Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Making up my mind, in a flash!

I really like technology. I enjoy reading about it, playing with it, and buying it. That being said, I'm also very indecisive about it. I could research cell phones or something for days but eventually I'll be stuck between four different models.

I had to buy a camera recently. I don't really know why I thought I needed a camera, since I'm really into writing. All I knew, was that I needed that new camera.

I have a perfectly good camera right now. The only thing that bugs me about it is that I have to push the "scroll left" button extra hard to get it to work. I'm not really the kind of guy looking to exert the extra strength that goes into pushing that button. It really irritates me, especially with the right button being so easy to push.

Anyway, like I said, I needed a new camera, so I trotted on over to Best Buy and looked around in there for some models I had found online. I still wasn't exactly sure what kind I wanted. A camera with face recognition would be kind of cool, but to me, that's a "party camera", a camera college girls buy to take pictures of their best friends finishing up their first keg stand. Oh, the memories sorority girls share. I'd pay to see that scrapbook.

I was definitely interested in a camera with a nice zoom, manual mode (if I can figure out how to use it), and a high mega pixel count. I was quickly approached by a sales clerk who asked me if I needed help.

I looked up at him, "Oh, no thanks. I need a new camera and I'm just taking a look at what you guys have," I replied.

"Well, what would you primarily use it for?" he asked.

I lost eye contact and looked towards the table of cameras. I began, "Well..."

I knew he was just asking so he could find the camera that would "best fit my needs". It's a classic sales tactic. If I had said "I'm just looking to take pictures of my friends when we all hang out," like any other half wit passing through, he would've sold me some crappy camera that does absolutely nothing. I'm on a "poor college student" budget, but I didn't want that to stop me from getting a good camera.

I knew if I wanted to be sold a good camera, I couldn't possibly tell him the truth; I would probably use it to take a few random pictures of my friends the next time we hung out, then I'd lose it in a drawer somewhere and forget about it. I had to think of something really convincing so he would sell me something amazing, but inexpensive.

"Well, I'm a photography major down at a school in Massachusetts. I'm looking to get my Masters Degree in it so that I can travel abroad and take pictures at fashion shows in Paris. The school I'm going to is really expensive, so I'm on a tight budget for a camera, but I need a really good one with lots of capabilities."

Immediately, since I told him I was just looking, he decided to ask about my fantastic school.

"I have a friend that's a photography major too! He was looking at the Hallmark Institute of Photography down in that area, but he didn't end up going, it was a little expensive and he wanted to go somewhere closer."

"Yeah, it's a really nice school. I go there." I smiled at my now established university. I went on, "I love it. One of my favorite things there is the dining hall. They spend a lot of money on the food. It's nothing like those community colleges," I snickered a little, for good measure. I know how bad the local community college's food is. I just graduated from there, and it's pretty terrible.

"Yeah, the food's pretty bad at those places." He paused as his eyes narrowed, "So, if the school has so much money for food, why don't they have a fund somewhere to supply you guys with cameras?"

"They expect us to be financially savvy enough to buy our own cameras. Also, since everyone buys their own cameras, each different camera offers a unique eye to the world, further making each photography project unique."

I was really running out of lies. Well, it wasn't that I was running out of lies, so much as it was about me forgetting what I had told him already. I already forgot what college I said I go to. I remembered it was in a state that started with an "M", but that was about it. It was time to bail.

"Well, I like what I see here, but I'm going to head over to Ritz Camera. They had a Figifilm camera for under $900. I think I'm going to go with that one." I declared as I turned away and began heading towards the exit.

He called out to me, "It's Fujifilm! And I thought you were on a budget!"

I started to turn around to explain my inconsistency, but my feet decided that would just make things worse. Before I knew it, I was out the door. I didn't need a camera that bad anyway.