we love the free

yesterday i was talking with one of the trainers from the exercise place i am going to. he and his wife are expecting a baby and as a thank you for all that he does to help me, i offered an organizing session. you know lots come with baby! we talked about how people love to give things to expectant parents and he shared with me that he has a difficult time saying no to free things.
then this morning after leaving yoga, i drove along the embarcadero to get on the highway and passed the ballpark. it was about 8 am and the line out the stadium went down the block. now i know the game  does not start until mid-day. hmmm. yep, i thought it must be a give away day. the dj on the radio then confirmed that yes, in fact to day was bobble head day...buster posey to be exact. stadium is giving away 40,000 bobble heads and these people are lining up hours early for them. selfishly i thought, i will be in business forever. people just take something because it is free. imagine a family of 4, going to see a baseball game and they will be leaving with 4 bobble heads along with any other souvenirs they acquire. there's nothing like getting something free to spark that feeling of wanting to buy more.
my advice if you want to downscale...before you take the free item - think about why do you want it, where will it
go and what the heck will you do with it. no good answers...here's mine - STOP WITH THE FREE!
happy saturday!