Up-selling at the Carwash

Up-selling, as I’m sure you know, is a little game that is played by sales people to persuade you to either buy a little bit extra, or to buy something a little more expensive.  If you’ve ever worked retail or worked in the food industry, your employer has probably persuaded you that up-selling is a good idea to increase your sales.  And, it is.

Personally, I hate it when someone tries to up-sell me.  Especially when it’s just so freaking obvious that they are trying to get me to buy more or buy something more expensive.  Actually, it kind of comes from some deep, dark place inside of  me, I feel this gurgling, rumbling indignation begin to rise from some place I didn’t know existed and I just want to scream, “I just want what I came in here for!  Leave me alone!”

Last weekend, on a very pretty Saturday afternoon, my daughter and I went to the “professional” car wash.  You know, the kind where they do all the work for you while you go inside and wait and watch them do all of the work.  My daughter likes to watch the car actually going through the wash, how it gets all soapy and goes through the “woogie-woogies,” those big long pieces of fabric or rubber that hang down and move back and forth over the car.  It’s a little treat we enjoy – she digs the watching, I dig a really clean car.

As we drive up, there’s a fairly long line.  Actually there are three lines of three cars.  We are waved in to one of the lines.  Within moments, one gentleman walks up to the window and welcomes us and let’s us know that a young man named James will be with us in just a moment.  He says something nice about the weather, and then thanks us for coming in today.  He then moves on to the car behind us that has just arrived.

I can see James.  James is a tall, gangly young man who is wearing a baseball hat ever so slightly turned to the side: he is two cars away from us.  He doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, but he also doesn’t look like he’s loafing.

When he arrives at our car, I wait for him to provide me the “menu” of options from which I can choose.  This particular car wash has about 10 different ways that they offer to clean your car.  I think the first option is that they just spit on it and use an old dirty rag to knock off the dirt, and they will do that for $2.99.  And then there is the “Diamond Deluxe with Express Wax” wash, the top of the line wash.  For $29.99 they’ll wash and clean the inside and outside of my car, they’ll wax and vacuum, spritz and spray, dust and dry, shine and polish everything, so that by the time I leave, I’ll feel like a new man, somehow.  Then there is a host of options somewhere in between those two, prices going up as they offer more services.

When I arrived, I knew how much I wanted to pay.  I couldn’t remember the name of the wash I wanted, but I knew how much I wanted to spend.  Let me reiterate, when I arrived, I knew how much I wanted to spend to clean my car.  Then James started talking to me.

He welcomed me to the car wash and then asked me if I would like to participate in their special.  He launched into what their special was, but I am not an amateur at these up-selling efforts and I deflected his attempt with a quick, but cursory reply letting him know that I was not interested in the special.  He did not seem taken aback at all and politely moved on, offering me the “menu.”  I opted for the “Ruby” wash.  He asked me if I knew what the “express wax” option was?  I say no.  He proceeded to describe it to me.  At the time, it sounded pretty cool.  I remember thinking to myself, ‘that sounds pretty cool,’ even though I can’t remember now what it meant.  But I recognized that he has just trying to up-sell and I quickly came back to my senses and replied that I don’t think I’ll need the “express wax” today.  He nodded, totally unaffected.

And then with machine like precision, he started running through the list of add-on options that they had for me today.  Would I like my tires cleaned, my trunk vacuumed, my exterior vinyl cleaned (that I don’t have), my plastic floor mats (that I don’t have)?  Would I like the single foam, double foam, triple foam?  How about the clear coat or the spray wax, white walls or rims?  Would I like the ‘Express Service number one’, or the ‘Express Service number two?’

As he started rattling off options, my brain felt like it was starting to scramble just a bit.  Then, when he was finished with his list and I had successfully rebuffed the options I was not interested in; he started with a series of options he could provide at discounts.  And that’s how he got me.  I resisted until he threw in the tire and rim cleaning with the next higher priced car wash on the menu.

