Get 'em new or vintage, but don’t pay more than $40. Light watch, light band, work great. Kinda easy to scratch though. Nothing a buffer won’t fix, but still.
Casio is always a good bet. Got 3 of 'em and only the chonky one is slightly uncomfortable. But that’s for rough outdoor use where I don’t notice.
Just got this one, and it’s weirdly comfortable, more so than any steel band I’ve ever had. Band was hell to adjust, took me 45-minutes, have tools, not coordinated, YMMV.
Tell me more about what you like! I can help you dial in (heh) a cheap one. No experience with high-end stiff.
Had one named “FBI Surveillance Van #3”. I know, not so creative even 10-years ago, but read on.
Guy at the end of the street sold weed. He was telling my neighbor to be on the lookout, there was an FBI van cruising around. Being at the end of the street, my signal faded in and out like it was moving. Dude was freaked the fuck out.
The belief that poverty is caused by incompetence, laziness or rogue spending
I’m not sure how to reach people that believe this. Been dirt poor, now I’m well off. I know what that looks like. One thing is that so many first-world people think they’ve been poor. Well, poor relative to their previous circumstances, poor vs. their parents, etc.
Those sorts never had to steal napkins from McDonalds to wipe their ass. Never fried plain flour with the last of their oil. Never went hunting nuts for food and didn’t have any salt left. Fuck me, my roommate and I were figuring how to steal a duck or goose off the local college campus.
Can’t afford a washing machine? Go to the local laundromat, spend that money. Spend that time. My fridge has an issue with some sort of fan. I have the leisure time and tools to take it apart, figure it out and buy a new fan. If you’re poor? Oh well. Pay someone a load of money. $20 for me, $200 if you’re poor.
tl;dr: We need to be hammering home the fact that being broke is more expensive than having a little folding money. And just like having some money stacks in your favor, having none stacks against you.
My old ass is struggling trying to understand all this.
Capitalism has gone off the rails and is grinding us down, especially the most vulnerable. I get that. Seen shit IRL over the decades that astounds me. If you’re young, it’s hard to truly grasp how much has been stolen from you. And you should be mad as fucking hell.
OTOH, I don’t understand how young people expect to gain anything. The world runs on money, always has, always will, no matter the government or financial system. The world won’t give you money for merely existing, you have to provide value back to the world. That means skills, education and experience. Things you don’t have when you start out in life, things you have to “grind” for. TANSTAAFL.
It’s also hard to grasp the opportunities and freedom you’ve been handed. Worldwide conversations like this were not possible when I was in my 20’s. A computer, with no internet or interoperability, was beyond the scope of most families. Education of any sort is basically free.
Again, no one needs to explain the plight of the youth to me. You’re either old enough to understand, young enough to understand, or you’re out of touch.