It's All About Perspective

Tonight we had a great lesson on perspective.

My husband had been thinking lately that maybe we should buy an elliptical machine. At first I about passed out in shock, because he does not usually make purchases like this. Or more accurately, HE is not usually the one who has the idea to make a purchase such as this one.

But...for a couple years now we have been working out at the weight room attached to the local high school. The weight room where loads and loads of stinky, sweaty, dirty football and basketball players work out. The weight room that smells freakishly similar to a boys' locker room. The weight room that has the same weights that I lifted in junior high 20 years ago. The weight room with the dinosaur-age elliptical machine. The weight room that's FREE.

However, much to our surprise, we arrived at there several weeks ago to see a sign posted on the door. "No public access to the weight room until security cameras are installed due to destruction of equipment." This, and the issues listed above, led us to the decision to use part of our economic stimulus check in the way it was intended.

And that, my friends, is a long rambling story to bring you up to speed to tonight. We arrived at the sporting goods store and found an elliptical machine we liked. It was a great deal - a $1,000 machine marked half off. We, of course, being the resourceful shoppers that we are decided to shop around a bit first. However, at each stop, we decided we liked the one at the first store best, and what a great deal we were going to get!

Three hours later we arrived back at the first store excited about our upcoming purchase. We had done our homework, shopped around, and made the best choice. But when we came to the line of machines we noticed something odd - all the sale signs had changed.

Three hours previously, our machine said "original price $999.98 - 50% off - now $499.98".

Now the sign read "original price $599.98 - $100 off - now $499.98."

HUH??? In three hours the original price dropped $400? That's serious depreciation.

It made me mad. I wanted to leave and take my business elsewhere. And then it hit me. This is the one we liked. This is the SAME MACHINE. It is still the SAME PRICE. Why then was this purchase now so depressing? I'm a grown adult. I should know by now how these sales gimmicks work. But, honestly, I'll never be able to look at that machine with quite as much excitement as I would have thinking we got it for half off.

It's all about perspective. But I wish we would have bought it the first time we walked in the store.

Ignorance IS bliss.