Electricity, battery power, borrowed power, perceived power, virtual power, powerful, powerless.....sometimes hidden beneathe the day's garbage a theme emerges, and clearly, the TOTD is POWER.
It all started on Black Friday with a trip to Staples to see if I could get ANY of the half dozen really, really fantastic bargains advertised. Now the reasonable side of my brain said, why bother? You know the deal...they let you in the store...there's nothing left on the shelf, so you buy something you don't really want, for way more money. The POWER of advertising. There was only one thng I really, really wanted..a Microsoft wireless optical keyboard AND mouse for 24.99!!!! So I thought, "Hmmm, I'll go home and get online and see if I can get it for the same price." Me and about a million other people! So, traffic jam....really bad....an hour later and many hits of the back button, refresh, start over, I finally am able to click te PLACE ORDER button....waiting, waiting, waiting......ERROR PROCESSING YOUR ORDER. YOUR ORDER CAN NOT BE COMPLETED AT THIS TIME. So try again.....waiting, waiting, waiting......WE'RE SORRY, THAT ITEM IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE!! So now, after spending an hour on my computer for what should've taken 5 minutes on any other day, I decide to send Staples an email....thinking, maybe I'll get a coupon, or something. Nope. I get an email telling me they're constantly working to improve their website so I should keep visiting it!!
So I hate to lose, but I let it go. Welcome to Cyber Monday. I check my email and lo and behold, an Order Confirmation from Staples.com!! YES!! The keyboard is on its way! So no need to do and Cyber Monday shopping. Life is good.
Tuesday. More POWER struggles. Do you have any batteries? Is there an extra power cord? Do you know where the power cord is? Who decides who gets to go to this conference? Who are these people accountable to? Who decides? Who's in charge?
I let the Vista laptop battery die following a presentation, and can't get out of POWER safe mode. I am surrounded by people who have the power to make decisions that will change peoples' lives. Everyone thinks they have the ultimate power. It's all a game of Chess....trying to figure out who will make the next move,and how you can prevent Checkmate. Yup, sometimes I feel like a pawn...and let other people think I am the pawn, but really I am the Queen.
So the game continues....for another day. And when I check my email? Staples .com Order Status.....We're sorry, but the item you ordered is no longer available and we could not find a suitable replacement. We have not charged your account. Who has the POWER now?
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