DREWspective

One of my unfortunate memories of high school was overhearing a "game" some of the girls in my class were playing. They made sure I could hear them, and because of the stupid class rules, I had to stay seated throughout.

Some of you guys may have heard of, or even played this game: two people are named, and you choose the better (or most attractive) person of the two.

Sounds harmless enough, right?

Well, it was interesting to hear, until they started comparing me to just about every other guy in the class and beyond. No matter who the other guy was (and from then on it was always me versus someone else), that other guy was always more attractive than me. I’m surprised they didn’t go right down to Drew versus the devil.

"Come on Drew," the naysayers would argue, "it’s just a silly little game; it doesn’t mean anything."

"So what," the get-over-it-ers would scoff, "that was ages ago; get over it."

I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, that the same game is being played in social groups everywhere, whether people want to admit it or not.

I (rather publicly) left a social singles group I joined on Facebook a couple of months ago. One reason was because I was no longer comfortable with the many couples and "special friendships" (read: casual sex partners) being formed and integrated there, and me being effectively quarantined. Now there’s a groundbreaking discovery.

Basically I found that every single girl I was interested in would rather go out with someone else in the group than have anything to do with me. At least, that’s what I assume, when a girl who used to chat your ears off eventually has trouble saying "hi", and at the same time is being touchy-feely with another guy.

Whether it boils down to my comparatively dull personality, unconventional looks or whatever, it’s all the same kind of game. And when people compare and modify their scorecards (oh yes they do), it’s a game with very few winners.

I get angry because all of this happens no matter what I do or say. I’m famous for the claim that I don’t even have to open my mouth to get rejected; I’m dead serious.

I am reminded of couple of things, however.

Years ago, I looked at a photo of me taken during high school, and realised that I wasn’t as ugly as people had me believe. I certainly felt like it at the time, though, because everybody insisted I was.

I looked at another photo, this time one from last year. I still didn’t think I was ugly back then, either, but I sure felt ugly.

What are the chances of me looking at myself at 25 when I’m 30, and realising I wasn’t ugly?

Secondly, I was introduced to a realisation by motivational speaker Michael Stahl: that it is possible to be a winner with another person.

What does that mean? Well, just because someone is deemed more attractive than you, it doesn’t make you ugly; it just means the other person was deemed more attractive (which is subjective and shallow anyway - why would you listen to that shit?).

Being called ugly, or even the suggestion of it, can be a devastating blow to one’s self-esteem. It’s something that people who play these games can never understand.

I begin DREWspective with a tale of a blessing…

I was on vacation in Spain just last week. While I was on the beach, minding my own business and taking a few candid photographs, I dropped my camera into the sand. It shouldn’t have gotten any sand in it whatsoever from the way it landed, but just to make sure I decided to check if it was still working.

The camera turned on, but immediately turned back off again. From the outset there was a problem with the zoom lens; initially it was stuck, so I had to manually press it in while turning the camera on and off.

After a few knocks and shakes, the camera began to function again. Except now it wouldn’t zoom in or out at all; if you tried to, the LED would flash green and red, before the camera automatically switched itself off.

It wasn’t a battery problem either, as I’d first thought, because the problem remained after trying fresh and old batteries. There went my zoom lens, but at least I had my new cameraphone to take pictures with.

What could I do?

Luckily I had been using some poor soul’s unsecure wireless connection throughout the vacation, so I sent a support request to the manufacturer. I got a reply the next day, with details for arranging with DHL to have the camera sent to their repair factory. As I was still out of the country, I had to wait until yesterday before I could have it sent.

Little did I know that a package had been waiting for me when I got home. It was a DHL package, and from the looks of things it was the camera.

In fact, I’d been sent a replacement camera—a brand spanking new one at that—as a goodwill gesture. (I don’t have a camera strap though; for some reason the one that came in the package had been cut.) Maybe not that impressive, except the camera was bought one and a half years ago!

What can I say, apart from this: that is what I call good customer service. Not just a replacement camera, but the very next day too. DHL sure works fast!

The Dixons Group could learn a few things from that experience.