Category: Psychological and Behavioral Topics

The Frustrated CFO Recommends: Black Mirror


Black_Mirror_1If you can stomach the naked truth about the world we live in, about your surroundings and yourself; if you are ready to actually see a clear depiction of the pile of unbearable scum that the human species has become, watch Black Mirror.  Pay attention and look hard  - it reflects Homo Technologiae  and its self-made surroundings at its realest.

And for those who don't look at the world through the pink glasses of delusional denial, what a joy to know that there is Charlie Brooker and his cohorts at Zeppotron!  What a gratifying experience to realize that there are like-minded people out there!  

Thank you, to everyone who has been working on this reality-fiction anthology and to those at Channel 4 responsible for its distribution.  And special thanks to the executives at Netflix who are continuously bringing narrow-niche products like this to their 60 million global subscribers.  

It has been reported that the show is  a big success in the US.  Well, I don't know if everyone understands that they are looking at their own reflections.  Nevertheless, this gives us a shred of hope, doesn't it?    

Related articles

Black Mirror tipped as possible future Netflix exclusive

Musings Over People’s Deficiencies, or the Division of Labor Extreme


Workers_in_aeA few weeks ago, this young artist I know went to a party – a sort of a mingling of, let's say (trying to be as vague as possible), people in creative fields.  Afterwards, I asked her how it went and the first thing that I got back was actually a rhetorical question: "Why do people suck so bad at organizing things?"

Turns out the party was arranged by a couple of guys who were "minglers" themselves and volunteered to spearhead the process; apparently, with an unsatisfactory result.  I can hear some of my readers saying with all-knowing intonations, "This is why you outsource to professional event-planners or employ support staffers with event-organizing responsibilities."

And they are correct.  I rarely go to parties myself, but the last two I attended were a huge Gala (over 700 people) and a small Gala (250 people).  The former was put together by a "big-name" event-planning firm and the latter by the event chairman's personal assistant.  Well, those were pretty large affairs with complicated programs and minor celebrities in attendance.  But a regular cocktail and/or dinner party? 

To tell you the truth, every time people start calling expensive coordinators to manage some itty-bitty occasion I have the same mental image: Steve Martin's remade father of the bride questioning his wife (Diane Keaton) on why two people who successfully run independent businesses need any help in putting together a wedding; let alone help of some guy with an unidentifiable accent (Martin Short) and his smug assistant (BD Wong, which is uncanny, cause he was one of the celebrity guests at that big gala I mentioned above).  

You probably think, "Why don't you try it yourself?"  So, let me assure you that I do have experience of rolling up my sleeves and stepping into party-planning when nobody else around is up to the task; most recently for a celebratory corporate festivity for my company with 80 guests.  And, yes, I am a control freak (at least I admit it) and sometimes it is a contributing factor into my taking charge of things, but honestly it was either doing it myself or wasting thousands of dollars on outsourcing. 

Let me remind you that I am a career CFO with multiple interests – I don't do parties, professionally or as a hobby.  Yet, 18 months later people are still talking about it.  And I promise you I didn't do anything out of the ordinary – I simply approached the problem in a logical and systematic way.  That was the very reason the project fell into my lap in the first place – people always rely on my common sense.

But that's a rare commodity nowadays, common sense, isn't it?  And the lack of it causes the trend of ultra-narrow specialization we observe today.  I am not surprised at all that those artistic types couldn't organize a decent party.  Haven't you noticed?  The majority of people around you are good primarily at one thing (if they are good at anything at all): performing their paying jobs, or looking pretty, or being social, or shopping, or cooking.  A person who is "good with people," usually sucks with numbers.  The hard-working breadwinners are mostly useless in their households.  Overwhelming number of people don't even have hobbies these days.  And those with fun-and-leisure faves are too preoccupied to do well at work.

And don't even get me started on the narrow professional specialization cultivated by headhunters and HR specialists too limited to comprehend the concept of adaptable competence!  They perverted the idea of "transferable skills" into exact matches of specific employment in a specific type of company of a specific industry.  Instead of assessing whether an applicant is capable of applying his expertise to ANY business situation they go through a checklist of specialized tasks.  You may be the strongest professional they've ever met, but if you don't collect enough check marks on the roster of narrowly defined projects, you will not be considered.  

