The Pickwicks are not known for their astute management of the internets. This may come as a shock to some of you, but Mrs Pickwick once observed to a very good friend that it would be awfully handy if there was such a thing as….(wait for it)….an online database of people, perhaps even with photos, to help keep track of folks. Similar to a church directory, but on the computer. The Pickwicks are catching up quickly however. Mrs P. is now able to spend a lot of money without the convenience of leaving home and passing whole hours alone. And Fr P. is becoming a regular technological wizard when it comes to streaming. Even more creditably, neither Fr nor Mrs Pickwick believe this activity has anything to do with trout fishing or weeping excessively.
Sitting down this evening to look for an audiobook recommended as a must-listen, Fr Pickwick was soon out of his depth as he clicked and poked through several hundreds of links in quest of the elusive book. After chasing it upstream and download, he finally hooked the slippery file and found to Mrs. Pickwick’s horror, the only way to reel it in was going to cost $21.95. She wept excessively.
Mrs P, properly aghast: “$21.95?? That is not right- it has always been $14.95! They can’t possibly be personally charging you extra?”
Fr P, thoughtfully: “Well, there are some customers that could make one consider that…”
Mrs P, relentless: “It is too much. Just purchasing the book is only $23.”
A few moments later, Mrs Pickwick had successfully landed a real keeper: not only had she found the book (in a three-for-one companion volume set, no less), and the streaming service for the promised $14.95, she had angled for a “deal of the day” and procured it for only $6.95 for the first three months.
Mrs P: “Fr Pickwick, you are the only man I know who can find a way to pay three times as much for something, even with the help of the internet.”
Fr P: “What? I suppose I ought to have called them, today of all days, and then been frustrated when I had to wait on hold for three hours, then demanded why my google was charging me too much?”
Mrs P: “I can just hear the conversation: ‘Excuse me, can I get a special deal please? I’d like 300% on, if you can do that for me….No, really, I don’t think you are charging enough, and I want a really great deal….for you!! After all….’”
Fr P: “It’s Black Friday!”
