Friday, September 21, 2012

Gift Card And A Smiley

Last week I gave you my opinion about Facebook and got some really great comments, looking at the social networking sites I see there are different uses for each one, I really only touched onto one, so now lets look at this again from a different angle.

Our Friend Stephen from The Chubby Chatterbox made a point in his comment that got me to thinking, he pointed out “Blog if you have something to say once or twice a week, Facebook if you have something to say every day, and tweet if you have something to say every hour”, just how would the exact same scenario look from the different formats.

To use an actual experience I had, lets look at it from all three formats, I had a telephone that we bought from Wally World, it worked great for a while then stopped, I had to return it for another. Now that the story is set up, lets view the differences.

Twitter: four tweets one hour apart.
Going to Wal-Mart to exchange a broken phone:

Standing in line at Customer service:

Leaving with my new phone, hope this one works:

The Greeter was in a bad mood, no sticker from him:

Facebook: two status updates twenty-four hour apart.
Status Update: (Picture of me with the door greeter inserted here) Exchanging a phone at Wal-Mart.

Status update: installed the phone I returned yesterday, the phone is good but that trip was not fun.

Jimmy’s Opinion Blog:
Last Christmas we bought a new phone for the house, we actually needed one that would ring loud enough so we could hear it over the TV or when we were outside, the old one had gotten to the point that you couldn’t hear the ring even if you had it up to your ear, it was only about ten years old, so I really don’t see why it would have stopped ringing loudly, Cindy tells me the older I get the louder I get, why wouldn’t this be the same for a phone.

The new phone was great, the silly thing even talks to you while it’s ringing, when Cindy calls in it proudly says “Cindy”, when her sister calls it proudly says “Cristy” when a private caller rings in, it stutters and says something like “Coll-er Pre-e-vet”, I suppose you cant have everything.

As I said before it worked great for a while then all of a sudden it quit talking altogether, then it stopped ringing in, you could still call out but no calls came in, Cindy was not having this so here I am packing this thing back into the box and making a return trip to Wally World.

Walking up to the door I notice our usual Door greeter Don was not there, Don had a way with words, he was one of those greeters I have joked about in the past that glares at you while mumbling “Welcome to Wal-Mart, here’s your damned basket”, instead I ran into a much younger man with a temperament exactly opposite of Dons.

“Welcome to Wal-Mart, can I help you” as he stuck a smiley face sticker on my shirt pocket, I told him I wanted to return the phone, he promptly scanned the phone, placed a return sticker on it, and directed me toward customer service.

I mentioned that it looked like I was going to be here a while if I went to customer service, rather than going in and picking up another phone first, he smiled and said “No sir, just go on over to customer service because they are so fast today you won’t even know you were here”

He was a friendly young man and sad to say I have never seen him again, wonder if he was too friendly for Wally World? He was correct about customer service though, I was right up to the counter and had a gift card for the amount of the phone in my hand before I knew what had happened.

I walked back to electronics/photo/phones or whatever they call that area and found my replacement right away, rather than going back up front to pay I stepped up to the register there and waited for the guy in the white coat, he was looking over pictures he had printed and dropped on the floor, while cussing under his breath about not wanting to reprint anything, it appeared to me one of those making a mountain out of a mole hill situations.
He finally came over to ring up my purchase, and promptly asked if I wanted to apply for a Wally World Credit Card, I declined the offer and handed him the gift card, he mumbled I see you already have one, I told him it was actually a gift card, he just gave me a blank stare and scanned the phone.

Ringing up the phone to the price of $59.95 he slid the card and just froze in place, he looked at me and said you only have $59.95 on this card, how did you do that, I told him I had just returned the same phone and was buying a replacement, he said “No really, how did you do this” I repeated myself and he said, I really don’t understand what you are trying to pull here, handed me the phone and began punching buttons on his register.

Walking quickly out of the store I ran right into Don the Door Greeter who wanted to see my receipt, he looked it over and glanced into the bag at the phone, shook his head and said “China, got yourself a Chinese phone” I replied Yes Sir, had to bring one back for this one, he glared at me and said “I’m serious that one is made in China, if you were smart you would have got one made in America”

I made my way to the car understanding why to this day I still hate going to Wally World, The phone is still working in spite of being made in China, and if it decides to stop working, Cindy will be making the exchange, I wonder if Don has any smiley face stickers?