How can we be surprised then that people are losing their capacity for systematic thinking both at work and life when they are stuck doing the same shit over and over again?  I'll tell you a secret: I never hire anybody whose resume shows 20 or even 10 years of static employment, no matter how "prestigious" it is.  Adaptability is one of my top 10 key factors of the value assessment.  I like my Renaissance people!             

The scary level of targeted specialization we have reached at this point is not evolutionary or revolutionary; and it's not economically beneficial and "progressive."  This is the aftermath of the intellectual (and physical) laziness that spreads into larger and larger segments of the general population like a pandemic.  The spoiled brats from all kinds of walks of life don't want to do elementary things themselves; they demand to be served, and, the shrinking minority of  enterprising people take the opportunity to supply such services – the natural laws of supply and demand are still struggling against nothingness.

On the opposite side from the utmost lethargy, but causing exactly the same regressively narrow results, is the other extreme - that glorified "focus" on your job and the job only.  Well, mental health specialists define the intense preoccupation with a narrow subject or activity as one of the main characteristics of Asperger syndrome.  And that's a mental disorder! 

Evolutionary speaking, we were never supposed to be this labor-differentiated, because  diverting the responsibilities for all your needs to others humans undercuts your personal chance for survival.  I am not talking pro-level pilotage in every task of life, of course, but there is basic shit you should be able to do yourself! 

And yes, that includes coordinating a simple gathering of people to everyone's satisfaction if the need arises.  I am not saying "Met Gala" with spectacular celebrities, but an ordinary function for 100 regular schmucks should be pretty manageable.

The same goes, as another example, for vacation planning.  One should be capable of tailoring his own decent vacation without paying for some generic package thrown together by an absent-minded leisure-industry professional who knows nothing about you and your companions.

And you should be able to make your place of residence livable without paying $300K fees to a "professional decorator" who will additionally charge you $50K for each made-in-China table lamp that you can buy at Lamp Warehouse in Brooklyn for $3K.  I am not saying Architectural Digest spreads, just a tasteful arrangement of furniture and some tchotchkes that make you feel at home.

And there is no need to call a handyman for bulb-changing, or picture-hanging, or installing a new toilet seat.  Unless, of course, it's a multifunctional state-of-the-art accessory that you've got yourself from Japan via Amazon.  I am not talking about using dangerous power tools to carve a brand-new lock into your door either – such types of amateur endeavors are reserved for very special people, but at least buy yourself a screwdriver.

And I am sorry, mathematically challenged people, but it is not funny anymore that you cannot (and don't want to) balance your checkbooks.  In the age of electronic payments, smart-phone deposits, massive hacking attacks, and readily available devices that can remotely override the security of every plastic item in your wallet, it is really dangerous not to reconcile your cash ins and outs with the bank records.  It's not a goddamned Newton's binomial theorem either!  Just pure arithmetic!  

And green thumb or not, one should be able to plant a seed and tend to it with sufficient care and persistence until it flowers or bears fruit.  Nobody is expecting award-winning roses and pluots here, but carrots, tomatoes, and onions can be managed by a child.

And not being able to cook a simple meal for yourself?  That's just pathetic!  What the hell are you going to do in the absence of the online orders and take-outs?  Chew raw pasta?

Yet, we hear all around us:

"I am totally retarded when it comes to cooking.  I can't even boil an egg!"

Or, "I wouldn't be able to sew a button to save my life!"

That "save my life" turn of phrase is not accidental, by the way.  The day may come when it can have a very literal meaning. 

Anatomy of an Internet Argument


Judging by the number of memes related specifically to the subject of Internet arguments, the vast majority of people online, at one or another point, have gotten themselves involved into this futile and unpleasant exercise.  It’s understandable: Connectivity is the Internet’s primary purpose – people come together in the virtual space, communicate, discuss topics (frequently controversial)…  And, when was the last time you have witnessed a discussion of a controversial topic without emotions flaring up and things getting personal?  Humans are acting human – what else is new? 

Of course, the Internet makes fighting especially intense.  In absence of the face-to-face confrontation and a possibility of someone throwing a punch, people feel protected by the distance, their own walls, and virtual anonymity.  We used to say that paper can bear anything.  Well, data cables are even more tenacious.  Some opponents get really wild, frequently vicious, and the keyboard gets it.  It’s hard to make your adversary to absorb your words in person.  Online?  Fahgettaboudit!  Hence, the universal opinion that one cannot win an Internet argument.  By the same token, people don’t lose Internet arguments either – one of the sides just gives up or runs out of free time.    

