There are only about 6 things in the world about which I have firmly dug in my heels and refuse to budge. One of those issues is that I can not / will not participate in any Black Friday shenanigans. I do not like lines, I do not like crowds and I value sleep more than making sure I save $100 on a new TV, so you can probably see why getting up at 3 AM, then waiting in line for the right to fight a crowd holds little appeal in my life. Also, that policy doesn't just apply to the morning after Thanksgiving - I do not wait in line for many things. Some lines are unavoidable in life and I stand in them when I must, but I will not volunteer to be in one unless there is no other alternative. Therefore, I will never be one of the people who camps out to see a movie or buy an iPad, nor will I be rioting because it is the first day the new Air Jordans are on sale (like they would even have a size 14 in stock anyway).
However, I am willing to acknowledge there are people out there who do not share my reservations. They think nothing of using a week's worth of vacation time to sleep on a sidewalk for the right to spend $900 on a piece of technology which will be obsolete by Christmas. At least with those people I can understand the fascination - it's new and shiny, so being able to say you got the first one on your block goes back to one of mankind's core desires: being able to look at your neighbor and know they are jealous of your stuff. But now people are starting to flip out and create an artificial fuss over much less important things and I think it is time we start to rein in this trend. This week I saw websites devoted to a product of limited release it and just confirmed to me that, as a society, we may have finally bottomed out. I'm talking about the people obsessed with McDonald's Shamrock Shakes.
At first I could kind of see the fascination. I mean, the quickest way to drive up demand is to tell people that something won't be around for long and the Shamrock Shakes are only around for a couple weeks leading up to St. Patrick's Day. McDonald's then took it another step by not having the shakes available at every location, knowing that most simple of marketing tools - scarcity is the mother of desire. (This is old hat for McDonald's who also pulls the, "You'd better buy it now because it won't be around for long and then we may never bring it back" card with another foodstuff I don't get the fascination with in the McRib.) Not to mention, as a man who wears a scary amount of green clothes, I can totally understand why people want more green in their lives. Honestly, who doesn't want to drink something green, just to see what it tastes like? (Spoiler alert: usually it is lime.) So, yes, I have had a Shamrock Shake in my life. Let's just say I found the entire experience under-whelming.
First off, when I had my shake it was a couple of years ago it - well before they started to make it abundantly clear that the shake was mint-flavored. Therefore without having had one I assumed it was nothing more than a normal vanilla shake with some food coloring thrown in for color. I happen to enjoy vanilla shakes. Things which are milt flavored? Not as much. I'm sure you are all familiar with the concept of trying some food or drink and coming into contact with a flavor for which you were not prepared. Now imagine that flavor was mint, that after discovering this flavor you weren't prepared for and did not want you still have an entire large cup of it to drink and you can begin to understand my level of disappointment. Let's just say I was not among those people updating the Shamrock Shake Tracker website, which tells people where the shakes are available.
Some people may think that I don't get the fascination with these Shamrock Shakes because I don't like them. No, I don't get the fascination with them because they are mint-flavored milkshakes. You could make one in your kitchen almost any day of the year if you wanted to. But suddenly McDonald's tell you they will only be around for a limited time and that is worthy of an internet countdown clock to when they will next be released? (At least this fact makes the iPad obsession a little more tolerable, because it's not like you can make one of those in your basement.) It just concerns me because if we freak out when things like Shamrock Shakes are only available on a limited basis, what is going to happen if we start running out of things we actually need? Hopefully, if in the future people start rioting because we've run out of medicine McDonald's will step up and make the McRib available earlier than normal. Not only will it distract us, but after eating one of those things I don't think people can stay awake, let alone riot.
No comments:
Post a Comment