Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Silver Platter


When we were younger, we dreamt of the Prince. Not only did we want true love, we wanted a magnificent Mansion, a full wardrobe, multiple staff, a balcony of singing bluebirds and who am I kidding, not so worried about the true love part. In fact- skip the love, and upgrade my bedroom suite.

Now that we're older, we realise the hard way that nothing comes without a price tag. This isn't the fairy tale; Prince Charming takes your hand to sweep you onto the white horse, and says "$75 not including GST sweetheart. Once around the park then?".

Some of us have a game plan; enter from the Dungeon as dragon feeders, and one day have enough experience on your Ye Olde Resume to apply for Kingsman/Future Princess.
Others want a free ride. Lets call these people "Sponges"; the "hangers-on" of society.

For example, working minimum wage and selling tickets at an Expo. At your booth is a laptop, your hopeful face, a bunch of info brochures, a lolly bowl and a couple of eco notepads.
Sooner or later, you come to realise that nobody cares about your tickets. You are being mobbed by a crowd of vacant-eyed freeloaders, asking you pretend questions while they oggle your minties and take off with your notepads and your dignity in their free commonwealth bank tote bags. Reaching for free goodies at an expo is more obvious than King Kong plucking Ann Darrow from a large New York crowd, but it's free, so they don't care.

Even as an exhibitor, I walked in with the sole intention of being a boot licker and setting a goal for how many free things I could receive. I got:
- A whole bunch of "useless" business cards, 5% off brochures (some of which were my own) and info flyers
- A commonwealth tote bag (guilty as charged)
- A couple of damn notepads
- A left over mintie that the mob missed
Severely dissapointed... Better Luck Next Time!!!!

When it comes to making something of yourself in the large scheme of things, there truly is no such thing as a free lunch. And althought at one point or another, I find myself glazing over with that same vacant-eyed-freeloader look, I still can't stand when other people want something for nothing.

Speaking of, I have an expo on Friday and I need to check out the website for potential freebies! Here is a leaving thought: Is working hard really that bad?           Do freebies bring out the worst in us?



hunting a garage sale near you,


<3 Miss Coordinate