Thank Grog It’s Firday!
As a father of five, and a grandpa to seven, I am a veteran of dealing with kids and their propensity for over-anticipation. In the “Good Old Days,” you could count on the seasons. You could count on retailers sticking to an unspoken rule of when they would bring out Halloween decorations, when it was OK to start pitching deals on Thanksgiving Turkeys, and when we would see the huge Christmas catalogs from Sears and Montgomery Wards hit our mailboxes.
Yes. I am that old.
But today, the lines have become so blurred, so completely without real meaning, that we find ourselves anticipating events, and expecting instant gratification in ways that have blown the word “anticipation” out of the lexicon of our current culture.
We are so used to being able to click a mouse, or tap a padular device, and have something delivered to our house, that the very thought of waiting for something worthwhile is a thing of the past. The “Amazon Way” has given rise to year-around shopping…for anything…anytime…with shorter and shorter windows for delivery. And concurrently, out of survival, many of the largest Box Stores have mimicked this culture with “Same Day Grocery Delivery” and “Bonus Reward Deals” available only for “Drive Thru Instant Delivery Pickup.” You don’t have to shop around people anymore. You don’t have to wait for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade for Christmas to officially start. You don’t have to wait for anything.
And then…there is the “EA Way.”
Like many of you, after almost two weeks of “barely tapping” while we flew through the less than super “Super Hero Mini Event,” I was ready for something new.
Yes. I was aware that the calendar was not on our side for anything great, as the math seemed to favor another week of stalling before EA finally gave us the most epic, most amazing, truly incredible Halloween update EVER!! (OK…so maybe I am building it up a bit in my mind. )
But, I didn’t expect this.
A tent.
And, a chance to buy a single Premium character that may or may not be useful for anything coming in the real Halloween event.
I have to say…that once I figured out that all we got was the tent, and nothing else…except more time to wait…that I felt like a kid who was promised an ice cream cone if I was good for a couple of weeks…and then was handed a tiny little sample cone of vanilla by the lady at the counter, and was then told to go home and wait.
A tent.
And not even an original tent. Just one of the old tents from Stonecutters, with a different color. Sheesh. Even worse than a mini scoop on a mini cone of a flavor that we didn’t ask for.
And then, I realized what was really happening.
And, quietly thanked EA.
In fact, I was so thankful, that I realized that this turn of events deserved a “Special Thank You Note” for the lesson and reminder that the tent gave me.
“Dear EA,
Thank you for helping to remind me what a petulant, ungrateful, impatient child I have become. I don’t take full responsibility for my actions, as you have spoiled me rotten with great content, funny quest lines, and more than half a decade of entertainment for next to nothing. But, I do take responsibility for taking you for granted.
You have made it so EAsy (see what I did there?) to expect a regular onslaught of “amazing,” that when it doesn’t happen when I want it to happen, I can be prone to throwing a bit of a hissy fit, and throwing you under the bus (Who is driving that bus anyway? And why is there always a bus around to be thrown under? And why don’t we have a bus in our games yet? Does Kesey own the rights to the bus?).
The simple fact is, after getting the tent, and having a couple of days to ruminate on “why just a tent?” I realize the wisdom of your ways.
You are old school. You believe in a set standard of logical patterns for the seasons. And to start the huge Halloween Update that you have been working for months to create, when it is still SEPTEMBER, is just nuts!!
I get it. I really do. You see the slippery slope that can happen when people keep moving the holiday goal posts. And you realize that we are only a white beard hair away from losing control, and finding ourselves buying Halloween costumes of Santa Claus wearing a Turkey Hat, in AUGUST!
You, EA are wise. When we peppered the “TSTO Open Comments Section” with “When is Halloween coming???” knowing full well that Halloween CAN’T COME until at least October…you did the right thing!
You gave us a tent.
And, not just any tent. No…a secret fortune teller’s tent that inadvertently reveled our inner children, and reminded us that “anticipation is spice of reward.”
Yes. I was ticked off…and didn’t buy the Fortune Teller…and vowed to just keep KEM farming until you gave me something good. But that is the child in me. The petulant child that wants something well before it deserves to have it.
So, THANK YOU! Thank you for making us wait another week, and giving us time to rearrange stuff in our cluttered towns, and being able to relax and enjoy what we have, before you hit us with another huge fustercluck of clutter that we have to try and jam into the space you will give us with Free Land Tokens, and Item Limits. And that the Item Limits are all for the greater good of the game and all who play, and will help sustain the life of the game, even though they are really, really, really annoying now. It’s all part of the life lesson you are teaching us, right?
And, that this is going to be a GREAT Event…well worth the wait… because we deserve it…right? After all…we hardly complained at all when you gave us the tent.
It’s gonna rock. Because YOU rock, EA! You are the best pretend gift giving Uncle a kid could ever have! Thanks for giving me stuff…and reminding me that I should be grateful…and that the best things in life are free. Even if they are just a tent.
Your friend,
Patric (CrankyOldGuy)
So…we’ll wait another few days. We will survive…and the anticipation will be worth it…because the tent will just become another decoration in the wonder and amazement that will be “The Halloween Event.” Which should come in October…not the last week of September…even though Costco has had Christmas decorations for sale since August.
Have a great weekend. Enjoy the tent.
OH>>>>>>> And speaking of waiting for good things to happen…
WE HIT OUR GOAL.. and then some!
Thanks to all of the kind, generous tappers who made this happen. We slid in just under the wire, and I’ll post pics of Emma and the kids soon!
Tappers rock!
