Mile Nerd

• Easy entry to win a not-too-shabby 200,000 miles from American Airlines.
• Get 3,000 bonus Club Carlson points if you book a stay through their app.
• A pretty small-time deal, but click through for 30 seconds and get free money from Paypal here. It’s $5 free on any purchase.
• InterContinental (IHG) has a great promo (in case you’re the kind of person who deletes emails with great promos). Different offers are going around, but my task is paying for 3 nights and downloading an app. For that, I get 2 nights at any IHG in the world. Including the $1,000 a night property in Bora Bora. Not bad for spending under $300 at cheap Holiday Inns. Fyi, the free night certificates expire in a year.

At this point in your Monday reading, I’d like to respond to a very small handful of people. I’ve been lucky enough to never get any “haters” through the MileNerd blog. A big part of that is because I don’t have comments here. I get asked about it a lot. Honestly, a huge reason is because I don’t like the mean-spirited stuff that shows up. “Internet tough guys” annoy me to no end. I’ve been so lucky for these past few years to get nothing but support from you guys. It’s not something I ask for…in fact, excessive praise makes me weirdly uncomfortable. But the kindness does mean a lot. With no comments, those supportive emails inspire me to keep doing this every week. That being said, for the first time, I got some haters…

The last post brought in over 100 emails. Almost all of you liked the post. 3 of you didn’t. One made some good points while the other 2 guys were drinking the haterade. So, for the first and last time, I’d like to respond to the haters. Why did you have a problem with my last post? I’d like to break my thoughts down into a few categories…

CONTENT/WRITING –
I’m proud of the way I write. My written words tend to express the way I feel pretty accurately. That being said, if multiple people misunderstand some of the basic facts, then that blame should fall on me as the writer. A bit of it is because I wrote on a public blog. I could only allude to details of what was done at that particular store. The rest is my fault for not writing more articulately.

READING COMPREHENSION –
Those 2 haters who emailed me weren’t very good readers. Maybe it was for the reason above and maybe not.

TALKING ABOUT MYSELF –
The common thing mentioned by all 3 haters was the paragraph where I spoke about myself. I found that EXTREMELY annoying. I don’t expect people to kiss my ass, but this is weak. I can serve others and help people with no issues at all. But on the incredibly rare occasion that I mention myself, there are comments made. Well, the fact is, I’ve been told by clients that I helped make their dreams come true. As a matter of fact, I hear it from readers of this blog too. But haters don’t want to hear it. And I’m also very much used to weirdos reacting strangely when I tell them what I do as an actor. It’s my job, but these reactions make me not want to talk about it much. If I would have said I’m the least famous guy in the room at most auditions (true) and have less money than the majority of readers (also true) then they would have been ok. But any sniff of “me talk” and selfish people will react with criticism. That paragraph was meant to illustrate that I’m far from a criminal. That I’m a respectable person and deserve to be treated as such. I was telling a story, so the point was to weave a tale. But sometimes you can’t win. Some people want you to serve them and shut up about anything else.

PEOPLE ARE CRAZY –
We are all damaged in our own ways. I have my stuff, and explore it more than most. Unlike the majority of people I interact with, I understand my dysfunction. This makes me an incredibly fair person. Things don’t come out of me sideways. No twisted messages with ulterior motives. It is actually the best trait I have. I rarely treat anyone badly and the rare times I’m unfair with someone, I feel terrible about it for months. In life, my main passion is exploring the human condition – how we think, feel, and connect. This includes exploring emotions. I’m comfortable expressing anger, pain, frustration, etc. It is extremely healthy to do this. To not judge our feelings as good or bad. But whenever I express my anger (even in a healthy way), I notice certain people get twitchy. All their repressed emotion gets stirred around. Their reactions to me at these times are often nonsensical. They get judgmental about me expressing such emotion, as if all anger is “wrong.” Any argument gets tangled up with a person’s “stuff.” I expect a certain amount of this every time I get pissed.

ARGUMENTATIVE FOR THE HELL OF IT –
Most people realize I’m a fair fighter. That I welcome debates in my life. So people like to argue with me more than the norm. Some blog readers just like to stir things up for the hell of it. I get it.

CLASS STRUCTURE –
A friend of mine made an interesting point about how Walmart sucks to me only because I’m seeing it from where I sit. I think it’s an interesting argument, but he didn’t know where I sit. Or where I’ve sat. Much of my life has been spent below the poverty line. After earning a degree in Finance, most of my 20’s was spent not using it and working very low-paying day jobs. Many of my friends to this day are extremely poor…I mean, I’m an actor and realtor. I’m around some incredibly destitute people. I have traveled in many, many circles.

I don’t think Walmart is terrible in comparison to Macy’s or Nordstrom. I think it’s bad, period, as a chain store in America. Even in comparison to the 99 cent store, which brings in a more mixed clientele, and is less of an unpleasant experience. Walmart is a dirty, messy, often rude place. In addition to numerous examples of their treating employees in terrible ways. Again, it’s my opinion, but all of this leads me to call it a shitty place. It wouldn’t be “better” because lawyers and doctors go there. But if it were “better,” I believe those people would go there more often. If you look at the competition, Walmart always stands out as the worst example. It has nothing to do with prices or their average shopper income. The “poor person” grocery store here is called Food 4 Less. I don’t think it’s a bad place at all, and not nearly as unpleasant of a shopping experience.

When I wrote that we could make Walmart somewhat respectable, it’s not because of what’s in our wallets. And it’s not because of our occupations. It’s because we are honorable people. We are kind. We are intelligent. We don’t steal. We would be good customers for any business. The “People of Walmart” aren’t less valuable than us. They don’t matter any less. But there’s a reason for the lack of “range” in Walmart’s clientele. It is is a shitty place for everyone I’ve known in every demographic. Nobody has liked going there. Treating people poorly is always bad business, and the Walmarts I know could get so much better with this. They are messier (in every way) than any of the other chain stores I have ever seen. No matter what our income, we all deserve to walk in and have a better shopping experience. I stand by my post. Walmart sucks. I’m done with this topic.