Just say No

After nearly losing my mind to a terrible head cold this week, I decided I need another scarf. So went wool shopping in Spotlight, I have no idea how to knit just cross-stitch so this was a Gran-type project.

After finding the wool and a free pattern, waiting at the counter and then being redirected to another counter, I was ready to go home.
Its easy to become dazed and confused in Spotlight, the lights are bright and there is so much craft on offer, you could easily overdose.

Of course the salesman was having a great chat with the customer in front. As previously mentioned, I'm not that fussed with small talk in a retail environment, its completely pointless. I'm not here to have a warm and fuzzy experience, its a means of completing a transaction.
So he finally serves me and begins with the questions...have you got a VIP card?

I feel like giving him his beans that I don't want a trashy reward card, but just say no.
He follows up quickly with do you want one? No. No to every one of his pointless questions and his explaination of all the benefits.
Who cares, I just want to buy this wool and I don't care if its on sale through the VIP card.
He then asked if I wanted $1,000 dollars. I'm definitely not in a joking mood by now so say no to that too. He said he had been waiting all day for someone to say no, he certainly wasn't respecting me for it!

He finally asks if I want a bag, so I say yes- there are 8 balls of wool! He is clearly shocked and then pulls out the smallest bag in history to stuff them into.
He says I sound like a mother, should I be offended or flattered?

We all have the power to say no, why not exercise that right now and then?

Rewards for sacrifice

The other day I was looking at a dreary office building and its windows. I imagined a 9-5 worker behind it, watching the clock aka living for the weekend.

There is always the reminder of what is outside the office- family, friends, holidays in photos pinned to the wall.
At work, our time and soul are the sacrificial lambs of life. They have to be traded to get money. With all this sacrifice, we need lots of rewards to keep us happy.

Why not indulge ourselves, just to ease the drudgery of modern living and Monday mornings?

So out came the rewards loyalty card. We all want that 'free' coffee or 20% off our next purchase but we have to pay with our money, persistence and consistency.
You'll forget about them. Then when you eventually find them at the bottom of your wallet, you'll discover they all have used by dates in their fine print.

Later, I was at the trendy site of revelation, the petrol pump. There was a sign about being a FlyBuys Millionaire.
Even if you buy into reward schemes, you have to be the most persistent person on the planet, never forgetting your membership card, coffee cards or vouchers.

But when will you reach enough points to be rewarded 'well'?

With my points I could get a vegetable dehydrator from Noel Leeming but not the promised trip to London. That's about $10,000 of extra buying to get close. These schemes are all pipe dreams, promising big 'rewards' just by spending money.

If I need a reward, I'll try a walk around the lake.
Some worthless points aren't going to cut it.