4 things I'm stunned people would rather have than money

When you buy something, what you are essentially saying is this: "I would rather have the item/service that I'm about to buy than money." Now, of course, some things are necessities: food, shelter, clothes, electricity, etc. But there are other things that I've seen people purchase/own that just befuddle me: you would rather have this than money? Really?

Here are four...

Cell phone rings that are music - as someone who does recruiting, I can't tell you how many times I'll call someone and here those nine little words, "please enjoy the music while your party is reached..." and then I'm treated to "Free Bird" or "Boom Boom Pow" or "Paralyzer" while my opinion of the general intelligence and professionalism of the candidate is being shaped. And I can't help but to think, "Instead of $2 per month (or whatever this costs) this person wants me to have Safety Dance blaring in my ear?" Perfect example, ex-employee, CokeMachine came by to pick up papers from me. Before he comes by, I call him to clarify something... and... "FREE BIRD!!!!!!" In chatting with CokeMachine, I discover that times are tough, he can't find work, and he's using my info to get state assistance. I felt like saying, "Hey, I can give you $24 per year and make you more marketable at the same time!"

Vanity license plates - Pigeon was a former co-worker of mine who I just didn't get along with. She hated working and life in general, and I wanted to see her get stuck in an elevator full of pigeons (her phobia) for several hours. Anyway, she told me time and again about the sums of money I wasted going out to lunch every day. I tried to ignore it as much as possible (though I'm pretty sure she got of a tell-off or ninety-seven courtesy of me). Then one day she came in talking about her great new car. Our group went to see it. The car was covered with sh!t, including, but not limited to: several bumper stickers, fuzzy dice, a bead back-rest thingy, a steering wheel cover, and a vanity license plate that served as a double entendre for her love of weed. Yet, I was wasting money feeding myself.

Tattoos - I have an employee who wants to discuss two things: his low-pay and overall lack of having money, and his next tattoo. This guy has one sleeve tattoo, and an outline of something involving a dragon, a centaur, and a bikini clad woman who couldn't physiologically exist on his leg. But on the flip side, money's tight.

Top of the line cell phone - now I love gadgets, but I don't need to have a combo MP3 Player/Phone/Camera/Weapon that costs $700. Lumberjack has something that I don't think airport security would let onto a plane. On the flip side, Lumberjack has had his back account cleaned out... twice (according to him, "the bank totally f*cked me over"), and has had three bank judgments levied against him that I get stuck taking out of his paycheck.