For a moment, I felt pretty good that I had struck this deal with James, the car wash guy. Then, after a few moments passed, I thought about it some more and realized that I had completely blown the budget I had set for myself.  Upon arrival, I was set on how much I would spend.  By the time James was done with me, I had spent $5 more on the wash than I had planned – and somehow felt like I had made a great deal in the process.

Most of the time that James was talking to me, I knew what he was trying to do.  Yet, in his incessant efforts, I got sucked into the process, he found a weak spot in me, exposed the weak spot and I finally caved. Perhaps this is what causes me to want to scream, “Leave me alone!” when someone starts up-selling to me, because I spent the next few hours replaying the event and justifying to myself how the tire and rim cleaning really was a good use of the extra $5 I had spent.

 

 

Upselling – Part 3 – My Turn

(Continued from previous post)

My turn.  I place my t-shirts on the counter.  Having heard the dialogue before, I now know what is in store for me.  I begin to think about my answers…”how can I be polite? How do I not show my frustration with this process?  I know that she is required to do this…be nice…”

The salesperson asks, “Did you find everything alright?”  I respond, “Yes.”  My response is abrupt.  I dare not look her in the eyes.  I act disinterested, nonchalant even, hoping she’ll see that I don’t want to engage in conversation and thereby, just maybe, I can dissuade her from engaging me in the round of questions I know are sure to follow.

She starts to scan my items and I notice on the scanner that the t-shirts are coming up at $10 each.

Wait a minute…on the tag it says $16.50.  On the register it says  $10.  What…just…happened?  In my head, I begin to wonder if I should say anything?  Is it a mistake?  Is it wrong to not say anything? I can’t not say something, so I blurt out, “I thought those were $16.50?”  She responds as a matter-of-fact, “Oh, these are on sale, they’re $10 each. There should be a sign next to the shirts. Was it not there?”  “I don’t think so…” I reply, but I don’t remember at all if there was a sign next to the shirts.  I was so distracted by my own thoughts and anxieties that it’s possible an elephant could have walked through the store and I wouldn’t have noticed.  Figuring out all of the colors, doing all of the math, figuring out how many books I could have bought with the same money…what sign? I struggle for a minute, reflecting, was there a sign that I didn’t even notice?  I feel a little bit embarrassed, but then, it dawns on me – Hey! The t-shirts are $10 each!

With this information I begin running some numbers in my head.  A moment ago, I was prepared to pay approximately $115, but now, I’m looking at paying $70.  I have a dilemma.  I ask if we can stop the transaction because I’m mentally calculating, trying to figure out if I should get more shirts or just enjoy the “savings.”  I am having a hard time deciding what I should do.  I feel a cramp in my brain.  I’m no good at this stuff!  I feel so torn about what to do that I stare blankly at the green dots on the register that has my running total at $70. “Do you mind if I run back over and take a look at some more shirts?” I ask.  She replies, “Not a problem.” She smiles politely, knowingly, devilishly and I think for a moment as I move away I hear her laugh – the “we gotcha” sort of laugh.

When I first came into the stores, I picked out the shirts I wanted and then I made a direct line to the counter, head down.  I was a man on a mission.  Now, walking back to the shirt rack, I cautiously lift my head to look around and notice the signs that say “Select Items On Sale.”  Upon seeing the signs, I believe I can actually notice the dopamine showering my brain with yummy feelings, my tummy getting butterflies and on overall sense of excitement.  By the time I get back to the shirt rack, my head is spinning and I have reached a state of giddy-ness.  I notice that there was indeed a sign saying that the t-shirts were on sale for $10 each. How on earth is it possible that I missed the sign – it’s right in the middle of the rack? It’s huge!  I had to pass by it at least 6 times as I looked at the shirts and I never saw the damn sign!  But…there it is, and I say to myself, “Alright daddy-o, I can get some more!”

