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Thank you for being my loyal reader!

February 8th, 2016 · 3 Comments

Doesn’t that make you feel good? I’ve called you “loyal”, and that word has all sorts of good connotations. You are trustworthy, you won’t desert your friends, you are honorable.

Frequently in bills from a cable, insurance or other company, they thank me for being a “loyal customer”. Look how honorable I am! I’m loyal, I’m not fickle! Through good times and bad, despite temptations and high costs, I stick with my friends… er, companies.

It’s a very transparent ploy to make me feel good about myself for using their company. But actually, I like to think that I stay with a company just as long as the hassle of changing is greater than the benefit of changing. There’s no dishonor in choosing a different company. You can bet that if I had trouble paying my bills the companies would not hesitate to be disloyal to me! And companies often offer discounts that only apply to new customers. Where’s the loyalty in that?

I think the same concept applies to sports teams. I am not ashamed to be a “fair weather fan”. I haven’t watched a Phoenix Suns game all year. It’s no fun, they stink! (I’d much rather watch the Warriors.) Just because they are located in a city near mine, I should support them? Athletes come from all over the country, most of them have only been here for a year or two and will have no loyalty to this city once they get traded to another team. I’ve never met any of them. Owners make lots of money, get the taxpayers to pay for arenas, and would not hesitate to move to another city if they thought they could make more money there. Look at all the football teams moving or trying to move this year.

In social or familial settings, loyalty clearly has value. You can trust me, I can trust you. If one of us has problems, the other will come to help. The concept gets distorted and perverted when it is applied to companies or sports teams where it is not a reciprocal relationship. So stop calling me your loyal customer, and yes, I’m proud to be a fair weather fan. Make the games fun to watch, and I’ll watch.

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3 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Dick // Feb 8, 2016 at 6:35 pm

    Well put. Agree completely. I would note that college sports is not much different. It’s all about the money. The millions they pay the coaches and the millions spent on stadiums and arenas. All this serves to provide income to the school in the way of gate receipts, advertising and TV revenue. If the school does not make money on its sports, sports are dropped.

  • 2 Donna // Feb 9, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    Hmm, based on that logic, you must be an Oregon basketball fan this year. 😉

    Seriously, I agree. Cox Cable recently had a dispute with The CW and I was without two of my favorite shows (Jane the Virgin and iZombie) for a couple of weeks. I got several emails from Cox during that time thanking me for my “loyalty” in sticking with them through this negotiation. What made them think I was being loyal? How did they know I wasn’t already on the phone with Dish or DirecTV signing up for a switch in service. The dispute is settled now, but although I got CW back in my lineup, Cox didn’t give me anything for the two weeks it was missing. No loyalty on their part!

  • 3 Dale // Feb 15, 2016 at 11:48 am

    This is so well written that it should be published somewhere so that many, many people could read it!

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