Something...
There's something about some people that drives me insane from time to time, mostly because I don't understand it. I'll give you a couple of situations. The first is at work. So, a guy comes in and asks if we have a book, let's say. We do, and I get it for him, and then he asks the price. I tell him the price, then he makes a face and tells me something like, "Oh, nevermind. I can order that online for cheaper," or "You know, Amazon is so much cheaper for everything". In an extreme situation, the person almost sounds like they're saying, "You know, there's this place called THE INTERNET and on THE INTERNET everything is so much cheaper and better and magical things happen at every turn so you should feel blessed that I'm letting you in on this little secret I stumbled upon called THE INTERNET." To which I should respond, "Wait wait wait one minute! What is that you say? The Intranu...what? Spell that for me? I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T? Is there an "S" at the end? And I need a computer? Please let me write all of this down!" I can understand wanting to to save money and the ease of shopping online. I wouldn't argue with that. It's just that I don't understand why people feel the need to broadcast all the things they do. If I'm looking at something and I've seen it cheaper somewhere else and would rather get it at thatother place, I politely thank the person for their time or give a simple "No thank you". I'm not going to give you a discount simply because you've seen a lower price and you're so smart and smug about finding it. We know about the internet, people.
The other related example is something I just saw on a blog. Someone started a thread about a book that's coming out, and someone else replied that they too were excited, and would be sure to read it when he was done with his current book, which he named. Then there were some more posts about the book coming out but none about the book that guy was reading, sadly it seems. I say "sadly" because he posted again, now telling us he was done with that book (this time putting the title in bold type) and that he ordered the book of discussion on Amazon two weeks ago. Who cares? His two posts added nothing to the discussion at all. I guess he wants to hear "Hey, man. That book you named twice sounds awesome. How did you ever find it and tell me all about it! Oh yeah! I also want to mention that you are so on top of things by ordering a book on this "Amazon" weeks before all the rest of us did. How did you ever become so forward thinking? Please give me some insight!" Do people really need this much attention?
Crabby today, eh?
The other related example is something I just saw on a blog. Someone started a thread about a book that's coming out, and someone else replied that they too were excited, and would be sure to read it when he was done with his current book, which he named. Then there were some more posts about the book coming out but none about the book that guy was reading, sadly it seems. I say "sadly" because he posted again, now telling us he was done with that book (this time putting the title in bold type) and that he ordered the book of discussion on Amazon two weeks ago. Who cares? His two posts added nothing to the discussion at all. I guess he wants to hear "Hey, man. That book you named twice sounds awesome. How did you ever find it and tell me all about it! Oh yeah! I also want to mention that you are so on top of things by ordering a book on this "Amazon" weeks before all the rest of us did. How did you ever become so forward thinking? Please give me some insight!" Do people really need this much attention?
Crabby today, eh?