There is my take on all three, which do you prefer? Is tweeting or face booking any faster than blogging? Look at it this way, with the first one you got your information in four installments that took a total of three hours, the second came in two installments that took twenty four hours, and how long did it take you to actually read this blog post, even if you are a slow reader it was way less than three hours.

See there you go, for your readers they get a huge amount of information in one post, so my summary of all three is that blogging has faster and more quality information than any social networking site out there, that’s kind of like getting a gift card and a smiley just for showing up.

30 comments:

  1. hmmm well I'm not a facebooker...or a tweeter? Is that the word.... so I guess I'm with you on blogging:)

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    1. Not really sure Bev, I'm not a tweeter either Ha Ha gonna stick with blogging :)

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  2. Tweeting can just be dumb. I liked the blog!

    Does the Phone say "Cindy" in Chineese?

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    1. Hey Joe, I bet if I choose the right language it would do just that Ha Ha

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  3. Replies
    1. More info less time, may take longer to write but sure is more rewarding in my opinion, Good to see you Ms. A

      Delete
  4. I got a Facebook account simply because I wanted to have access to all the latest pictures of our grandchildren. Then everybody and his uncle wanted to be my "friend". People I don't know. My favorite was a fellow who graduated from high school with my hubby and me, but we didn't know him. (BIG graduating class.) So, WHY would I want to be his "friend" now??? (Especially when I saw that his "hobby" was ... "women"!?) I got a Twitter account because one of my writing pals convinced me to give it a try. Long story short, I'm a lousy "tweeter". Maybe half a dozen in the past year and a half? (I "toot" much more than I "tweet".) So, YES, Blogger is my choice, too. It takes an enormous chunk of time every day, but I've "met" some really cool people here. And it's FUN!

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    1. My Facebook account is used about the same way, actually my wife gets more information from there than I, and I don't blame you for turning down a friend request from someone you really don't know who has his hobby listed as "women"

      I was too slow for twitter Ha Ha it confused me trying to keep up.

      I "toot" much more than I "tweet" Ha Ha I love that one.

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  5. I prefer blogging. I write a blog post almost every day, then at the bottom of my blog post I hit the Facebook icon and link to that. If anyone sees me on Facebook they can link back to my blog and read it.

    My understanding is you tweet (twit?) to let people know what you're doing. Why would anyone want to know I'm eating a cherry Lifesaver? I don't tweet.

    S

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    1. I know a lot of folks link their blogs and facebook accounts between each other as you mentioned, I say if it works for you then do it, a lot of your friends there will definitely click over to read your blog.

      I agree things like eating a lifesaver should be a private thing, I can't believe folks tweet such things :)

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  6. Love the post! I also prefer blogging over the others, although I religiously check Facebook.

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    1. Hi Jaycee, There are advantages to all and your preferences is what will work for you, I know a lot of my friends use all three and love them all, I like you prefer blogging.

      Good to have you stop by, hope you join us again.

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  7. I like Facebook and blogging. I'm to dumb for Twitter...I don't understand that hashtag thingy.

    I try to stay away from Walmarts, but sometimes it can't be avoided. Speedy customer service at Walmart - that qualifies as an oxymoron!

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    1. I always thought that was a pound sign, not sure when it became a hash tag.

      I was shocked at the speedy customer service on that day myself, it was a first for me, Walmart still is not my favorite place.

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  8. Bravo, Jimmy!

    I love how you gave THREE different examples explaining the same experience. VERY clever!

    And without a doubt, I TOTALLY enjoyed the blog post best! I would much rather read something in its FULL experience, rather than short blips because as you shared....

    " blogging has faster and more quality information than any social networking site out there."

    And you said the magic word....QUALITY!

    Awesome post, buddy! And I love the photo!

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    1. Thank You Ron, I guess that's what it all comes down to, the others are actually just blips of the experience where blogging is the whole experience, Quality for sure in my opinion compared to the blips.

