I’m on X, for what it’s worth. I get messages all the time from people I don’t know. Many of them claim to be writers who want to connect with other writers and the rest claim to be promoters. All of them have some sort of program to help my books get sold and all of them pretend to be my friend interested in my work. These messages from a new source hit my in box at least 3 times a week while the older ones keep on pumping out missives hoping I will buy into their program. Rarely do I get someone who is genuinely interested in my work or how it came about. It’s overwhelming.
Out of the virtual world and in the real world, a minimum of once a year, all the companies we have to deal with send me notices that their privacy policies have changed. There are three or four pages of crap to read about how they will now change the way they keep your information safe. What has changed since last year? Maybe they got hacked and have a new method of protecting themselves. Maybe they thought up something to bury in the document that covers their butt, especially if you don’t read it. I don’t know and I don’t have time to read all of these documents and neither do you. It’s overwhelming.
Whenever you buy something significant that you pay a significant price for, there is a EULA- an End User License Agreement. These are usually several pages long, printed in fine print, and in several languages. A poorly written instruction manual may also be included which is also in several languages. Do you read any of these documents? Aren’t they important? Of course they are, but who has the time to read all this stuff? Eight to ten hours a day in the salt mines, kids to tend to, yard and house to keep in order, tires need rotating on the car and on and on. It’s overwhelming to say the least.
I haven’t even mentioned the contracts we don’t read, the tax forms we must fill out, the applications for various things, the constant emails containing vital information, reviews of insurance policies, new laws on the books that affect us, ingredients on packages of food we buy, and on and on. Do you read all this stuff? No. Nobody does. Who has time? It’s overwhelming.
If we don’t read all of this, how do we know they don’t put something in there such as, “company has full indemnity against user in this agreement.” Maybe it will say something like, “If payment is not made on time, customer will be put in stocks in a public place to have rotten tomatoes thrown at them.” We trust companies wouldn’t be so crass, but they are sneaky. Most agreements these days contain the claim: “Any dispute between customers and the company will be settled by mediation.” This is a load of horse patooey. Why? Because they pick the time, place, and mediator. You are bound to accept their judgement which is usually somewhat biased against you. Using the mediator process prevents you from suing the company in court where you might win. You, my friends, are over a barrel.
Does anyone ever pay you for reading all this manure-based paperwork? No. Do you make enough money at your job to take time off to contest any of this should you be agitated by poor service, breakdowns, or whatever? No. Are any of these legal documents designed to protect you? No. They are mostly designed to protect the butts of the companies you deal with. Ptooey on you!
When does one find time to live their lives? One cuts corners. One doesn’t read or depends on some salesperson to interpret the document they are signing. One ignores much of what is written, and this bites one in the butt at times. The bottom line is that the hours you do spend going over this stuff are not compensated for and you simply ignore most of it trusting in the goodness of whoever you are dealing with. It’s a dangerous situation but you have to live your life despite the fact that you are over a barrel, overwhelmed, and underpaid.