I personally have enough controversy in my physical existence.  Plus, ever since the beginnings of the Internet, I have realized that it is not a democratic forum where everyone has the right to their own voice.  On the contrary, it is the most oppressive and hostile equalizer.  This is a “place” where someone with no ability to even comprehend your words and not a single shred of civility feels free to call you “a retard” regardless of who you are and of the level of your intellectual prowess.  So, acutely conscious of my own time (and sanity), I simply don’t engage.  I just don’t.  I don’t even reply to the comments on my own posts. 

Except… That Roger Waters’ open letter to Dionne Warwick…  God! It was so bluntly anti-Semitic!  It was fed to me by Pink Floyd’s page, which I follow and, I have to be honest, it got me upset.  I strongly oppose political correctness and prefer people express their animosities openly, but the fact that this stark example of hatred was masqueraded as a pro-Palestinian stance – that just stunk of hypocrisy.  

Also, in person or otherwise, I usually don’t get into the Middle-East arguments.  Not because I have nothing to say, but because my opinions are too unusual; unacceptable to the majority of the debaters on both sides.  I’m not taking any sides.  And I wasn’t planning on getting into it this time either.  But antisemitism is not a political opinion – it’s a manifestation of millennia-old bigotry.  And I have a right to judge it according to my personal moral code. 

Thus, for the sake of highlighting Roger Waters’ thinly veiled true nature, I ignored my self-imposed restrictions on Internet and Middle-East discussions and commented on the open letter.  What transpired was an incredibly typical example of an online “exchange of thoughts.”  It couldn’t possibly come out more standardized even if I deliberately scripted it.  It’s literally a classic case study.

My comment was:  

“Oh, a son of a British communist from Surrey is an anti-Semite?  Why are people surprised?  I expect nothing else.  In fact, the pro-Palestinian stand is a total sham: It’s all about hating the Jews.  Roger Waters doesn’t care about Palestinians.  Otherwise, he would try to convince them to raise their children in the comfortable houses the Israelis have built instead of burning them down.  But he wouldn’t, because he is blinded by hatred.  And how silly for him to call ANYONE ignorant!  This is not the first concept he has been confused about: Remember his total misinterpretation of George Orwell?  Then again, people should stop expecting enlightenment from celebrities.  As humans, most of them are nothing special – just your average schmucks touched by God’s gifts; the channeling instruments.  And I always said that one should separate an artist from the art.”

I didn’t criticize pro-Palestinians or pro-Israelis in general – just expressed my reaction specifically to Roger Waters’ letter.  Yet, of course, it didn’t matter what I actually wrote.  People don’t take time to comprehend the message- like bulls they only see the red flags, in this case “anti-Semite.”  I got almost an immediate reply from “Agus Alexander”, who, judging by his latest photo, is about 20 and appears to be a student.  He is originally from Ireland, spent some time in Argentina (probably as an exchange student), and now lives in Nova Scotia.  (This is actually very important, because that Canadian province is heavily populated by immigrants from Arabic countries.  Personal experience shows that Nova Scotian youth interacts far more frequently with Arabs than with Jews). 

He wrote:        

“So pro-Palestine is equal to anti-Semite …. Nice one I almost bought it but I’m not that dumb. You see what you are saying is either or you buy the whole pro Israel package or you are a fucking holocausting anti-Semite… Check how much deaths from each side have been through this years in this war and then refrain of your beliefs”

Note, that young Mr. Agus completely overlooked the fact that I explicitly expressed my doubts about Roger Waters’ pro-Palestinian position.  Moreover, nothing in my comment suggested that I consider everyone who is not pro-Israel an anti-Semite.  And while I was taken aback by the suggestion that a primitive death count would change any of my beliefs (none of which I expressed, by the way), I decided to underscore my focus one more time:    

“Pro-Palestinian who is not an anti-Semite (and I mean deep in the heart of hearts, not PC bullshit)?  I personally have not met one, but theoretically, sure, it’s possible.  However, if you actually read Mr. Waters’ open letter, you know that he doesn’t qualify as one.  And as I said, he doesn’t qualify as pro-Palestinian either – just an anti-Semite.”

