridiculous. 

Oh, one more thing before the eulogy, LED lightbulb manufacturers, you also suck.  Don’t try to tell me you’re not raping us all and getting the government to enforce it.  It is like winter tires – thankfully that is not enforced here in Saskatchewan.  I have nothing against winter tires.  I do have something against a government enforcing the use of winter tires.  I have nothing against LED lightbulbs – I think they’re great.  I also think they cost at least double what they should.  And I do have something agaist the government enforcing the use of LED bulbs (lets face it, CCFL’s suck, what other option do we have now?).

Now for the eulogy:

Incandescent lightbulbs, you sucked, but you were cheap and you represented choice.  For those reasons I will miss you.

Phobias

Arachnophobia: the fear of spiders.

Acrophobia: the fear of heights.

Astraphobia: the fear of thunder and lightning.

Trypanophobia: the fear of injections. 

Homophobia: um... the fear of homosexual people?

Why are we using the word homophobia? It is a new catch word that people are throwing about to mean "not accepting of homosexual folks". Doesn't really make much sense to me. I don't approve of their lifestyle choice. I'm not scared of them.

Mr & Mrs

Do you remember when you were a kid and you called all the adults by their first names? 

You don’t?  Oh.

Why not?

Because you didn’t?  Hmm, I see.

Well what did you do then?  Ahh, yes, that’s right.  We called them Mr. LastName or Mrs. LastName.

I remember being so furious that my parents made me call all the adults Mr. or Mrs. LastName!  The injustice of it!  I felt so degraded.  What am I here a second class person that I can’t just hang with the adults and call them by their first names?  Outrageous!  I remember swearing an oath that I would NEVER revisit this cruelty on my own kids!

Oh yeah, that’s right.  I didn’t feel that way at all.  It was the normal way of things.  I was expected to respect other adults.  They were not my friends.  They were my parent’s friends.  Their kids were my friends.  I was allowed to call their kids by their first names.  I was not allowed to hang out with the adults when they were visiting, just bouncing around from one to the other, demanding that they swing me around or oooh and ahhh over my lego car.  We CREPT in to the living room and whispered into my Mom’s ear a question of such dire seriousness that we couldn’t in good conscience leave it until the visiting was done.

"Mom, Jeff fell off the roof and now there is blood coming out of his leg.  We tried to fix it up so we wouldn’t have to disturb you guys, but we just don’t know how.  Sorry to bother you, but can you please help us for just a minute?"

Was there something wrong with that?

The way I see it there are two problems here…

First, what is wrong with US that we just can’t abide the thought of being called Mr. or Mrs LastName?  We think we’re still kids?  We don’t want to accept the responsibility of being the adult?  We are so scared to alienate the children that we need to have them climbing all over us all the time?  “Oh, don’t call me Mr. Sawatzky, haha, that’s my father”.  Um, no, you are the father now.  Your kids need to be taught respect for adults.  Your kids will not respect “James” nearly as much as they will “Mr. Sawatzky”.  James is their buddy.  Mr. Sawatzky is their buddy’s dad.  Even Mr. James is not good enough people.

Ask yourself this: Why does it make you feel so uncomfortable for kids to call you Mr. or Mrs. LastName?

Second, we are doing our kids no favours whatsoever by bringing them up to see other adults as the same as their friends.  Our kids need that authority in their lives.  They need to learn that the other adults in the church or wherever, need to be listened to and obeyed.  Look at the kids these days – do they have a healthy respect for authority figures?  Not at all.  Kids just mock authority (the mocking comes more when they are older, but this is a direct result of not being taught to respect authority when they are young).  Our kids need this authority so they can have the security of knowing that it is not just a free-for-all out in the world.  It will help them be healthy well-adjusted people later in life.

We are hurting our kids by letting go of this tradition of respect.  It is our fault that today’s kids won’t respect authority.  I am not some power hungry monster that is looking to dominate all of earth’s children.  What I am calling for is a society of respect, not only for people in positions of authority over you (although yes, this too), but for everyone around you.

 
Even though I want my kids to call other adults Mr. or Mrs. LastName, there are very few of them who will allow it.  They are just not comfortable with it.  Sometimes the best I can do is to convince them to allow my kids to call them Mr. James.  There is nothing I can do about it when the other adult won’t step up.  I mourn the loss of this.  I really do.

My Existence Is Being Used Up!

I find lately that I am uninspired.  Bored with everything.  I am looking for some sort of excitement for my life.

