How Does That Make You Feel?

Hello again,

It’s been a few weeks since I last blogged and I realise that I have a pattern now of writing and then living and working. So instead of trying to get out a weekly blog I’m going to accept that maybe it’s a monthly blog and if I release anything more frequent, then I’m okay with that. There’s certainly been a lot happening and it’s not all been great news is it! The situation in the East, the natural disaster unfolding in the West - it makes me feel like just shaking my head and being saddened.

There was another event, just last weekend that made me feel as bad as I felt in sometime, and that was the debacle which was the Lidl wine promotion, I mean seriously! I was asked if I would pop round to my local Lidl and buy a case of prosecco, which was on offer. Of course I agreed, and even though I knew what was happening I still got caught up in the moment. 

Having arrived at the shop at 08.04AM and being caught up in the melee I arrived to find the last case been placed into a trolley with four other cases of one shopper. Now, the store assistant at the shop had got it wrong and was telling everybody it was one case per transaction serve course people are picking up multiple cases and happy to pay separately. Actually, it was one case per person. Later on in the shop I did hear a talking into her headset telling whoever was on the other end of the conversation that there was one case left in the warehouse. Of course I could be upset, and at the time I really felt the adrenaline having been caught up in the event, at missing out on something that I should have been able to take advantage of - after all I had made sure that I travelled there and got up early? It definitely left me feeling flat, no pun intended.

But so what? By the time got back to the car and driven less than a mile I was already feeling better and much more my positive self. After all this was all about a £12 saving, and my positivity is not worth any amount.  Later that day, having recalled the story of course to anyone who’d listen the common feeling was that I had brought about that feeling myself, and certainly I do take responsibility for my own feelings. But I feel it was manufactured by this chain in order to create a hype which they knew they wouldn’t been able to fulfil. There was indeed a limit placed upon the number of cases per store, which was reported by the BBC to be as few as 20 and as Lidl explained “to ensure as many customers as possible could benefit from the offer” which of course isn’t strictly true, you could have sold all in one store, this was, in my opinion a lie. I never take part in black Friday, the main days of sales because of the feeling it brings and actually I do wish that I’d recognised what was going to happen, silly me for thinking that here was a supermarket who would actually supply enough for the majority…

“We have, however, experienced unprecedented demand and sincerely apologise to anyone that hasn’t been able to take advantage of the offer on this occasion”

So what next? Well, all supermarkets are the same - it’s all about money. I needed to find a way to rebalance myself. So, I have a great little story. I was visiting family in London later that day and as we walked the helium-filled unicorn balloon drifted up into the sky with a small girl quite upset at having let it go. As they walked in one direction, I ran to the seller quickly gave the £5 (which by the way if you reading this, it is extortion) and ran off to find the young girl. Having quickly caught up, I passed the balloon to the girl who immediately beamed, I wished them a nice day and walked off.  To me, the world was again rebalanced.

Don’t let the negative energy get hold of you.  The world is already full of enough negativity and one small decent act after another can change how we feel and maybe make a better world. Do I believe this? Yes I really do. Thinking back to my earlier comments, maybe instead of all the rhetoric and these negative actions, perhaps it’s one simple act of kindness which can change events? I hope so.

Image credit to Alper Cugun Flickr.com