It turns out that while I was writing those few lines, another reply to my original comment was posted.  This one by Beto Gabriel – a male facebooker in his mid-30s, who occupies himself by investing his money through ShareBuilder – CapitalOne’s alternative to day-trading.  Remarkably (you will see in a moment!) he is an incessant quoter of snippets from Humanity Healing (a “spiritual activism” network).  Here it goes (all caps are original):    

“You stupid IDIOT… Palestinians dont want handouts, THEY WANT THEIR HOMELAND BACK. Yes they do hate, but its a JUST HATE. Their homeland was taken away and they became refugees in their own land… JUST IMAGINE THE MEXICANS OCCUPYING THE STATES AND TAKING YOUR HOUSE AND FORCING U OUT INTO A DESIGNATED AREA…”

As soon as I read the words “stupid IDIOT,” I was out of this exchange.  It was over for me.  Not because I’m known to back out, but because bullies are better handled in a face-to-face confrontations.  They are not really as brave in person and the arguments end much faster.  My timing constraints are not a match to the luxurious freedom of a day-trader.  Plus, one cannot encourage further bad-mannered insolence. 

I even ignored the delicious morsels of bait such as “homeland” and “Just Hate.” (Is that what they teach at Humanity Healing?  How to justify hate?)  How did Beto Gabriel concluded that I am an intellectually disabled person with a complete lack of reason from that one comment of mine and what qualifies him as an expert in human intellectuality?  We will never know that.  As I said, I was out.

For the sake of completeness of the arguments’ dissection, let me note that while I was staring at Beto Gabriel’s berserk outburst, Agus Alexander opened up about his true confusion a little bit more:             

“I strongly encourage you Marina to think.. Outside the tv box and the popular opinion. Yes there are lots of people who consider what Israel is doing what it really is a holocaust… But they are afraid to speak because they will instantly labeled as antisemites, I have nothing against Israel  except for their actions. But I respect all religions what does that make me?”

Wow!  What a mess of thoughts!  Plus, the little boy invites me a.) to think period (implying that I don’t) and b.) to think outside of “the TV box and the popular opinion.”  Hilarious!!!  But, of course, he has no idea who I am.  And I cannot take it seriously – these people have no flexibility of mind; they learn three-four formulaic phrases, which become their slogans du jour, and they throw them around regardless of the substance of the actual discussion.     

Of course, I could’ve replied to Beto Gabriel that if I were a nomad in, let’s say, Nevada desert with no roof over my head, living hand-to-mouth, and my daughter was running around barefoot (this American boy I know, who served in Israeli Army, told me how sad those barefoot Palestine children made him), I would’ve welcomed any type of shelter with plumbing provided by Mexicans or whoever, let alone high-quality private housing.  Motherhood carries far more important responsibilities than political stands devised by vicious males.  And by they way, that Nevada desert, together with 7 giant states (1 million square miles – 117 times more than the entire State of Israel) was taken by the US from Mexico only 100 years before the formation of Israel.       

And to Agus Alexander’s question with regards to what his supposed respect for all religions makes him I could’ve answered that it makes him a very poorly informed young man who cannot expand his mind beyond his immediate surroundings.  Antisemitism has very little to do with religion.  My maternal great-grandparents were not religious.  Yet, it didn’t stop the Nazis from burying them alive in the field near their hometown together with all other Jews that lived there.  The majority of the 6 million Jews killed in WWII and of those killed in pogroms before and after the war were secular.  Hitler/Himmler’s the Ultimate Solution documents stated in writing that ALL ethnic Jews were to be wiped out from the face of this planet; religion was explicitly disregarded.  That what Holocaust means.  Look it up!

I could’ve made a list of the times through my life I was called a dirty Jew to my face.  And I could’ve shared how I felt listening to my parents talking about the Munich Massacre in 1972.  And I might’ve described how terrified I was flying from Rome to New York with my little daughter at the peak of Palestinian hijackings in the late 80s.   

But I didn’t reply with any of that to either of the men, because they lost me at “stupid IDIOT.”  At the end of the day, this is what you get for breaking your own rules twice. 

In all these Middle-Eastern debates, one thing perplexes me, though:  Why nobody ever throws stones at the entities that initiated this mess in the first place?  Don’t people remember that Palestine was a British colony until 1948 and that it was United Nations’ 1947 decision that implemented FDR’s “visions” of giving Palestine freedom from the protectorate and creating the State of Israel at the same time?  I guess 70 years back is way too much history for them.    

