I chose the subject of this post very carefully. There are people out there who say, “nothing in life is free” but they’re wrong. Our planet gives us a lot of things and we use those things without paying for them. Of course, we are sort of obligated to give back to Earth but it slips our mind quite often. However, in modern society nothing is free. Everything has strings attached and this is why the system of “money” works pretty well for most cultures. Bartering is cool but it always ends in someone getting shot so we put faces on paper and standardize it to equal a value.
When I see an advertisement or hear someone preaching about “free”, I always know that nothing is ever free. Buy one get one Free (BoGo) is a prime example. My mom gets caught up in that mess and that’s why I call her “A BoGo girl” because when she sees that advertisement, the car keys are in hand and she’s out to get a free jar of mayonnaise. There are other specials where someone gives you a free pack of cigarettes or a free breakfast or 50% off on your coffee. These days, anytime there’s a deal our society clings to it and it results in long lines and a mad rush to capitalize on that special.
An example is Denny’s plan to give out a free grand slam to everyone in America between 6AM-2PM on the Tuesday after Super Bowl 43. This is pure genius. A Grand Slam is around $5 and even less to make but the buzz Denny’s got in this campaign is astounding and millions of Americans are lining up for a free meal and waiting in excess of 2 hours to get their free grand slam. I have always lived by a common principle and it’s worked out for me so far.
If minimum wage is $7 an hour and I’m waiting in line for 2 hours to get a FREE $5 meal, It’s not worth it. If I’m able to spend the same 2 hours working at a fast food restaurant or collecting cans then it’s not worth it to me. The juice has to be worth the squeeze. However, if the deal is a $50 video game that I’m genuinely interested in and will get it’s worth in playing time and the line is 3 hours, then that’s a deal I’ll take part in because i couldn’t have worked for those 3 hours and made enough money to go out and buy the game at $50.
This is my logic for free stuff and it works well for me. Sitting in TimeShare pitches for 4 hours to get 4 free tickets to Disney is well worth it because 4 hours at my current job couldn’t afford the $600 for those Disney tickets. If we all lived by this principle, I’d be able to get more freebies because all of you are out working. Haha.
You forgot about the PBR & Red Stripe in the fridge…
Often with sales and BoGos, people end up buying more than they actually need or something they didn’t need at all because it’s on sale.