I go to work to earn money for food, bills, mortgage and the occasional purchase.  I come home from work to eat supper with my family.  I try my best to put my work day behind me as quickly as I can because I need to be cheerful and talkative during the short time my kids are still up after I get home (to be honest I don’t only need to do this but I do want to do it, but it takes a superhuman effort most days to do this).  I need to build into them as much as I can during the time I have since I only get about 2 hours a day with them.  If I spend those 2 hours being on my own that is not fair to them; and once again, honestly, I don’t want them to have a family experience like that.

After the kids are in bed I read a book, or I watch some shows, or I play a computer game, or I _______________ (insert some other time wasting activity here).  You see, I have this time before I go to bed that needs to be filled somehow.  Sometimes I actually do something that needs to be done like changing the oil in my car, cleaning up the kitchen or mowing my lawn.  What does it mean?  Not really anything.

The next day – more of the same.

Sometimes I drive around thinking, What am I doing?  My existence is being used up on an errand to Future Shop.  It is not getting me anywhere.  There’s got to be more than this right?  Ok, well I do love driving, so I think, I’m going to enjoy my driving experience.  For me that probably means breaking a bunch of laws driving like a maniac so I don’t do this very often – it’s hard on the vehicle and it’s hard on the pocketbook if you get caught.  What is up with traffic?  Why do people drive so slowly?  Doesn’t anyone else try to enjoy the driving experience?  I guess not…  Soooo, if I can’t enjoy the driving experience what else can I do?  Hmm, well I really like listening to music extremely loud while I drive.  I’ll try that.  Looking through the albums on my phone……..nothing.  Great.  I bought this music, so I obviously like it, but there is usually nothing there that I’m really pumped to listen to.

What is my life?  Just an unending sequence of tasks and errands and stuff that really, in the end, is worthless?

I know the answers to all of these questions.  Intellectually I know that:

• if I were to be listening to God in the car while I drive instead of trying to fill my mind with useless nonsense it would bring me peace
• if I were to spend my time praying in the evenings I would find fulfillment since I would be engaging with the only being who can show me what I want to know
• if I were to spend my efforts looking for what God is doing around me and then engaging with Him in those activities it would be so much more rewarding than earning a Platinum trophy on a PS3 game by defeating an end boss in under 4 minutes
• so much else can go here…

God created me.  It wasn’t a whim.  I do have a purpose.  We all have a purpose and someday we will be called to answer.  My life feels unsatisfying because it is not in line with that purpose.  Of course I’m going to be aimlessly wandering!

I don’t put these solutions into practice in my life.  I really do know these things, but I always put off practicing them.  Paul said, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.  Instead, I do what I hate.” Romans 7:15 (NLT)  He did the same thing as me!  I’ll bet he was riding around on his donkey (aka, driving) thinking the same things I do, “I need some excitement in my life.  I’m gonna gallop my donkey through town!  That will be epic!”  Paul and I have this in common: We were/are human.

This goes into every corner of my life.  Where do I spend my money?  Where do I spend my time?  Where do I direct my thoughts?  I spend it all, I direct it all towards myself.

 

How do I change this?  How do I drum up the energy to engage my desire to change this?  All of the unsaved people around me are relying on me!  And I am letting them down!

I'm Being Manipulated!

I have just clued in to something that my wife has been doing to me over the last few months.  I believe she is manipulating me!  Outrageous!  Let me explain what I’ve found out.

It all started about half a year to maybe a year ago when she did a couple Bible studies based on Ephesians and Proverbs 31.  I wasn’t totally following the content of the studies, but they had something to do with being a godly woman/wife.  Then I started to notice some subtle manipulations.

All of a sudden I noticed that she doesn’t have a short fuse with me anymore (not that I can blame her when she does).  She is trying to take care of things in the house so I don’t have to be busy when I get home from work.  She is looking after the kids so that I don’t get as frustrated with them with the little things.  She is supporting me and building me up.  She is putting my priorities ahead of her own.  She is showing me way too much love…

I have finally put the whole thing together.  I am not going to stand still for being manipulated!  Two can play at this game!  Now I am going to try to be as considerate as possible with her.  I am going to try to be sensitive to what she needs so I can meet those needs.  I don’t want the kids to run her down too much so I will help out wherever I can.  I want to free her up whenever I can so she can go running and do some of the things she wants to do with her friends.  I want to start being less selfish with my time.  I want to finish off a bunch of things that have been sitting undone at home which she has suspiciously been so understanding about.  I’m going to spend more time convincing her that I love her.  I want to find out how God intends me to be a father and husband and then do those things so I can totally get back at her J  Mwaahahahaha!  Let's see how she likes it when the shoe is on the other foot!

Maybe God spoke to her in those Bible studies.  What an example she has been to me in this.

