A Poor Investment...

Big companies spend millions on research to find people who are likely to buy their products and services. Sometimes they'll spend tons of money to lure these people, treating them like an investment. Over the long run, they figure the money spent now will pay off in the future.

Somehow, I was pegged as ripe for the picking by the fine folks at Nordstrom. I'll be honest, the closest I've ever been to a Nordstrom is the GameStop two doors down. But there was something about the invite that really caught my eye.

...Complimentary meal in our bistro.

So I figure I'll have a free sandwich, look around, and be on my way. I decided I would dress up a bit for the occasion. By 'dress up' I mean jeans instead of shorts, and a long sleeve shirt. And no hat.

My first clue that I may have miscalculated was seeing the valet station. Seeing the actual 'bistro' was the second. It was about 4 times nicer than any place I've eaten for the past few years. I'm no hick, I'm just not that fancy. Also, I was a bit younger than the rest of the folks who were there.

I will say that everyone there was incredibly nice. I guess they must have thought I was some nouveau riche.

Some quick observations:

1. There is really no subtle way to ask the question, "Is this meal free?"
2. Upon receiving the answer to said question, it takes a bit of finesse to order a steak.[medium well, please]

After the meal[I felt ordering dessert would be taking advantage], we were invited to browse the store. I don't want to bore you kind folks any more with my ramblings, so I'll skip to the punchline...

I was unable to tell the difference between the 50 dollar T-Shirt and the 20 dollar T-shirt. I guess it's back to Old Navy for me, where if you're smart you can buy clothes by the pound.

Bottom line, I got to live way outside my means for a night. Special thanks to the marketing firm that picked my name out, and I hope someone else takes up the slack shopping wise, since the odds are pretty steep I'll be back without some sort of bribe.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone for visiting Churn, and adding the feed to your various readers and aggregators. You can also sign up for Feedblitz and get the latest Churnings via email. It's located right at the bottom of the ad column, which has surpassed all my expectations by netting me a cool one dollar and fifty-seven cents.

Courage,

Mike G.