I convince myself, I came to the store knowing that I was going to spend around $100 so I might as well find 3 more shirts, you know? It’s almost like I’m playing with the house’s money so anything goes, right?  I spend more time reviewing my options, feeling the texture of the shirts, pulling them off the rack and holding them up to my body.  Really deliberating, considering my next move.  I decide on some shirts in colors that I wouldn’t ordinarily purchase, because somehow, this all feels like it’s extra or free or, I don’t know… it just doesn’t feel the same at all.

Heading back to the counter, I begin to tell myself what a good shopper I am! Feeling like a hunter with a prize kill, I swell up with pride.  I lift my head with confidence to view the newly conquered landscape and notice that the “Sale” signs are all over.  I make a mental note to myself that I, Shawn the Super Shopper,  might just have to come back and look at some of these amazing deals!

 

Upselling – Part 1 – Before the Counter

Most of the time, when it comes to shopping for clothes, I would much rather buy books – and at many times in my life, I have gone into the mall with the purpose of buying clothes and come out having purchased books. Or, if there is not a bookstore available, I will talk myself out of buying clothes so that I can go buy books some other place.  There appears to be some wiring defect in my head that, when I begin looking at the price of clothing I begin to think about how good an investment books are. In order for me to buy clothes, I almost have to know exactly what I am going to buy, walk in, grab it, go to the counter, pay and leave.  If I don’t do it this way, the voices in my head can become very active.

Well, recently, I finally decided, after a long debate in my head, that it was time to go buy some clothes.  Specifically, I was in the market for some t-shirts.  The majority of mine had served their purpose and had become fairly well worn out.

Not that you could tell by looking at me, but I am pretty picky about my clothing.  I don’t like wearing logos.  Most of the time, when it comes to shirts, I’m actually not a big fan of pockets.  And, yeah, I’m picky about t-shirts, too – high maintenance, right?  And being that I’m picky, once I find a piece of clothing that I like, I am quite apt to stick with that item for a long time – and then when I am forced to shop again, I frequently return to the specific product I have used before.  It’s suppose it’s a little bit like brand loyalty, but maybe not exactly.  Or maybe so…

Now, I knew going into this shopping expedition that I could get exactly what I was looking for online. But instead of taking the tried and true path, I decided to listen to the people in my inner circle about where I should go for my purchase, perhaps to expand my horizons a bit.  So, I go to a specific store because I have been given a good recommendation about the specific t-shirt in which I am interested. Now, based on past experience, I know when I walk into that store, a whole series of weird behaviors are apt to begin.

I walk in. I do a good job of finding the specific product I am interested in buying and go straight to it.  As I am walking, it is almost as if I can feel the dopamine rush, I breathe in deeply, my eyes widen and I begin thinking, “Ah, Jeez! there are SO MANY OPTIONS, $16.50 for a t-shirt, that’s at least one book, maybe two, this is going to be exhausting, ooh, that fabric feels nice – wow, I wonder if I can pull off the yellow or purple shirts — I’m pretty sure those will look awful on me – no, I just need black, gray and blue — but I need to broaden my tastes — I swear they’re pumping in oxygen — the colors are so vivid — the air is crisp — it is really bright in here –I really do need a v-neck and a crew neck –-I know this song they’re playing — is my heart beating faster?”

Now, when I came into the store I was fairly certain of what I wanted to accomplish and had a set amount of money that I was willing to spend on said product.  But I notice that as I am perusing the products, my limit has somehow moved to another location in my mind – and I begin bargaining with myself.  “I’ll grab a bunch of different colors and I can bring some back” and then, “I never go shopping, I haven’t had new clothes in two years, just buy what you want.” And then,  “I know I could get this cheaper, but I want quality for a change. I’m tired of cheap-ing out.” And of course, “I earned this!” or “I deserve this!” – both of those messages growing louder and louder as the primary messages rattlin’ around in my noggin.