“Civilized” Overpopulation and Epidural


Bleubird-familySome time ago, I posted here a video quote of the Gates Foundations' family-planning message.  I mean, you say "family planning" and I will acknowledge your efforts, no matter how feeble, superficial, and confusedly motivated.  Yet, it's important for me to clarify that my own position on family planning is a bit stronger and much wider than those of the philanthropists behind the cute video.  Essentially, the title I chose for the animated citation intended to hint on my personal focus - after all, I did use words like "Key to Economic and Social Survival."

You see, the majority of charitable efforts and government aids are focused on the prevention of unwanted births and directed at either the "third-world" countries or our own domestic lower-income classes.  This is because the predominant idea behind these undertakings, granted too radical for Catholics and the conservative right, is still incredibly human-centric and terribly inadequate with respect to the ecological and other planetary concerns. 

It is basically limited to one straightforward notion that those who cannot afford to provide multiple children with sufficient sustenance, housing, clothing, education, and information technology shouldn't have them (the children).  So, disadvantaged people in poor countries and counties should stop reproducing (and they should, no question about it!), so that the emissaries of the bleeding rich hearts would stop sending to their bosses the unpleasant images of starving, sick, infested, and dying children.  Meanwhile, nobody is paying attention to the violent overpopulation crimes committed against our precious Earth not in some far away land but in so-called centers of "civilization."  

12 years ago my place of residence, a Manhattan high-rise, was famous for having more pets than children.  Today, the building is flooded with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, preteens, and teenagers.  Only after midnight you can pass through the lobby without stumbling into well-off pro-choice parents with the broods of two, three, even four children.   

Practically every single business owner I ever worked with has three children (I swear!).  How about the democratic billionaire couple that cares so much about the family planning in underdeveloped countries, i.e. Bill and Melinda Gates?  How many children do they have?  You guessed it - three! And their philanthropic cohort Warren Buffett?  Also three!  It's some sort of a magic fucking number!  And the funny thing is, they probably think that they are doing right by the Planet – they can afford a whole school of children, but they limited themselves to "just three!"  

So, now let me tell you what I think.  It is my firm believe that in the current state of ecological deterioration, unstoppable depletion of natural and fiscal resources, exponential mental and emotional degeneration of an average human, complete disappearance of merit principles, and overwhelming crumbling of social liberties - it is nothing short of a crime for anybody (and I mean, ANYBODY) to have more than one child!   

This is simple arithmetic, folks:  Why the hell my one child must share air with these endless triple offsprings?  Use your imagination for a second and replace those triples and duos with ones – how much air, food, resources, personal attention, and devotion would we have per each individual child then?  I don't know about you, but this mental picture seems like a much healthier and somewhat less doomed present and future to me. 

I cannot even begin to describe how angry these fucking people with multiple children make me, regardless of who they are – those with sufficient household wealth and those who keep popping them out because our federal and state governments throw our taxes at them (the more dependents, the higher the welfare payments); those who claim that they do it for God and those who "cement their marriages" using babies as cinder blocks. 

And, of course, I always fumed at fertility doctors endlessly pollinating multiple eggs with abundant sperm to ensure successful fertilization, thus exponentially increasing the probability of twin, triple, and even quadruple births.  But, as it turns out, the doctors, who take upon themselves the appalling task of correcting Nature and giving children to people who were meant to have none, are not the worst of medical offenders against our Planet. 

The whims of my life spared me from being exposed to child-bearing and births for the past 20 years.  As a result, I was sheltered from the macabre reality of what I can only call a large-scale bolstering of "civilized" overpopulation.  Until the last year that is, when one of my subordinates got pregnant for the first time.

We are fairly close and she frequently asks for my advice on matters outside of our professional relationship.  So, in the last trimester she approached me with the following: "My doctor asked me if I wanted Epidural." "Why?" I asked innocently, "You are not having a C-section."  She shrugged her shoulders, "Well, they give it to everyone who doesn't want the pain now.  And they've been doing it for years.  But I've read it's not good for the baby."

What???!!!  They give it to everyone?  Even to healthy young women who are built to go through natural labor without any complications?  No wonder these people think nothing of having one child after another.  Why not? But do they ever dwell on a pretty obvious concept that there might be a reason why Mother Nature intended for the birth of a child to be a labor of pain and love?  And don't even get me started on what all these drug-induced and anesthetic-aided infant extractions (you cannot seriously call them labors at this point) do to these newborn humans. 

