Experience This!

Okay, seniors, catch up!  To stay current, forget about extreme makeovers, videos, fighting, and enter a new era. We must now experience everything, from "Fivebucks" coffee, to root canals, to the Blue Light Special at KMart.

They said I was a valued customer, now they send me hate mail. 

-Sophie Kinsella, Confessions of a Shopaholic

Have you been asked by anyone, lately, "How was your shopping experience?" For Internet shoppers, this is often followed, or prefaced by, "Take our Survey." In fact, forget about you, forget what foolish urge prompted you to access the site, Survey Monkey is already there, blocking the sun. Most of us understand nobody really wants to know how we felt about our shopping experience. 

Just to update you on the Internet experience, if you take the time to tell Amazon.com your experience was perfectly lousy, someone may push the Sorry Button. Never mind sending a reply; it is an automatic "no reply" e-mail. I actually received one of these from the Citizen's Advocate in the Colorado Governor's office. I'd written a two- or three-page rant about my experience with a Colorado State Agency. I also called the "hotline," but the reception was pretty cold ... I received no response on either hotline, after multiple tries.

So, here's my Today's Survey Question, would you rather get a flat, "No, and we don't give a rat's ass," or, "We're sorry you had that experience. We suggest you call the following number. By the way, don't reply."

I'll sign off, for today, hoping you're up for all the experiences to come! One more thought, though; it isn't nice to stick a finger in the air and say, "Experience this!"