I make my way to the counter with 7 different t-shirts in my hand…(to be continued)

Creating Perceptions Through Marketing – Part 4 – Turning Wants Into Needs

Successful marketers know that one of the most effective ways to get customers to spend money, time and energy consuming their products and services is to convince the customers that they need a particular product or service.  Most often they accomplish that by either creating a need where one did not exist before, or by turning a want into a need.  For example in 2011, Dove introduced a new deodorant purported to give women “softer, smoother underarms in just five days.” Hinging on the idea that women’s armpits are unattractive, the sales campaign for the product included ads portraying women joyfully cutting the sleeves off their shirts, as if they’d just been liberated from a shameful deformity and survey results asserting that armpit dysmorphia is a pervasive problem plaguing the majority of women worldwide.  By pinpointing a problem that most consumers didn’t even know they had, exacerbating anxiety about the problem, and then selling the cure, Dove’s powerful marketing formula successfully creates a need where one did not exist before.

The computer and mobile phone industries have been successfully turning wants into needs for decades.  People are really adamant about needing their computers and cell phones.  Remember when internet access used to cost like a hundred dollars a second, when you actually figured out what “Wi-Fi” meant, or when only grown-ups carried a cell phone?  I thought needs were about survival.  “Yeah,” people tell me, “I know.  I need them to survive.”  And they’re not kidding either.  Just try telling someone you’re taking his or her cell phone or computer away for the day and you’ll get one of two responses.  One is, “Oh Hell no, you’re not!”  The other is this unbelievably sad, scared look, that I think is best described as panic, sometimes followed by whimpering and, on occasion, cowering in a corner in the fetal position.  Ok, so we need them.  Why?  Because we’ve been told over and over that we do, we believe that we do, and so we do.

The pervasive message that marketers spend as much as $200 to $400 billion a year on, and bombard consumers over 3,000 times a day with, is, our lives, as they exist right now, are not enough.  We are not successful enough, pretty or attractive enough, or rich enough.  We don’t drive the right car, support the right cause, live in the right neighborhood, or eat the right foods.   We don’t smell right, don’t dress well, and we don’t belong to the right groups.  Our teeth aren’t clean enough, our clothes aren’t clean enough, and our houses aren’t clean enough.  We’re not efficient enough, productive enough, or well enough connected.  We need to work harder, exercise harder, and play harder.  We need to be better friends, better spouses, better parents, and better providers.  We need $1.5 million to retire, we need to take our families on vacations, and we need to pay for our kids’ 155 different activities. We need more money, more money, and more money.  And if we just had a little bit more money, more success, more status, more shoes, whiter teeth, if we just had the right product or service, our life would be nothing but sunshine and happiness, just like all of the excited, smiling people on the billboards and in the television commercials.

Our parents heard it before us, and their parents before them.  Our families are surrounded by it. It’s all around us, all the time. It is a never ending, around the clock message.  We are lacking, we’re not good enough, not yet.  Out with our friends and colleagues, at work, even at our schools and places of worship – we are bombarded by it.  And based on the figures, we’ve marketed the heck out of it, we’ve bought it, and we’ve even gone into debt for it.

 

Creating Perceptions Through Marketing – Part 3 – Data Mining

Now let’s take a moment to consider all of the ways in which marketers and advertisers are able to access information about the individual consumer’s spending habits and personal shopping needs.  Google is a marketer/advertiser gold mine.  Spend a few minutes surfing your favorite Internet sites and they know a lot more about you than you probably would like for them to know.

Target, who has been credited with being able to find out if a customer is pregnant, even if she doesn’t want them to know, has been collecting vast amounts of data on every person who walks into its stores for decades.  Each Target shopper is assigned a unique Guest ID number that not only keeps tabs on everything you buy but is also linked to demographic information such as your age, marital status, number of kids you have, which part of town you live in, your estimated household income, how long it takes you to drive to the store, whether you’ve recently moved, what websites you visit, and what credit cards you carry in your wallet.

Acxiom, the leader in the multi-billion dollar database marketing industry, was featured in a June 2012 New York Times article by Natasha Singer and was said to have databases containing “information on about 500 million active consumers worldwide, with about 1,500 data points per person…and knows things like your age, race, sex, weight, height, marital status, education level, politics, buying habits, household health worries, vacation dreams – and on and on.”