      The picture I had to put together, that is actually my hand holding the gift card from that day Ha Ha guess I should throw that away :)

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  9. Sorry; I accidentally hit the delete button. Anyway, I prefer "Jimmy's Opinion" blog because it illustrates your unique writing skills and sense of humor best. Take care.

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    1. Hey Stephen, I have hit the wrong button more than once myself, easy fix though :)

      Thank You for your kind words my friend.

      Delete
  10. If I was younger, had a smart phone and more inclined to use acronyms for communication, I might be a tweeter, or Facebook user. Since I'm old, usually find acronyms confusing and like a little privacy in my life, I'd rather blog and use the richness of full paragraphs to add depth to what I'm trying to convey.

    I think blogging is better. It demands careful thought and a willingness to learn what there is to learn about writing. Beside that, I can't see those small screens and find typing on those tiny keyboards tedious attempts of frustration.

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    1. Hi Jess, I can relate to that, the keyboard on these phones are just too small for me, and the term smart phone just doesn't apply for me I can't even figure out how to answer my wifes, by the time I find the correct button and get it pushed I should have never picked it up Ha Ha

      I too am more comfortable with the blogging platform, much more comfortable in my opinion.

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  11. Good point Jimmy! If you did all three, then someone would have an option of which to choose based on how much time they have. Lol.

    I tweet every so often, Instagram a lot, and even Pin here and there.

    Confused yet? Our social media world is Prime for ADDers like me. :-)

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    1. Hey Angelia, Yes you lost me once you started Instagraming and pinning Ha Ha

      It really is amazing the directions you can go with the social media world, just have to stick with what suits you I suppose :)

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  12. OMG a phone that talks. Wowee! Not even my iPhone does that.

    You write the most enjoyable things on your blog, Jimmy. I laughed out loud at this one. Jeez I wish our Wall-Mart had people greeters and stuff. Ours is full of deadpan people who are adept at making me wonder why I'm there.

    Loved how you compared the three social thingies. I'm a twitterer but don't do much of it. I certainly prefer it to Facebook because I learn more from the people I follow, i.e. what's going on in my area and in the world of WI (Women's Institute). I do prefer blogging though.


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    1. I couldn't believe it talked either, I laugh when Cindy is dialing a number and it is trying to keep up, it will actually repeat the numbers as you dial but Cindy dials so fast it just can't.

      The experiences we have had at Walmart is unreal, this one was actually a true story too Ha Ha

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  13. I hate talking on the phone, so I much prefer email. Even if it's news that my favorite uncle died, I want it in an email: not on the phone.

    There's a new walmart being built near our house and I told Stud I could earn a few bucks by being a greeter. He said "You wouldn't last". I asked why, because I didn't really care 'why', I'm just nice like that.

    He said "You'd say "how they hangin'?" when the customers come in and "steal anything good?" when they were on their way out.

    He knows me.

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    1. Sounds like you would be the type of Greeter to fit in at our store, sad if you asked "steal anything good?" they just may show you :^)

      email works for me, I don't use the phone near as much as Cindy.

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  14. Great idea for a post. I have been guilty of doing a Facebook status and a blog post about the same topic, but at least none of my Facebook friends overlap with blogger. And I just can't get into twitter, even though I've tried.

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  15. Hi Bijoux, Same here with twitter just couldn't get into it, I know a lot of people who post both on Facebook and Blogger and or link back and forth, I don't see a problem just dont get into that either :)

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  16. I'm not on twitter, I don't text, I don't IM, and I spend very little time on Facebook. Heck, I don't even like talking on the phone. Even my family knows better than to call me just to shoot the breeze. I'd much rather talk in person. For some reason, I have no problem communicating via blog.
    I just see no reason to bore people (or to be bored) with the minutia of someones life.

    That is one totally odd incident with the phone you had! Wow!

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    1. Hey Pat, I don't use the phone too much mostly to call my Mom and Dad, Cindy on the other hand has one attached to her ear all the time it seems, I don't see a need to text and the other stuff confuses me.

      Email and blogging I can handle :)

      The phone incident and Wally world was a unique experience that I just had to laugh at once I got back home.

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