WBU ALUM wrote:Everything seems to be a "scheme" or "trap."
It's pretty common in every business to offer customers an added convenience in return for a price. I don't consider them to be schemes and traps.
My friends and I just prefer to put the decision on us rather than focus in on what dastardly thing a company has done to try to fool us (we actually never look at it that way). We call it "shopping for the better value and then making a choice."
I guess this is just another case of the glass being half full or half empty. 
Someone could also save a ton of money by only bringing a carry-on toiletry kit, sleeping under bus stops in BKK and washing up in the mornings at PTT. Gotta avoid those schemes and traps at the hotels and with those sinister taxi drivers (neither of which I have ever had the slightest problem).
Is the glass half empty or half full? is a common expression, used rhetorically to indicate that a particular situation could be a cause for optimism (half full) or pessimism (half empty), or as a general litmus test to simply determine an individual's worldview. The purpose of the question is to demonstrate that the situation may be seen in different ways depending on one's point of view and that there may be opportunity in the situation as well as trouble.
This idiom is used to explain how people perceive events and objects. Perception is unique to every individual and is simply one's interpretation of reality. The phrase "Is the glass half empty or half full" can be referred to as a philosophical question.
The eternal optimist is certainly entitled to his worldview, and if that works for him then more power to him. My guess is that most people, if they were being honest, have a half empty or pessimistic worldview. It's generally the younger and inexperienced crowd that sees the world through rose-colored glasses. Men that have traveled the world and have been overly exposed to all facets of life and it's pitfalls seem to be much less naive and more cautious, and they tend to be on the lookout for sharks while others are busy gazing at the scenery. They too are entitled to their worldview, and they're neither right nor wrong and certainly don't deserve to be denigrated for their philosophical beliefs. When I was a young whippersnapper I used to sleep with a copy of
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill under my pillow. Having a positive mental attitude doesn't preclude the fact that the world is full of unsuspecting rip-off artists at every turn in the road from politicians to airlines to taxi drivers, and the list is endless. Thinking positive doesn't make all that go away, and a good dose of pessimism tends to give one a nice balance in life and helps to cushion the fall when it comes. The idea that "positive suggestions to the subconscious mind are transformed into a physical equivalency" is at best sheer myth and a dangerous road to go down.
Having said all that, the first time I attempted to navigate the Air Asia website it took me a good hour to figure out how to get myself out of all the "default" traps to spend money unnecessarily. For example: reading the instructions one is led to believe that unless an advance seating selection is taken for an extra charge, then the customer could be separated from a traveling companion. That makes sense to me, but they should also have said that seating is available at check-in, and they have no business playing on my worst travelling fears. I personally like things either black or white, and not gray, and I never like to be put in a situation to assume anything. I learned a long time ago that when one assumes he "makes an ASS out of U and ME"! I like the idea that Asia Air is giving me choices so that I can be a discerning traveler, but I would prefer that they be based on credible and sufficient information so that I can make an informed decision on what is best for ME and not Air Asia. To give Air Asia the benefit of the doubt one could conclude that their website programmers have simply designed a site that is well above the ability of the average consumer/computer user to adequately comprehend...not user friendly. I prefer to believe that they have purposely designed it that way to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers who are not your average computer geeks in order to increase their bottom line. In my business career I have been involved with multinational companies whose undisclosed business model was to do exactly that...ON PURPOSE! For that and many other reasons I choose to see the glass as "half empty". It's my worldview and I'm sticking to it!
Colossians 2:8-10...See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. For in HIM dwells all the fullness of the GODHEAD bodily; and you are complete in HIM, who is the head of all principality and power.
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