February 21, 2012
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Instant Gratification
I recently purchased a new camera and some related gear, but in the interest of saving money, I purchased it online. I completely forgot that this involved waiting for the products to arrive, and as soon as I paid, the jittery waiting began. I checked (every ten minutes, it seemed) my email to see when the products shipped, and with my first shipping notification came a link to an application that calmed my nerves like a shot of morphine in the veins of a heroin addict. TrackThis. I just had to register, then enter my tracking codes and a name for each package, then the service would shoot me an email every. single. time. that package was scanned on its way to me. I literally got four emails at one point as the package arrived, then progressed through a carriers facility at a single location. I woke up several times in the night and though I'd normally have rolled over and gone back to sleep, I took the time to check the email on my phone to find that it had progressed through NJ, arrived in Easton, MD, and then just as the kids rolled out to school, left the facility on the delivery truck. A half hour later, a brown uniformed man brought a big Adorama branded box to my front door. Aaaah! relief... another hit of gratification. For some reason that did it for me, and the box sitting in the front room has satisfied my cravings as I wait for the kids to all be home at the same time sometime around 7:30 so we can all share in the experience of opening it. Meanwhile, I'm getting little boosts as my other packages proceed through the system and make their way a little closer to my door with each flashing email notification on my phone. It may just be a bit of a let down when they have all arrived.
Interesting tidbit. The UPS package left New York City yesterday midafternoon and was at my door by 9:30 am, and that was the free 7-10 day super saver shipping. Glad I didn't spend the extra sixteen bucks on the two to three day shipping. It took longer for my order to be processed at the store than it did for it to get here.
Comments (4)
Internet shopping can be very rewarding. Recently I had packages by my door three days running, gifts for Valentine's Day.
It's interesting that you were so obsessive about tracking the package but now you're letting it sit so opening it will be a family event. I hope they sent the right item!
It was sort of anticlimactic. We opened everything, put one of the batteries in its charger, loaded some software & went to bed. Now I have to go to work for a day or two (on standby Thursday), then home to actually try the stuff out.
The waiting is tedious and if we save money and are rewrded it has been a hard time for your nerves
iN FRIENDSHIP
mICJHEL
RYC : thanks for the compliment. A Frenchman is proud to be compared to Benjamin Franklin !!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Richard's_Almanack
In friendship
Michel