Shopping excursion

Yesterday Kevin and I went to BestBuy so that he could take advantage of a 10% off coupon. While we were there he made a bee-line for the flat-screen TVs, and I ran toward the video game section of the store. There, I came across a married couple discussing prices of XBox 360 controllers. The husband and wife were discussing the pluses and minuses of wired controllers and trying to figure out if a complete controller pack -- the SKU with the rechargeable battery, charger cable, and controller -- was better than the stand-alone controller. I couldn't stand this conversation: I had to interject my knowledge on this subject.

I nonchalantly walk over to the lady and tell her that she can save a ton of cash if she just orders the very same controllers from Amazon.com. She replies something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, if I could save about $8 to $10 on tax and shipping, I could wait for [the controllers] to arrive." I excused myself and walked away feeling victorious I accomplished a two-fer: Saving people money and reducing the profits of an unscrupulous big-box store.

Of course, I began thinking not too long after I had that discussion with that woman. Why would they [consumers] settle for buying merchandise in stores if ordering online saves money? From what she said to me, she was willing to wait if she could save money on tax and shipping. Why was she this close to buying the XBox 360 controller in the store? Was she trying to satisfy the itch of rampant consumerism? Was money just burning a hole in her pocket? I guess I'll never know.

Speaking of people who spent too much money: Steve L. just got himself a Nintendo Wii. I am not one to accuse people of spending money on shit they don't need: I do that all the time. However, I was especially vexed as to why a man who never played video games since the 1980s would want a Wii. He says he wanted the Wii for people to play when they come over to visit, but large groups of people rarely visit Steve at one time. Steve likes sports games, but those genres are better suited for Xbox 360 and PS3. If Steve is not a gamer, does not have regular visitors, and would have a better experience with a more advanced system, why did he get a Wii? I don't doubt he would have fun with it for now. I just think, in the future, he'll realize he really doesn't want, need, or like the Wii. I have a feeling that Wii will be mine by the end of 2010.

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