Relative Something

When is a chair, not a chair? I know one way. When the chair is actually a band of fabric that supports a person’s lower back by way of straps looped around the knees. It helps you sit upright when you don’t have a chair to lean back against. Many years ago, Cyndie and I discovered just this kind of ingenious concept that presents itself with a distinctly persuasive first impression. It ultimately taught us a lesson that we refer to over and over again. When something similar pops up in our lives, it always gets credited by applying the moniker of that first band of fabric and loops.

Ingeniously marketed at places like a state fair, this device caught our attention after we’d been walking for hours at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. Little did we think about at the time, just sitting down would feel wonderful. Then we strapped on the device that supports the lower back and, Shazam!, they had a sale. We bought two. It was so simple and felt so great, it was a deal at twice the price.

Then we actually used the device. When you aren’t fatigued from having been on your feet for hours on end, some of the magic goes away. Any duration of more than about ten minutes use led to discomfort of the knees that the straps wrap around. In the end, we realized we had fallen for the ultimate sales pitch. It was a great lesson. One we have revisited many times since.

I could hope that sharing our little lesson like this would provide benefit to others, but it doesn’t seem to work like that. I think you need to experience these lessons yourself to get the lasting impact. However, maybe now that you’ve read our story, if something like this does happen to you, your lesson will resonate with a bit more familiarity.

Things just might not be as good as they seem. Simple, huh? Makes me wonder how people ever fall for becoming victims of a ponzi scheme.