Temptation

(pesky snake started all the nonsense)

Our world is one of temptation.

No, not only in the religious sense but in so many other ways.

Just this very morning, a colleague walked into my office and told me that he was going to town. Is there anything that I can get you? My immediate response was yes thanks, I think I must get something to eat. I am tired of “thinking I am on a diet”. So I scratched R50 together, what do I want? But immediately my conscience starts to nag me. Earlier in the morning when I dropped my wife off at the school, she offered me her credit card to get “something” as she had not packed some lunch for me. Nobly and firmly I declined her kind offer. As I drove off her parting words were “you gonna be sorry”. When I got to work, I decided to have a cup of milo, rather than rooibos tea with honey and ghastly cider vinegar. Already I have made a compromise at the start of the day! So I am faced with a choice now, what do I want to get from town? Maybe if I chat to fellow workers, their choices could help tempt me further. A couple of folks decline to get a take a way and the one lady knows she shouldn’t do it but she is going to get a hamburger. Hmmm, I love hamburgers but only one person sinning and compromising their goals. Grudgingly I decide not to get a takeaway. But now I have to eat something to “feel better”. I decide to eat some yoghurt with some of my seeds. Yay (not too thrilling I must say). But plain yoghurt has its merits, a lovely cheesy flavour, do you find that flavour too?

(farewell beloved friend)

So what helped me overcome my temptation this morning? Was it the determination to lose weight? Was it just that the take a way idea did not excite me enough? Could it be that my changing diet is at last taking effect? Am I losing interest in starches such as bread? You know, I reckon it is the last one… I have been taught in my life that the more often I resist a temptation, the weaker the pull of the temptation becomes. Has the temptation changed in its nature or is it me? Have I become stronger? The temptation in this case is inanimate, the burger is not calling me and saying “eat me, eat me”, so I must be getting stronger.

(yep I am getting stronger)

But the burger makers can’t have their market getting smaller; they need customers to survive. Nobody buys them and their business closes. So in come the professional tempters! The Advertisers! The cunning ones with all the tools and skills at their disposal; lighting, music, voices of allure, either gravelly and manly for the ladies, or silky soft and husky aimed at menfolk. Stereotypes as found in any society are exploited. Men drive bakkies, tough bakkies for tough men, these trucks riding over the most rugged and beautiful terrain. Even though riding through the veld, across rivers and over mountains, these marvellous “bakkies” remain shiny and clean. For the really tough guys, there MAY be a little mud on the side. (Bakkie is an Afrikaans word for truck)

(the bigger the bakkie, the bigger the man)

Adverts for cars, if you buy this car, look how happy everyone is! Such a happy family! Luckily they have this beautiful car! I also want to be happy, I also want to drive such a beautiful car. If you drive such a beautiful car, you will have a beautiful house too. Wow, those guys are sooo lucky!!

(lets hope they get in that car, then they will be happy)

Yep, we no longer need the devil, we have marketers and advertisers. (hee hee, sorry guys, I am just having fun). I love the stereotypical view that accountants and advertisers are diametrically opposed and that accountants automatically “hate” all salesmen (and saleswomen but a bit less if the ladies are sexy).

Everything is advertised today. Public awareness is critical for the success of a product. If we look at what a product is we know it does not have to be tangible or something we consume in one way or other. It can be an IDEA, a MOVEMENT. The power of social media, of concepts such as Facebook, or Twitter. How are these sites funded? Mostly through advertising; that little annoying square when viewing something on You Tube. Yet without the “little annoying square”, you will have to pay money to help support the website.

(puppet of the evil Russians??)

Look at the recent American Elections where Donald Trump became President of the United States. There were monstrous amounts paid to advertising houses to promote the candidates. Then of course there is this huge furore from the Democrats that Russian Bots unduly influenced the American voter into voting for Donald Trump. If I was an American voter, I would be annoyed at the implication that my convictions could be so easily swayed and by the Russian Enemy too.

I cannot believe that Americans are so stupid. Anyway a Bot is just an “evil advertiser”, manipulating millions of Americans against their will. Then the rest of Western Europe was in the fell clutches of the evil Russian Bots. Damn, these Russians are GOOD. If these former Commies could just switch to advertising products, imagine how well those businesses would do?

(brutal new political demographics)

BUSINESSMEN of the world, unite and get them mischievous Putin trolls to make you plenty money!

(watch out lady, you could become a spy!)

If we think about it though, each one of us is a tempter/advertiser.

You use some nice product and you are only too keen to tell a good friend about your wonderful new discovery. Wow Jane! You must try this “XXXXX” hand cream, it is amazing, my hands feel so soft and you must just feel my elbows, they used to be so rough before! Yes, we are all tempters; be it schools, cars, food or television shows.
To me the worst (and hence least effective) are telemarketers. These poor souls have to make so many calls every day being constantly rejected by almost everybody. One call I remember in particular, I was busy at work and my phone rang. I answered without thinking. Much to my irritation I heard, “good morning sir, how are you?” I snapped back, “no thanks I am not interested in your product”. I suppose the poor fellow had been having a bad day because he lost his cool. “How can you say you are not interested in my product when you don’t even know what it is?”. Now I started to enjoy myself, “because I am just not. You will probably want money from me and I don’t want to spend anything”. “But how can you say that when I haven’t even said anything?” the very irritated telemarketer replied. I told him, “I am now going because I am not interested in anything you have to say and you are wasting my time”. By now the guy was absolutely furious and was saying all kinds of things about people like me. His voice was still carrying on when I hung up the phone. I know I was rude but I hate being intruded on and the phone is my enemy most of the time. The poor telemarketers need to develop a very thick skin as they seek to tempt the unsuspecting general public into buying something nobody really needs.

I am a sucker for wanting to buy things that I like. For example, I saw a 6000 piece jigsaw puzzle in a shop. It is an absolute beauty. However, the cost is very high. So what do I do? I keep looking at it. I keep coming back to the shop and looking at its beauty. I say to myself, “it is so beautiful, can you imagine building this beauty?” I look at other puzzles (smaller) and compare their prices to this one. I do estimations of the number of pieces to the number of Rands that I must pay. Over time I convince myself and end up buying the puzzle. Do I regret my excessive purchase? Not yet.

I have successfully allowed myself to be tempted.