It starts as a not-so-faint song in the distance, the mechanical notes endlessly repeating some asinine tune through a mobile, blaring speaker... As the first strains reach my home, my children react as if they have been injected with an industrial stimulant. They sit erect, their eyes widen, their pupils dilate, their pulses quicken and their faces instinctively turn to the front window as they utter the magical words: "The ice cream man!"
If my daughters are allowed to go outside and wait for the ice cream man, as his truck slowly rolls through our neighborhood, oh, such is their joy! To be denied, however, is to enter an abyss of melancholy, dwelling on the unfairness of childhood. Such is the power the ice cream man holds over the young denizens of suburbia.
It's funny, really- The ice cream man sells the same desserts you can get at the grocer's except he charges 4 or 5 times what they cost at the store. And yet, his allure cannot be denied. Is it the music? Does it have a hypnotic, Pied Piper effect? I think it's the novelty of delivery. Kids can't drive themselves to the market, so in their world, they're dependent on the ice cream man to bring the goodies to them. The music's just loud so it can be heard above tv's, video games, or whatever else is competing for our children's attention.
In a lot of ways, the internet has become the "ice cream man" for grown-ups. I love bookstores very much, for example, but I make most of my purchases online- same with Christmas shopping, now. I enjoy the saved time and the convenience. For any service or product, the novelty of delivery may well be the difference between success and failure as our society becomes more, well, child-like in its expectancy of immediate gratification and entertaining content.
Obbee is an internet-based company. In our case, we use the World Wide Web to deliver sales leads to professionals in the real estate, insurance (home & health), mortgage, debt settlement and loan modification fields. We can even match up prospects with salespeople in real time... No annoying music, though- I promise! :)
- Dave
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