Wait a minute – did they say “multi-billion dollar database marketing industry?” When I first read it, I just kind of read on by, and then about a paragraph later, did a double take.  Database marketing Industry – in the words of my three-year old daughter – “What does that even mean?”  It means, folks, that there is a whole industry dedicated to gathering as much information about you and your behaviors as possible and selling it to others who then use it as a tool to try to manipulate what, where, and how you consume goods and services.  Now I promise I’m not going to go all 1984 on you.  I’m not a conspiracy theorist.  All I am saying is, if you ask me, that is kind of creepy.

So, what is the purpose of all of this marketing anyway?  In layman’s terms, marketing is an effort to get consumers to behave, i.e. spend their money, their time, and/or their energy, in ways the marketer would like for them to behave.  Retailers want you to spend your money, time and energy consuming their products and services.  The Humane Society wants you to spend your money, time and energy supporting their philanthropic efforts.  Politicians want you to spend your time and energy voting for them.  Anti-drug campaigns want you spend your time and energy not doing something – “just say no.” Even awareness campaigns and health campaigns want you to spend, or refrain from spending, your money, time and energy in a particular way.  They all want you to do something, to behave a specific way.

Successful marketers know that one of the most effective ways to get customers to spend money, time and energy consuming their products and services is to convince the customers that they need a particular product or service.  Most often they accomplish that by either creating a need where one did not exist before, or by turning a want into a need. That is to say, by changing our perceptions.

Creating Perceptions through Marketing – Part 2 – Neuromarketing

In our last post we were talking about how we are being bombarded by messages from the media and marketers.  And we noted how we keep trying to find ways to tune the marketers out, but then they find a new way in. One relatively new and innovative solution is “neuromarketing.”  Neuromarketing is a quickly emerging field, whereby advertisers market to our subconscious so that we don’t even know we’re being marketed to.  Based on the theory that human behavior is driven by 90% subconscious brain, the neuromarketing industry is focused on figuring out how best to appeal to consumers’ subconscious.

Have you ever walked into a mall when you weren’t at all hungry and found that after walking past the food court and the Cinnabon store you are suddenly holding a 2 ton cinnamon roll in your hand chock-full of enough calories to last you six weeks?  That’s because the franchise pumps their smell out into the air to attract customers’ attention.  This is a form of neuromarketing.

What about in the grocery store?  Have you ever grabbed for that container of Ice Breakers, pack of Trident, or current issue of InTouch magazine featuring the latest celebrity split, at the last minute, while waiting in line at the cash registers?  Or had to manage frequent and persistent requests from your children for the brightly colored, kids’ products strategically placed at just their eye level?   Layout and placement of “impulse” and kids’ products are other examples of neuromarketing.

Now here’s something to think on, if you go out and look at all the books and blogs about neuromarketing, you will find that they are not put out there to help the consumer understand how they are being targeted.  The information is for marketers, telling them how to utilize these techniques to help them with their marketing strategies.

 

 

Creating Perceptions Through Marketing – Part 1

Perhaps you’ve heard this one from David Foster Wallace.  I find it totally amusing.

“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

Really quickly, think about what influences you when you are trying to determine your wants and needs?  Is it your biological needs, your family, your friends, the people at work, you spiritual community?  Perhaps it is your ever-growing social network, or perhaps it’s the government?  As I have mentioned already, and as I am sure you already know, our environment and community can have an enormous impact on our ability to change our behaviors or to grow economically.

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at an aspect of our culture that impacts all of our different communities. Marketing!  Over the next couple of posts we’ll dive more deeply into this topic and how it impacts us.

