In the well-it-finally-happened department: Brad has some very strong dislikes in a casino, including long lines, loud music, salmon, crowds, prime rib. Whenever I show him a coupon for a free offer or tell him about a free invitation that might involve one of these, he will say, “Free doesn’t hack it – they would have to PAY ME to do this.”
Well, once he got an invitation from a casino to a customer appreciation dinner that you had to choose between two entrees, salmon and prime rib. He made a face and threw the invitation over to me, “That will be one dinner we can skip.”
I read the invitation carefully and commented, “You don’t want the $100 that they are going to give each invited guest at the dinner?”
“Oh.”
Every man has his price!
An Update: This incident happened many years ago and I just found the story in some old files. One change can be reported. In an effort to help us eat healthier, several years ago I persuaded Brad to try salmon. He decided it wasn’t as bad as he thought, so he chooses this once in a while, especially if it comes with a nice dill sauce.
Brad’s decision may have been perfectly rational, even considering the $100. What promo-chasers often overlook–and I’ve been guilty of this as well–is that every action has an opportunity cost. If you go to a dinner you don’t enjoy and wouldn’t normally have attended, but you get $100, what you actually receive is $100 minus the cost of your time. This cost can be expressed in terms of what you think three hours of your time is worth, or in what money you could have been earning instead had you not gone to the dinner.
If I add up all the hours I’ve spent cashing in free play, driving across town to dip into a promo, standing there waiting to see if I’ve won a drawing, etc. etc., it probably adds up to a year or more. I might ultimately wish I had that year back someday.
Next time you are in the Pacific Northwest – especially Seattle or Vancouver, BC, order some salmon and convince Brad to have a taste. It has converted many a salmon – hater like me. One problem – once you’ve had that salmon, the fish doesn’t make it anywhere else in the country. I rarely enjoy it anywhere else.
Well, I like Brad even more now than I already did…..I don’t like Salmon either.