Think He intended marriage partners to manipulate each other with love in this way?

Missed Appointments

I am married to a Registered Massage Therapist who works out of our home.  We have found that this arrangement works very well for us as she is able to dictate her own hours and will be able to be home most of the time once our kids hit school age.  Unfortunately it does absolutely nothing for me…  You’ve heard that a mechanics car is in the worst shape right?  Well, I could be considered that mechanics car…

Periodically we come across a situation that leaves us both feeling incredibly frustrated and upset, and yet completely impotent to do anything about it.  People just don’t show up for their appointments.  And then the response is “Oh, Sorry!” 

Well, yes, I understand you’re sorry.  Obviously you’re going to be sorry.  You probably needed a massage which is why you booked it.  Now you’re sorry you don’t get to have it and you’ll have to book another one.  I also understand that you never meant to forget the appointment.  Oh, wait a minute, let me emphasise something from my previous sentence: YOU forgot the appointment.

I believe that anyone should be able to figure this out with about 20 seconds of thought, but I have observed that almost nobody understands the following principle.  This applies to pretty much all places where you book an appointment and they hold that time for you.  Let me explain it here in terms everyone should be able to understand.

The time slot is reserved for you.  By the time my wife has determined that you are not only late, but you are not showing up it is probably 10 minutes after your scheduled appointment time.  Usually she will scramble to try to fill that spot.  How on earth is she supposed to fill that appointment time now?  Especially if she has someone scheduled to come following your appointment.  I’ll help you figure it out – 99% of the time she can’t fill it.  Now she is out that money.  When you get paid on a salary you just get a cheque once or twice a month.  When you work as a massage therapist you rely on every appointment in order to get paid.

If you would have called ahead to cancel (and here is another hint that is really top secret that not many people can figure out: if nobody answers the phone when you call to cancel, LEAVE A MESSAGE!) then there is some notice and that spot can likely be filled by someone else.  If you call and don't leave a message then you are not off the hook yet - you have not given notice.  When you don’t call, but just don’t show up, that is money that is just lost.  There is really no way to recover it…unless…

You pay for your missed appointment.  Here is another tip: don’t wait for your massage therapist (or whatever appointment you have missed) to ask you to pay for your missed appointment – just come right out and tell him/her that you will pay for it.  It is your responsibility.  “But, I never got a massage!  Why should I have to pay for it?!”  Because you were the one that missed it.  Because your massage therapist reserved that time for you and didn’t book someone else into it (which they very likely could have) based on the fact that you said you were coming.  Had they known you weren’t going to come they could have gotten someone else to fill the spot and not been out the money.  But now that you have missed it, it is too late for them to fill the spot, and they are now out the money.

Because you forgot…they don’t get paid.

Because your schedule changed last minute…they don’t get paid.

Because you got sick…they don’t get paid.

My wife is such a sweetheart that often she doesn’t have the heart to enforce her cancellation policy.  She feels bad for the person that for whatever reason, life got in the way and they missed the appointment.  It is so unfair to make her ask.  Please just offer to pay for the appointment.  You owe it to her.

Insite - certainly not Insight...

What's next?  Safe sites to go murder people.

Listen, we know that murder is wrong, but you just left the Insite clinic where you shot up on WAY too much heroin (because you knew we would save you if you took too much so you took as much as you could all at once) and now you are not thinking clearly and you want to murder a guy.  We know it isn't really you making this decision, it is the drugs in your body that are causing you to murder this guy.  You can't be held accountable for that!  We are sure that if you weren't hopped up on drugs you would probably want to hug him instead of murder him.  But, now that you are stoned, and you are going to murder this guy, why don't you do it here at our Homisite.  We'll make sure you don't knick yourself with the blade while you stab the guy.  We know you can't really help yourself - so that makes it ok.

Cell Phones In School

Today I drove to Patuanak.  I love driving to Patuanak because the drive is beautiful and I love driving, but also because I get to listen to John Gormley.  Gormley hosts a Saskatchewan talk show on the radio from 8:30 to 12:30 daily and I usually think he is spot on.  I would listen to Gormley every day if I could – and I have tried, but if I listen to him in my office I find that I just zone out listening and get nothing done.  This is not ok with my boss.

