Today, we live in a world where there are ways to make life so much more convenient. Let me give you an example. The other night, I had a DJ gig, and the 9-volt battery in my wireless microphone died. I had no other 9-volts, so I had to go to my backup wired mic. It was no big deal since I didn’t have to walk around the room. At 11:30 am the day of my next DJ gig, I had forgotten to get new batteries.
9-volt batteries can get expensive, so I like to buy them in bulk. But my afternoon was booked and I couldn’t go out of my way to get to the store before my show. As an Amazon Prime member, I took a chance to see if they could help. If I ordered now, for an additional $2.99 (less than the price of one 9V battery), I could receive my order today between 2 pm-6 pm. I had to leave at 6 pm, so I gave it a shot. Besides, if they didn’t show, I could use my backup mic again. My order arrived at 5 pm. Isn’t convenience great?
But let’s face it, is this too good to be true? I’m one of those people asking, what’s the catch? There has to be a catch. I just can’t figure it out right now. But I am here today to tell you, there is a catch. You might not yet realize it, but you are giving up something for this convenience.
My wife Jeanann was intrigued by our grocery store offering a shop-at-home service. You pay a monthly fee and order your grocery list online. They would do all the shopping for you. All you had to do was drive up and pick it up. How convenient would that be? One can easily spend 30 minutes to an hour in the grocery store. What a time-saver.
We didn’t like the idea of paying the monthly fee but we had friends using this service who said it was well worth it. It was one less task for them to take on. Everything changed for us when Walmart offered a FREE shopping service. Order your items online, we’ll do the shopping and pack your car all at no extra charge. If your item is unavailable, we’ll upgrade it to another at the same price. If we screw up your order, keep it and we’ll refund the cost. Who could say no to this, so we signed up.
We were given a time when our groceries would be ready. Either Jeannan or I would drive to pick it up. When we arrived, we would let them know what parking space number slot we were in through the app and they would come out with the groceries. We’d say thanks, drive home, put away the groceries and that was that. This is so great. Convenience is great and look at all the time we saved. This is what you call progress.
Now do you remember I told you there was a catch? Where is the catch? I can’t see any problem with this. This is a WIN-WIN-WIN. What are you talking about Peter? Well, get ready because here it comes.
It didn’t happen right away, it happened over time and we didn’t realize it. It came slowly and it got worse as it continued. Jeanann and I were not communicating like we used to. We were always on the same page on projects, the kids, trips, etc. For some reason, we were not seeing eye to eye on issues. We didn’t know why until the day it hit us.
When you place your Walmart order and they tell you when to pick it up, that difference is the time you save. We usually measure that time in our hourly rate. Money saved. Or, what else could I be doing with the time I’m saving? I haven’t done the research, but I suspect 95% of us waste that time savings.
Jeanann and I weren’t communicating like we once did because we weren’t together doing the errands. We ran errands to grocery stores, big-box stores, warehouses, and the mall. We would do those things together. That’s where we talked! We discussed life, problems, projects, the kids, vacations, and the future.
We talked on the drive there, we talked at the store, and we talked on the drive home. Maybe we’d decide to run another errand and talk some more. Did we talk at home while waiting for our grocery order? NO, WE DIDN’T. Did we use that extra time to intentionally do something else? NO, WE DIDN’T. Unknowingly, we replaced all of that together time for the illusion of convenience.
That my friends was the cost of convenience to us. Was it worth it? Not for us. What about you? Stop and think, what am I giving up in the name of convenience? Bridging the gap between generations is my passion. I specialize in helping businesses and associations unlock the power of collaboration across generations to achieve greater success. If your organization is experiencing generational divides, let’s connect and collaborate!
