Freebies

This post is tied to media somewhat, but it may be hard for you to see that tie right away. Be patient.

So, once upon a time there was a boy named Jason. He volunteered to help man a booth for a little while that was set up to advertise the Stand for the Family Symposium and help register students to go. Whoever was in charge of the booth earlier in the day had bought doughnut holes to allure students or something. Jason was aghast at what happened during his short tenure at the booth. Students would pass by and grab doughnut holes without a second thought. It was "free" to them and therefore fair game to anyone and everyone. It seemed like the passers-by felt they needed to get some doughnut holes before others ate them all. Some students simply grabbed them in stride as they passed and a few others, stopped quickly, asked if they could have some doughnut holes and then scampered away as soon as they had the treasure in their hands. This happened intermittently over the course of probably half an hour or so. Jason could not believe what was happening right before his eyes. It really was shocking, astounding, eye opening, and surprising to him. The most amusing doughnut-hole snatcher came up and asked if he could have some doughnut holes. Jason didn't answer him. Instead, Jason simply asked the student if he had heard of the symposium before. Since the student had no idea what the symposium was, Jason proceeded to describe briefly some of the highlights of the symposium. After about ten seconds the student was becoming very antsy, but listened politely. After Jason realized this student could care less about the symposium, Jason decided to save the student from having to stand and listen any longer. The student was visibly relieved, scooped up the last few doughnut holes and merrily went on his way. Jason couldn't help thinking of the word "entitlement" over and over again during this experience.

In defense of the students, unbeknowdst to Jason at the time, there was a sign somewhere at a different booth that said there were free doughnuts at our booth. This advertisement was half true.

The reason I think this story ties to media is because I think advertising through media has created this attitude where people are fine with, and even sometimes feel entitled to, receiving something for nothing. At the BYU men's basketball game halftime today there must have been three or four games at halftime in which the winner got some free item like an i-pod. Advertisements seem to be saturated with this "FREE!" message. If you buy this you could win a million dollars. If you listen to this, you could win this ridiculous prize that you did nothing to receive. My favorite (or rather least favorite) is the jewelry store billboard next to the gas station by campus on the corner of 800 North and 700 East that says something about if it snows then your purchase is "on us". I don't know the details, but it sounds ridiculous to me. Is the allurement of receiving something free so persuasive as to influence purchasing that much?

In talking about these ideas with my wife, she had a good suggestion in regards to the free hot chocolate BYUSA gives out. She felt like it would be much more beneficial to make receiving hot chocolate conditional on something simple like doing something nice for someboday that day that you wouldn't normally do. If this was the condition, most students may not remember to do that, but probably a handful would, and that handful could make a difference. I think it would cut down on the entitlement our culture seems to be breeding.

Since the experience with the doughnut holes I have been more conscious of my own "entitlement" to free things or services. Really I think it's more commonly discussed as "ingratitude." I am realizing how ungrateful I am sometimes. We just expect certain things to be done for us, or be given to us without thinking twice about the work, time, effort or money put into it by another. This can include good grades in school, a holiday bonus from work, financial support from home, having our church leader spend time counseling us, amongst many other things.

Whew, that was pretty long.