buying life on priceline.com
Jul. 10th, 2003 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdonarkIf I could have had Priceline.com for more important decisions in my life, then what could I have purchased? Priceline.com, for those who do not use this service, allows one to ask for a low price on a non-refundable airline ticket, a non-cancellable hotel room or a non-cancellable rental car. The answers return, in magic 8 ball fashion, in less than 15 minutes. The prices I get on Priceline sometimes can be truly amazingly low, but on Priceline you only pick the general outlines of what you want, and Priceline fills in all the details. You say you want a flight to x city on y day at z price, but Priceline does not tell you the airline or the times, until you get your price. Then you are loced in. Similarly, you just say "3 star hotel in Vegas" and pick a general neighborhood, and it tells you which place you're staying in. But imagine if all my life's choices could have been bought on Priceline?
What if, instead of choosing a career, I could have bid on a solid 3-star career? For my 75 dollars, I would receive a career more than adequate to my economic needs. But who knows? My bid might net me a career as a televangelist or a firm comptroller.
What if my college girlfriend had been a matter of a Priceline.com
bid? I might have been matched with someone bright and attractive who had me watch her play Solitaire and Patience, but then dated other fellows who apparently moved beyond games. Oh, wait, that was who I dated in college. No, I'm sure Priceline would match me with someone sincere and pleasant and cute and overlooked, because Priceline relies upon finding rooms and flights not in heavy demand, but entirely amiable.
What about location? I might have specified I want a good city in which to avoid stress and enjoy a good hike or bike. But would this mean Lincoln, Nebraska, or Ottawa, Kansas? Those might be too cold for me, though I love the Midwest. I love the Midwest in part because people like Madonna say they had to leave because they felt stifled there. I love places that require an appreciation for the quiet life to enjoy.
I seem to have dialled up a pretty-good life, but with Priceline.com and high speed access, who knows what I could have achieved? I could have been a winning bidder. I could have known all my answers within 15 minutes. I could be packaged for life.
What if, instead of choosing a career, I could have bid on a solid 3-star career? For my 75 dollars, I would receive a career more than adequate to my economic needs. But who knows? My bid might net me a career as a televangelist or a firm comptroller.
What if my college girlfriend had been a matter of a Priceline.com
bid? I might have been matched with someone bright and attractive who had me watch her play Solitaire and Patience, but then dated other fellows who apparently moved beyond games. Oh, wait, that was who I dated in college. No, I'm sure Priceline would match me with someone sincere and pleasant and cute and overlooked, because Priceline relies upon finding rooms and flights not in heavy demand, but entirely amiable.
What about location? I might have specified I want a good city in which to avoid stress and enjoy a good hike or bike. But would this mean Lincoln, Nebraska, or Ottawa, Kansas? Those might be too cold for me, though I love the Midwest. I love the Midwest in part because people like Madonna say they had to leave because they felt stifled there. I love places that require an appreciation for the quiet life to enjoy.
I seem to have dialled up a pretty-good life, but with Priceline.com and high speed access, who knows what I could have achieved? I could have been a winning bidder. I could have known all my answers within 15 minutes. I could be packaged for life.
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no subject
Date: 2003-07-10 05:25 am (UTC)And, I've been wondering, just what is a comptroller? I guess it's just a fancy way to say "auditor." If I were an auditor, I'd only want to be called "comptroller" if I was feeling especially fascist. Doesn't it sound fascist?
Your life seems pretty good to me. I think maybe you did get a bargain...without gambling away your soul.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-10 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 12:49 am (UTC)i . . . am very . . . happy . . . with the results!
Date: 2003-07-10 05:56 am (UTC)Re: i . . . am very . . . happy . . . with the results!
Date: 2003-07-12 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-10 12:11 pm (UTC)In my mid-day brain melt, I somehow read "firm trampoliner" instead of "firm comptroller", and immediately imagined a guy jumping up and down on a trampoline in the middle of a big corporate office, and I thought, "Robert might really like that job. It seems like a lot of fun."
Truly, I need to read more carefully.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-10 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 12:52 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-07-12 05:20 am (UTC)