One of Gormley’s topics today was related to kids having cell phones at school.  The story went like this: A lawsuit has been filed in Saskatchewan against the school system because one of the students in school was caught using a cell phone in class (there is a school policy against this) and the teacher confiscated the phone.  The policy then requires that the teacher hand the phone over to the vice-principle.  All of this sounds fine.  Here is where the stuff starts to hit the fan though.  The vice-principle goes into the phone and starts reading through the messages, finds one that is related to a stolen vehicle, and calls the police.  The police arrive, demand that the student (the student is 12 years old by the way) reply to their friend and ask the location of the stolen vehicle.  Once the friend replies, the police take this student and go pick up the car.  Now, the lawsuit alleges that the school violated the student’s privacy and as a result have placed this child in danger of retaliation from his friends.  The guardians of this student (he happens to live with his grandparents) fear for his safety.

I rarely disagree with John, but today I did and I so badly wanted to call in, but I was out of cell range.  So, I emailed Gormley.  I mean, really, he needs to know my opinion.  My email went as follows:

Hello John,

I usually agree with you.  Probably 95% of the time actually, and that isn't bad.  With the cell phones in school topic from today I just can't.  You and Brent joked about using cell phones in class is like passing a note in class in days gone by.  I agree with that, but only so far.  In days gone by, the teacher would read the note, that is true.  But then would the teacher proceed to rifle through your backpack reading everything in there?  Then move on to your locker and read all of that too?  Nope.  In essence, that is what the teacher is doing if they are at liberty to read through the messages on a student’s cell phone.  I just can't say that is ok UNLESS there is probable cause for suspicion (ie: illegal behaviour). There was no probable cause for suspicion mentioned in the story from today so I am assuming there wasn't any otherwise it would have been mentioned. You also mentioned "in plain sight" today on your show. I agree with you on the legality of reading something that is in plain sight - if the message was visible on the screen of the phone that would be ok. I cannot imagine any 12 year old kid handing over their cell phone to their teacher with a message up on the screen - can you?  I don't see how that can be a factor here either.  So we've got a phone, no probable cause, no message on the screen - that means the vice-principle would have had to go into the phone, find the messages and start reading through them.  You think THAT is ok?  It was mentioned that the school has legal jurisdiction over the kids while they are at school.  Ok, I submit though that even a parent would require probable cause to go reading the messages on their kid’s cell otherwise you're just asking for a fight.  Not that I, as a parent, which I am, would shy away from that fight if I had probable cause, but why would you even go there if you didn't?

The school has a policy?  This is a non-starter.  Confiscate the phone if you want.  If the student won't comply confiscate it for a week.  If they still won't comply suspend them.  This policy does not give permission to read through personal information.

Your callers kept bringing up things that were beside the point:

• "The message had content of an unlawful nature" - no way to know that until after you read the message at which point you are beyond the line and therefore it is outside the parameters of this arguement.
• "you'd feel differently if it had been your car".... What? Where do people come up with stuff like this?
• "don't bring your phone into class if you don't want the messages read" - while this arguement does make sense, it still sidesteps the point here. Understandably, if your phone is not in the class the messages on it cannot be read. This does not automatically mean that if your phone IS in class the messages on it are public domain.
• One of your callers brought up the fact that the kid lived with his Grandparents. Gasp! Call in the strip search team! This kid must be up to no good at all! If he lives with his Grandparents he automatically forfeits all of his rights!

I don't think we should be giving our kids cell phones much less that they should be in classes. As a teacher I would be seriously frustrated by cell phones in class. I'd probably confiscate the phone and throw the student out of class. We can deal with this issue without compromising the students privacy.

I have to side with the Grandparents here. I would have loved to have called in to argue this point with you, but I was out of cell range. We can agree to disagree on this one and I expect that we will still go on living harmoniously in this world together. Keep up the good work John. I really think Saskatchewan needs you. It is one of the reasons our province is so grounded in reality.

Jon

There, now you know my position.  You know, I ran into something like this when I was in school.  My high school had a policy of no caps in class.  One day I wore my cap and refused to take it off, and I was thrown out of the class.  Actually, on the one hand these two situations are similar, but on the other hand - I was not disturbing anyone with my cap in class, but cell phones are a nuisance.  Yeah, that's right, they aren't the same at all.  I was right to fight the system and try to wear my cap!  Ok good, I almost had to admit that I may have been wrong, good thing I was able to see past that one.

Anyway, I think this is an interesting issue which is certainly not going to go away...

Next Monday...is that the Monday in 3 days or...

Someone got me started at lunch today.

The Transportation group at work (of which I am a part) went out for lunch together today to an excellent Vietnamese place in the north end.  We all had the daily noodle bowl special which was fantastic.  As we’re waiting for the food my boss mentions that we’re going to have a meeting next Monday for the whole group.

My immediate question was, “Next Monday…is that the Monday in 3 days or…”

Which has become a completely valid question!