Before we dive right in, I feel that I must preface this section. The point here is not to place any sort of judgment or blame about the environment in which we live or the players involved in creating it.  Nor is it intended to prescribe measures to be taken to change it.  There are plenty of people out there who are infinitely smarter and more qualified than I, who have much better strategies and ideas about how best to change the environment in which we live.  The point of this discussion is merely to describe, as objectively and neutrally as possible, the “water” in which we all “swim” so that perhaps we may all begin to “swim” with a tab bit more awareness.

You, my friend, are being bombarded.  In 1971, the average American was subjected to approximately 560 advertisements a day.  Today, that number is over 3,000.   That’s over 1 million advertisements a year. In his book, “Buy – ology” Martin Lindstrom asserts that “by the time we reach the age of sixty-six, most of us will have seen approximately two million television commercials.  Time-wise, that’s equivalent to watching eight hours of ads seven days a week for six straight years.”

According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American, including children, watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, this so-called average person will have spent 9 years staring at a box.

In addition to the good ol’ day stand-bys of television and radio, we now have computers, the Internet, smart phones, cell phones, tablets and gaming devices.  Our televisions now frequently have 6 million channels and the Internet is open 24/7.  The plethora of places accessible to and frequented by marketers, advertisers and consumers alike is incredible.  And it continues to grow – fast.

Hold on, I know what you are thinking.  “But I record/TIVO most of my shows now and I can just skip over the commercials or I can just change the channel or get up and leave the room when commercials come on.”   Yes, we all use these little tricks in an attempt to escape the seemingly relentless grasp of advertisers, but guess what?  They know that we are skipping commercials and TIVO’ing shows.  They know we turn the channel or leave the room when commercials come on.  They know all of our tricks and they have ways around them.  For every new trick we come up with, they come up with another effective solution.

More to come…

“The Noise”

 

I was chatting with a relative over the weekend, about his experience with anxiety and stress, and he mentioned that when he is reading and in private his anxiety seems to melt away and he is able to regain his composure, but the moment the book goes down, other people, community, and the outside world reenter the picture, and life around him begins to happen again, the anxiety and stress builds and he quickly loses that balance. It made me think of the gazillion obstacles that get in the way of our attempts to make changes to our behavior and I began to contemplate “the noise.”

What do I mean when I say “the noise?”   I typically think of “the noise” as the overwhelming amount of constant stimuli that bombard each of us the moment we step outside of whatever sanctuaries we have created for ourselves, where we can be alone and at least turn off everything but the voice in our heads.  The constant stimuli that over time fries our nerves and, depending on the level and persistence, exacerbates the anxiety and stress we experience and inhibits our ability to make and stick to even the most determined and willful attempts at change.  Any change really – but for our purposes here I refer specifically to changes in behaviors related to money and health.

Here’s an example of how “the noise” might interfere with our ability to successfully implement change: Let’s pretend you make a decision to change something in your life.  I’m not going to pick on the smokers this week, since last week’s blog did that a bit, so let’s imagine that the thing we want to change in our life is our eating habits – not necessarily a diet, but just eating healthier.  It’s Sunday night and you decide that, starting tomorrow morning, you are definitely going to make that change.  You know in the past, it has been terribly difficult to change your eating habits, so you write out your plan, you visualize yourself eating healthier, you imagine yourself as a healthier person and because you are healthier, you also envision a happier person.  You feel excited and determined, nervous and anxious to make the change – and you feel that this time you have all the will power in the world to back you up.

You wake up Monday morning and as you get ready for work, you hop in the shower with a good feeling inside, remembering your commitment to eat better – and then you realize that you are out of shampoo.  You get clean, and save a couple of minutes because you can’t wash your hair. No prob.  As you finish getting ready, you tune into the radio or TV and listen as they talk about another celeb in another rehab, with a dash of news about how the market is tanking again and congress can’t seem to make a decision.  Oh, and by the way, there were 3 hurricanes, 2 tornadoes, a typhoon, an earthquake and a forest fire just outside of town during the night.  You grab a piece of fruit to go along with your health shake and a piece of toast with no butter.  And just in time, because not a minute later work calls and says that there is a small emergency you should be aware of, but not to worry too much, just try to get there as soon as you can.   You put your well thought out food choices into a leftover plastic grocery bag (which makes you feel slightly guilty that you can never remember your re-usable bags when you go to the store, but you’ll change that next).  You carry your lunch and snacks out to your car so that you can drive to the train station, but your hands are a little more full and all of the food is a little heavier to carry than you anticipated, and you begin to think, “How am I going to carry all of this on the train?”  While driving, another call from the office comes in as your car hits a pothole in the road causing you spill your morning health shake all over your newly dry cleaned work clothes.  Now you begin to think, “I should have just stayed in bed.”

