Bowling Shoes: the best investment you’ll ever make.
Think about it. Where do bowling alleys make their money? Games are often pretty cheap. Most of the time people go to the alley when a free game is available or if they got a coupon or a two for one deal. But there are always those shoes to buy. Because we can’t have those customers scratching up the floor with their “street shoes”. I would love to see the business model of these bowling alleys.
Think of every time you’ve gone bowling. Now multiply it by the $2 you have spent to rent shoes every time. Say that in your life you’ve gone 100 times. That’s $200. Now go to ebay. Look at all those shoes you can get for $5 that even offer free shipping. Now think of the future 300 times you’ll go bowling in your life. Bowling’s not leaving American culture anytime soon. By simply taking 5 minutes to figure out your shoe size and push “buy” on ebay, amazon, or craigslist, you could save about $600.
It’s so satisfying to go to the front counter, show them your own pair of fancy maroon and navy blue bowling shoes, and go bowl for about 1/3 of the costs that you usually do. Please. Please do it. For me. For all that is good about capitalistic America. Stick it to the bowling industry and maybe even go win a free game by bowling a turkey.
And on the flip side, the bowling shoe “look” is pretty in right now anyways. Save money, and be stylish while doing it.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Proof It
One day in my business class, the following joke was told. Once there were three penguins. The first penguin jumped into the water and yelled, “here goes nothing!”. The next penguin followed suit by jumping off the cliff yelling, “here goes nothing!”. Finally, the third penguin looked over the edge, and after much anticipation, yelled, “Seven!” and jumped off the cliff. Immediately, nearly my whole class erupted with laughter. I had no idea what was funny about that joke….so I did not laugh.
Turns out that the teacher was conducting an experiment. Before the class began he had told a few of the students that when he said the punchline, that they were to begin laughing regardless of if the joke was funny. So they did. The other students in the class, finding themselves in a situation where they didn’t know what to do (because the joke wasn’t really funny and they didn’t know if they should laugh or not), laughed anyways because that’s what everyone else was doing.
This little phenomenon is called “Social Proof”. Basically, when people find themselves in a situation in which they know nothing about it, they will automatically look to see what those around them are doing and then they will do it themselves. Kind of ridiculous in theory and kind of sad, really, but it’s the truth.
That’s why in the comedy shows they put on “laugh tracks” of huge crowds laughing after jokes. Because then we can laugh at the joke even when it’s not funny. Has anyone ever noticed how ridiculous it is that we are watching a TV show and there is audience laughter the whole time? It’s why sometimes people will form lines, even though they have no idea where the line is leading. Because if other people are forming a line, it must be the correct thing to do. It’s why at a basketball game if you didn’t actually see the shot go in or hear the bad call or even know what happened, you will clap or boo right along with the crowd, because you don’t know what’s going on, but you will follow the crowd because of social proof. It's used in doing class assignments, in driving, in friend interactions, in weekend plans, in most everything.
So before you do anything this week, I’d challenge you to ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it because you find yourself in an uncertain situation and are choosing to follow the social proof the crowd provides, or is it because you are deciding for yourself. It’s so refreshing to weigh the alternatives, make a decision based on your own standards and criteria, and then go for it.
And seriously, next time you watch TV, notice the audience randomly laughing in the background. It’s weird. Think about it.
Turns out that the teacher was conducting an experiment. Before the class began he had told a few of the students that when he said the punchline, that they were to begin laughing regardless of if the joke was funny. So they did. The other students in the class, finding themselves in a situation where they didn’t know what to do (because the joke wasn’t really funny and they didn’t know if they should laugh or not), laughed anyways because that’s what everyone else was doing.
This little phenomenon is called “Social Proof”. Basically, when people find themselves in a situation in which they know nothing about it, they will automatically look to see what those around them are doing and then they will do it themselves. Kind of ridiculous in theory and kind of sad, really, but it’s the truth.
That’s why in the comedy shows they put on “laugh tracks” of huge crowds laughing after jokes. Because then we can laugh at the joke even when it’s not funny. Has anyone ever noticed how ridiculous it is that we are watching a TV show and there is audience laughter the whole time? It’s why sometimes people will form lines, even though they have no idea where the line is leading. Because if other people are forming a line, it must be the correct thing to do. It’s why at a basketball game if you didn’t actually see the shot go in or hear the bad call or even know what happened, you will clap or boo right along with the crowd, because you don’t know what’s going on, but you will follow the crowd because of social proof. It's used in doing class assignments, in driving, in friend interactions, in weekend plans, in most everything.
So before you do anything this week, I’d challenge you to ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it because you find yourself in an uncertain situation and are choosing to follow the social proof the crowd provides, or is it because you are deciding for yourself. It’s so refreshing to weigh the alternatives, make a decision based on your own standards and criteria, and then go for it.
And seriously, next time you watch TV, notice the audience randomly laughing in the background. It’s weird. Think about it.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Snooze
Last week I tried a little experiment.
During the middle of a morning at home, I set my alarm. Every time it went off, I would hit the snooze button, thus allowing it to ring 5 minutes later. For the next hour, I would hit the snooze button 12 more times, measuring out each 5-minute increment of my life.
It was amazing to see how quickly time passed. It seemed as though every 30 seconds I would be turning the alarm off. I found myself being ashamed for how little I had accomplished in each 5-minute segment, and ultimately in the hour. To my surprise, little distractions on the computer, a desire to eat a poptart or chocolate chip handful, staring off into space, and staying on one activity for needlessly too long, seemed to bite away my time in huge chunks.
Time is the only thing that we can never get back. And the man who uses each of his 5-minute increments the best will most likely be the most successful, the happiest, and the most satisfied for how things have turned out 70 years down the road.
Try out this little phenomenon for yourself and you’ll realize how much time goes down the drain every single day. And then you can do something to change, and to start living life each second that you have!
During the middle of a morning at home, I set my alarm. Every time it went off, I would hit the snooze button, thus allowing it to ring 5 minutes later. For the next hour, I would hit the snooze button 12 more times, measuring out each 5-minute increment of my life.
It was amazing to see how quickly time passed. It seemed as though every 30 seconds I would be turning the alarm off. I found myself being ashamed for how little I had accomplished in each 5-minute segment, and ultimately in the hour. To my surprise, little distractions on the computer, a desire to eat a poptart or chocolate chip handful, staring off into space, and staying on one activity for needlessly too long, seemed to bite away my time in huge chunks.
Time is the only thing that we can never get back. And the man who uses each of his 5-minute increments the best will most likely be the most successful, the happiest, and the most satisfied for how things have turned out 70 years down the road.
Try out this little phenomenon for yourself and you’ll realize how much time goes down the drain every single day. And then you can do something to change, and to start living life each second that you have!
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