Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Kids These Days

While checking my email, I stumbled across an advertisement for Living Social (Do OKC cheap) or some such thing. They sucked me in with their vibrant picture of a big ol' cupcake:



I clicked on the ad because, if I can get said cupcake for less, I'm all over it. The problem occurred when I clicked on the ad, and the coupon didn't immediately pop up (gasp). I should have known better than to assume that I would be able to get $.50 off my next cupcake purchase without giving these marketing gurus my information. So, instead of giving them my email address to send me "one 50% off coupon from the best restaurants, spas, and more each day," I closed that page and went about my business.

Then it struck me: why was I so averse to giving them my email?

Think about Twitter. If someone starts following me, I'll check 'em out. Before I return the favor, I'll check their recent tweets to see if they have anything I'd like to hear about. If it's someone who does nothing but whine or try to sell their product - I'm out. I finally came to the realization that I have now become so accustomed to previewing things before I buy in that I wasn't willing to settle for the possibility of getting 50% of coupons to things I wouldn't be interested in.

So now I'm starting to question things like personal relationships. Am I so caught up in knowing about something 100% that I don't give things a fair shot? Or is it worse that I see something I like, go after it, and if I don't get the full story in the first 15 minutes, I'm done?

Now here's my idea: I'm going to slooooow it down and give things a chance. Delayed gratification. Maybe I'll end up getting a 50% off coupon to a restaurant where I'll meet the man of my dreams...


No comments: