Seriously? How is this one even possible? A movie about a “lost weekend” in Las Vegas can teach someone something about money? I pick up this challenge and say, Yes, it is possible.
One of the most important scenes is the “heroes” (I put that in quotes since I really wouldn’t call them heroes, but that is how they are portrayed in the film) getting their friend back from the “bad guy” (again not that bad, more of a comical bad guy) who had kidnapped him. Somehow, the “heroes” had won $80K at the blackjack tables. With this money, they successfully get “Doug” back.
The scene looks similar to a scene in Lethal Weapon, however in this case you have a Black SUV and a beat up Bentley in the middle of the desert. The guys see their friend and pay the “bad guy” his money and “Doug” is returned, however, the heroes didn’t check under the hood (“Doug” had a sack over his head) to see if this was the “Doug” they wanted. You’ll have to watch the movie to get the story. However, this made me wonder:
How many “Doug’s” have we paid for without being sure it was the “Doug” we wanted?
Pretty much anything you order mail-order or on-line is an “unseen Doug”, but we can at least return them. The big issue (in the movie) is the guys should have asked to look under the sack before taking the “Doug in a poke”, and a lot of us are guilty of not reading agreements or the fine print (or asking questions about the services we are receiving). Unfortunately, we are to blame (mostly) in those situations because we didn’t ask the questions.
What else did the Hangover teach me:
- Never borrow Mike Tyson’s white tiger
- Removing your own tooth sounds like a good idea at the time. However, it may not be as good an idea as we think
- What goes on in Vegas is very odd
Couches. Lol. Everyone’s got stories about couches.
I had a 9 foot long orange leather couch someone gave me when I was single. Luv luv luved that couch – stretch all the way out on it and watch TV. Then I get married and I’m the only thing that matches the new decor (and I’m borderline) so the couch has to go.
So I fire the sofa on the curb with a big sign ‘Free’!. Two hours later the couch is gone! I couldn’t believe someone took it.
Then we’re eating dinner and I look out the window – and the couch is back! I can just imagine how that conversation went :).
Should have had on the sign “No Givebacks!!!”
I can think of two “Doug” examples right away:
People who bought the “bonded” leather couches from discount furniture stores. Ellen Roseman wrote about trying to get them their money back when the bonds (e.g. glue) started failing after 1-3 years and the leather started peeling off the fabric that really forms the couch sides/front/back.
People who bought (or buy) the market-linked GICs without reading the details. Every one I’ve seen sets a very low maximum annual return and yet give no or an incredibly small guaranteed return. One didn’t even require the financial institution to keep using the same stocks as the benchmark for the product: they could change the stocks with no approval and no warning!
Don’t forget if you win 80k$ at a US gaming house, you get about $50 after taxes. I like our version of tax law better!
Is Black Jack a “game of skill” then? 🙂
Market-linked GICs I could never get my head around, so I just ignored them.
BondO leather couches I have had (i.e. couches fixed with duct tape and bondo), the the other one I was unaware of.