Obviously, these parents don't care much about the future of their children.  And it's not shocking to me that the drug-pushing doctors and their sponsors, i.e. big pharma, don't care about the survival of their own descendants either.  It should be, but it's not.  The opportunism has become the blinding principle of everyone's existence and it always prevails – all they care about is their bank accounts' balances today!  As they say in French, Apres Moi, le deluge (After me comes the flood)!

And here is another angle.  The conveyor birthing and ballooning families are among the main causes for the perpetually increasing health insurance rates.  Do you realize that in addition to the terrible effect they have on the global environment and economics, these multi-child families are basic larcenists?  Daily they steal hard-earned money from single individuals and one-child parents who are forced to pay exorbitant premiums inflated by these thieves.

I thought that I would never align my interests with those of any big public organization, but in the fight for our Planet's survival any allies count, even those who take the right actions for the wrong reasons.  In their unyielding pursuit of stock "value" inflation, health insurers do whatever they can to assist those who want to stay childless or keep their families small: a vasectomy is covered 100%, so is a once a year abortion performed by a network provider.  Obviously, in the long run these procedures are far more economical than prenatal care, birth, child healthcare, etc., etc. 

Thus, inadvertently, the insurance companies actually contribute to the fight against overpopulation.  But they can do more!  How about they stop covering the goddamn epidural administered to absolutely healthy women?  The last I've heard, each shot costs about $2,000.  So, c'mon HMO, let them feel it, both in their pockets and, as Nature intended, in their birth canals.  Maybe this will make at least some of them to stop at #1.              

The Wealth of the Nation: Observation #1


Bitter ColdIt got warmer now, but for a few weeks leading up to this one it was bitterly cold in NYC, with temperatures falling into single digits and wind pushing the chill effect below zero.  And I don't really know if my fellow bundled-up New Yorkers noticed them, but I saw them all the time – the girls wearing flats on their bare feet.

Let's say you are walking to your office in Financial District.  The iPhone displays 13 degrees air temperature and the ground, covered in snow, would likely register 5.  More snow is falling from the sky.  You keep your head down watching out for slippery spots and inadvertently see people's footwear.  

There are plenty of toe-warming UGGs (actually a California brand, early on manufactured in Australia, now almost entirely in China), a variety of snow and rain boots (not as warm, but at least waterproof), leather boots, frozen high-tops.  And once in a while you spot them - they are running to work too (no, they didn't just popped out for a second!) and all they have on their feet are tiny flats (it could be just my shocked perception, but it seems that it is always a pair of silver Tory Burches).  They usually wear black leggings thus exposing their ankles and essentially most of their feet to the bitter, Siberian cold.  Three times in the last 4 weeks I rode in the elevator with one of those girls.

I cannot say that I fervently keep up with the latest fashion trends, but I can guarantee that these girls are not making fashion statements – nobody is that painfully style-forward.  The likely scenario is that protecting their feet from possible frostbites simply doesn't fit into their budgets.  When they came from their hometowns to New York City (annual average temperature 55 degrees), they didn't expect (most people didn't) that it could be so cold here for 3-4 weeks in a row.  And there is no way they can splurge on items that will be used for such a short time.

How could they?  After their $1,300 portion of rent and utilities for the two-bedroom shared with another two roommates, cell phone bill, barely any food at all (even the cheapest of foodstuffs are expensive here), Metrocard, some H&M clothes to appear decent in the office, household supplies, and the minimum payment due on the Visa card used to buy the cheapest puffer coat on sale, their $3,250 a month after payroll deductions (from $60K annual salary) are gone pretty much as soon as they hit the bank account.

Meanwhile, the shortest and simplest pair of UGGs costs $155 and if you spent some time searching (or get lucky) you can find a pair of snow boots for $90.  Well, if you buy something classic that never goes out of style this is a pretty good investment, since they may be useful next year and the year after.  However, if you simply don't have that extra $100 or even $12 to cover the increase of the minimum payment on the credit card, you forgo the warmth and comfort.  After all, it's only a few weeks a year. 

I am looking at the almost naked feet and think that those flats are probably the only shoes she's got that are suitable for the fancy office (business attired only!) of a big company that hired her because of her hard-earned degree in marketing with 4.0 GPA.  And so, she will run in them in severely cold conditions from her home to the subway and then to the office building…  What for?  I have no fucking clue.