Romance and sale flights
January 26th 2008 03:24
Drawing comparisons is what writers do. I have an odd one to talk about right now.
I am on the hunt for the cheapest return flight possible for Sydney to Cairns, since I am headed there in February for a getaway with friends. Taking the time off to write and not earning my normal salary means I am dedicated to making my money go a long way. In other words, every penny I save means I can survive for longer in my creative hiatus without feeling the pressure of going back to full-time work.
Now I managed a couple of weeks ago to find a rip roarer of a deal - a flight for Cairns to Sydney for $89! There wasn't a cheap flight though to get me there so I thought that it would be better to relinquish that flight and wait for a super hot return trip deal. I was concerned that if I booked the flight to get me back home without the flight to get me there, perhaps I wouldn't be able to get a flight there on the right date to coordinate a 5 day stay as I intended.
This morning as my flight search resumed with me checking all carriers for any new deals, I realised that I should not have let the $89 fare go. I should have snapped it up. It was a delicious saving on the normal $150 plus fares that keep cropping up. There is no chance of getting that deal again...or is there?
Then it occurred to me - is this how single people think about potential romantic partners? Do we ignore a great match in the hope of finding a better match? Can we not see someone staring us in the face that is a good match, yet perhaps it's just not everything we desire so we decide to let it go and wait for another match to show up that will be 100% to our liking? What are the things we evaluate in partners that make us decide to pursue or abandon the relationship?
With flight deals, the deciding factors are transparent - cost, date availability, time of flight, etc - yet somehow I still didn't get what I wanted. I thought I wanted a cheap flight. I found it. Then I let it go. That's odd, isn't it? It makes me think that I was after more than a bargain price. I wanted more. I wanted a cheap flight exactly on the dates I preferred.
With romantic partners, the deciding factors to choosing them are not transparent because emotions and reason are in play creating dynamics much bigger than buying things. So if I can't snap up a sale flight where there is a level of ease to choosing based on obvious factors, what foresight do I have for choosing a man in my life?
I think the problem for singletons looking for lifetime partners is this: We think we know what we want but do we really know? If you don't know what you want, how can you choose what you want.
I'm okay with letting the $89 sale flight go. It's just a flight. However, I don't want to let a good man go.
Now I have to get back to my flight hunt!
I am on the hunt for the cheapest return flight possible for Sydney to Cairns, since I am headed there in February for a getaway with friends. Taking the time off to write and not earning my normal salary means I am dedicated to making my money go a long way. In other words, every penny I save means I can survive for longer in my creative hiatus without feeling the pressure of going back to full-time work.
Now I managed a couple of weeks ago to find a rip roarer of a deal - a flight for Cairns to Sydney for $89! There wasn't a cheap flight though to get me there so I thought that it would be better to relinquish that flight and wait for a super hot return trip deal. I was concerned that if I booked the flight to get me back home without the flight to get me there, perhaps I wouldn't be able to get a flight there on the right date to coordinate a 5 day stay as I intended.
This morning as my flight search resumed with me checking all carriers for any new deals, I realised that I should not have let the $89 fare go. I should have snapped it up. It was a delicious saving on the normal $150 plus fares that keep cropping up. There is no chance of getting that deal again...or is there?
Then it occurred to me - is this how single people think about potential romantic partners? Do we ignore a great match in the hope of finding a better match? Can we not see someone staring us in the face that is a good match, yet perhaps it's just not everything we desire so we decide to let it go and wait for another match to show up that will be 100% to our liking? What are the things we evaluate in partners that make us decide to pursue or abandon the relationship?
With flight deals, the deciding factors are transparent - cost, date availability, time of flight, etc - yet somehow I still didn't get what I wanted. I thought I wanted a cheap flight. I found it. Then I let it go. That's odd, isn't it? It makes me think that I was after more than a bargain price. I wanted more. I wanted a cheap flight exactly on the dates I preferred.
With romantic partners, the deciding factors to choosing them are not transparent because emotions and reason are in play creating dynamics much bigger than buying things. So if I can't snap up a sale flight where there is a level of ease to choosing based on obvious factors, what foresight do I have for choosing a man in my life?
I think the problem for singletons looking for lifetime partners is this: We think we know what we want but do we really know? If you don't know what you want, how can you choose what you want.
I'm okay with letting the $89 sale flight go. It's just a flight. However, I don't want to let a good man go.
Now I have to get back to my flight hunt!
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