I realised recently (I say recently, but this blog has been sitting as a seven word note in my phone since the 21st of December) that I have accumulated a number of items that allow to keep track of my loyalty to various outlets - "Points/Rewards Cards" is what I believe the layman would refer to them as...Although I suppose that, given they are actually titled such, that makes perfect sense. Anyway, one may recall that I discussed previously about how I made my work more enjoyable by turning it into something like a video game - and I have since realised that this is exactly what these businesses are doing for me with their reward schemes. A cunning plan indeed.
When I think back upon it, this all really started (for me, at least) before I moved to Sydney. I was still a humble student, just trying to make the most of my meager fortnightly allowance, when suddenly I was approached by woman who proffered me a way to (potentially) have a substantially larger food budget - on the condition that I carried around a little card with me, and used it to accumulate "points" by purchasing things at any of their chained stores.
I ran the proposition over in my head (as I always tend to do when someone tells me to do something like this) and came to the conclusion that, since it is a free service, I haven't particularly got much to lose (I also read the Terms and Conditions, I'm not a sucker, and if there are going to be any charges in the future, I want to know about it...) So I signed myself up to receive the occasional promotional email, and soon I was presented with my very own little orange membership card. Spiffy.
I soon found that the number of these cards I owned increased steadily, until I had three in my possession. The Woolworths one (which, after some period of time, actually began to function like a Frequent Fliers card as well, so I guess that kind of makes it 3 cards, and 4 services that I have...), a Priceline card (because I buy my hair stuff from there), and an Amcal one (because, before I moved back to Bathurst, I used to buy my diet products from there.) The Priceline and Amcal cards have actually served more purpose than the Woolworths one, due to the fact that, by using the card, I receive an amount of "store credit" that can be used at a time of my choosing (and yes, I am aware that they have most likely inflated their prices to reflect this, but if I wasn't using the card then I'd still be being hit by the inflation, and wouldn't be getting anything from the arrangement...)
It wasn't until a couple of months ago, however, that I made the connection between, say, points earned from Frequent Flier things and my PSN Gamer Score. Sure, the two don't directly affect one another (yet...) but they're giving me a series of points that I can spend on a number of rewards... Rewards that will make my everyday life better/easier in ways that range from minuscule to substantial... It is, if you will accept the metaphor, almost as though they've played an RPG before and are aware of the level up process. I can imagine the conversation that they must have had: "Hey guys, we could totally appeal to people's inner nerds by giving them Talent Points to spend on personal attributes..." "Aren't personal attributes a little difficult to increase simply by buying things at our stores...People will question it..." "Yeah, you're right...I know - we'll just give them things, things we produce easily...We'll call them rewards!" "Rewards Points!!" "We'll be billionaires...again!!"
Well, perhaps not, but a guy can dream, can't he? Speaking of dreaming, I'm going to go and spend my Woolies points on a some kind of "super-metabolism" ala The Sims. Maybe I'll see if I can get that "no bills, ever" upgrade while I'm at it...
The moral of this story is that, whilst distinguishing fantasy from reality is an important part of being able to function properly in society, it is okay to take a break from normality every once-in-a-while in order to...shall we say...enhance your reality. Or, admittedly, if you're me, then you occasionally need to take breaks from being a "spacked out weirdo" in order to properly interact with the rest of the world. But, really, who do you think gets more enjoyment from life? I know that I'm pretty darn happy, and I'm sure that the more "loosely attachment" members of my audience would find the same.
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