My New Year’s Resolution

I do not know what it is, everybody wants your opinion. Today I logged into my bank account and the bank wanted me to take part in a customer satisfaction survey. I dropped off my car for repairs, no sooner had I picked it up than a message popped up with a survey with a chance to win a free oil change. Then when I was at the grocery store, the receipt offered a survey and a chance to win $1000. Walmart asked me to help them serve better, by writing a product review. Even OKA wants my opinion after the show. Guess what, in all probability the chance of winning that 1000 dollars or a free oil change is as remote as me winning a million-dollar lottery. And then there is Whatsapp and other social media with their constant pings and likes. Some days I lie in bed wondering what did I achieve that day.

If you feel you never have a quiet moment to think then join the club. Maybe I am so special and important that everyone wants my opinion, but I doubt it. All the survey monsters really want is more of your hard earned dollars.

So as 2022 rolls in, here is my resolution: I will not let surveys and social media waste my precious time and capture my attention.

No, I do not wish to rate my latest transaction.

No, I will not take a short survey.

No, I will not help improve customer service by commenting on my experience

No, I will not go online when I get home and share my thoughts.

No, I will not write a few words about how to receive or try your new product.

No, I will not tell you if I will be recommending your services or products to my friends.

No, I will not give you hints on what you could do better.

No, I do not want to earn bonus points or even 5 cents off my next purchase by volunteering a few moments of my time to share my views on the last person who assisted me.

I do not have enough moments left on Earth to only be writing reviews.

If my kids heard my opinion, they would most likely reject it (with a polite roll of their eyes of course). As for my better half, I do not want to even get into that. Other family members probably argue with my opinion. Friends pretend to listen and act as if they agree with my opinion and then go on to do something completely different. Based on my track record thus far, even getting someone I know to appreciate my opinion will take all the time I have left, to live in this world.

What will I replace all my time completing surveys with? What will I say yes to where I will now say no?  Some ideas:

YES, I will continue to say when the cashier asks me $2 for the food bank.

YES, I will continue to volunteer.

YES, I willcontinue to support worthy causes.

YES, I will help build stronger communities.

In the words of Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

I lay my head down on my pillow and close my eyes. I am about to dose off to sleep when I pause to open my mental self-survey of how I did at the end of this day, and at the end of this life and I click the little box that says “extremely satisfied.”

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