Stuck in traffic again, you ditch the radio (since you can’t find any music anyway) for your favorite music on your portable device. As you sit there, you can’t help but notice the biggest and brightest billboard ever created informing you that the largest medical marijuana extravaganza ever held on earth will be in two weeks at the civic center.  Ironically, that billboard is followed by another billboard of a meth user who looks close to death, followed by a humane society billboard showing an abused animal, followed by a billboard with Tim Tebow (insert local sports hero) in his underwear and a big smile.  Next up – the guy at the intersection with the sign that says, “Anything helps and God Bless” is on time this morning and the internal dialogue about whether or not you want to give to this guy begins.  “Is he really homeless?” “I bet he’ll just use the money for something unhealthy.” “God, I don’t know what I’d do if I was him.”  “They shouldn’t allow him to be there, that should be illegal!” “I wonder if he has a family, children?”

By the time you make it to the train, the spill on your clothes is beginning to dry, but a stain is definitely going to be there.  You find a spot to sit that will also accommodate all of your food.  You begin to eavesdrop a little on the other passengers.  You find out that the guy across from you had an enormously fun weekend.  He got completely hammered and can’t remember a thing except a lot of drinking and spending a lot of dough.  A woman next to you is on the phone arguing with her mother about their last argument and why she can’t make it home for the holidays.  Another woman has a daily newspaper opened up and you can read the headlines, in fact you can’t seem to stop yourself from trying to read the whole front page even if it means turning your head completely sideways to try to get the right angle.  “Bank of America cuts 30,000 jobs,” “7 people injured from rock falling incident at local concert,” “Student Loan Default rate jumps,” and something else about the local sports team and the weather.  You fly by more billboards.  You read the advertisements inside the train which you think are poorly thought out and dumb – a waste of money, who would ever buy anything that they saw on an ad in a train, anyway?

By the time you make it to work, you are already exhausted.  The extra weight of the food you have been carrying has slowed you down and caused several of your fingers to go numb as the bag they are in cut off the circulation.  At work, the noise level changes. Your boss immediately gives you an assignment that is high priority and interferes with the emergency you were already assigned to work on before you even arrived.  In the meantime, your computer freezes, the internet goes down and the IT guy is stuck in traffic.  You see your colleagues walk in with their Starbucks cups and notice that one of them has a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which is your favorite and it is only offered during the fall, so Starbucks must have just started selling them again, the bastards.  And this means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner and you haven’t done any shopping so you start to think in a panic “when am I going to have time to do that,” which is immediately followed by “Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, cookies and cakes, holiday parties, beer and cocktails, New Year’s Eve, Football parties, the playoffs, the Superbowl!  Whose bad idea was it to try to change eating habits going in to the fall.  What am I, an idiot?  God, between now and February, life is one big eating frenzy with unhealthy food and I WANT TO PARTICIPATE!!!”

By lunch time, you have completely justified and given in to the idea of waiting until March to begin eating healthier, reasoning that it’ll give you plenty of time to develop good habits before next holiday season!

So, you see, “the noise” that I am referring to is constant and persistent in our everyday lives and it seems to have the ability to derail our best intentions.  Worse yet, everything I’ve been learning lately seems to indicate that “the noise” is only going to get louder.  Within the next few years, perhaps even months, it will be coming at us from so many different directions, angles and devices; it will be next to impossible to find respite from “the noise.”