I would love to meet the guy who decided to start the whole thing where next no longer means the next, but the one after the next.  But you know what?  People only think this is ok when dealing with days of the week.

You don’t hear anyone saying, “take the next right” when giving directions and actually meaning they are supposed to turn at the second road they come to.  No, this means that you turn right onto the first road you come to on the right side.

Just imagine you’re standing in line at the bank.  You wait until everyone in front of you is taken care of and you are now standing at the front of the line.  The next teller to be available will call you up.  What does that mean?  Does that mean that first teller to become available will have to wait with no customer so that the second teller who becomes available will serve you?  No.  What if someone cuts in front of you right at the last minute?  You indignantly exclaim, “Hey!  I was next in line.”  Does that mean that the person who cut in line was actually entitled to do that seeing as how you were only next in line which means there should have been someone in front of you?  No.

But, many people out there (carefully not mentioning any names…) think that if I say the meeting is next Monday that means it will be held in 10 days, not 3.  “Oh, no, you don’t understand, if I had meant the meeting was in 3 days I would have said this Monday not next Monday.  Didn’t you get the memo?  We changed the meaning of next while you were gone - but only in certain situations like when referring to days of the week.”  /said in a drippingly condescending voice

No.  You don’t get to change the meaning of a word arbitrarily like that.  What I find most disturbing about this is that the word next has now become vague.  It requires an additional question.  For clarity sake the second question needs to be asked.  Who are you talking to - someone who uses next properly (meaning next) or someone who uses the ridiculous improper form of next (meaning the one after the next)?  You can’t not ask the second question.  You might show up at the wrong time.  If it is for something important (the flight leaves next Monday, the funeral is next Saturday, you will be killed by lethal injection next Wednesday) you can’t just leave it up to chance.

So, back to our lunchtime conversation.  My boss immediately knew where I was going with my question and answered quite good naturedly that it was the Monday in 3 days.  He took it in stride.  He may have been familiar with the whole confusion inherent in the question…

Free Music Downloads

This is something I struggle with quite a bit.  I love listening to good music so much.  One of my favorite things to do is to put on my new 7.1 circumaural headphones that my excellent wife got me for my birthday and just zone out for an hour or two listening to music at the computer.  There is very little music that I don't listen to.  Recently I've been listening to a lot of Kaskade and Deadmau5.  Check out my profile for a list of music and artists I listen to.

Downloading music for free is like a dream come true.  I can listen to whatever I want whenever I want.  I'm listening to music on the radio while I drive home from work, all of a sudden Deadmau5's Ghosts N Stuff comes on and I crank it.  Inner monologue: "I should download this when I get home.  This song is so wicked"  That's right, I say wicked a lot in my inner monologue.  But wait...there's the alarm...and...WAKE UP - YOU'RE DREAMING!

*I would have put an exclamation point after each sentence for the rest of this post, but I feared the repetition would have caused it to loose some of it's potency.*

The reason downloading music for free seems like a dream come true is that you're dreaming if you think it has come true - ethically anyway - does anyone still bother with ethics?  I am not talking about downloading music from itunes or some other site where you purchase music.  I have had some of my Christian friends argue with me about this!  "Downloading music is ok because the artists are making so much money anyway, they really don't need the extra $X from that one CD."  "It really isn't illegal in Canada if you are just "sharing" files."  "Everyone's doing it, what difference am I going to make?"

I don't care what the law says in this regard.  If you are taking something for free from another person who created it and intended for it to be purchased, you are stealing.  You are stealing their livelihood.  How is this so hard to understand?  It doesn't matter if they are as rich as Bill Gates, if you download a copy of Microsoft Office without paying for it, you stole it - they didn't spend years staying up late writing the software out of the goodness of their hearts.  Do you think that Universal Studios spends billions each year making movies without some intention of making that money back somehow?  If I grab your wallet and start "sharing" your money with everyone, you're going to want to sit down and have a talk with me about that.

Be honest with yourself.  You want to do it, so you justify it.

Everyone knows that unless it is freeware there is some expectation from the author to be reimbursed for your enjoyment of their product.  Do you really think they did it just for you?  If I was to run into someone who would respond to me that they knew they were stealing but that they didn't mind being a thief, I think our conversation would be over.  There would be nothing for me to say.  I wouldn't agree with them, and my opinion of them would be in the dirt, but the conversation would have nowhere to go.  It is people's justification of the whole process that starts to make my temperature rise.  Especially people who call themselves Christians - there is no excuse for that.  None!  If you have come up with an excellent excuse for downloading free music which makes my previous one word, gramatically incorrect, sentence obsolete please leave a comment telling me all about it - I would love to start downloading music for free.