Surveys

Is it me, or is the world getting crazier? I don’t know about you and your shopping experience, but it seems everywhere I shop and get a receipt, on the bottom of that receipt is a request to let the store know how your shopping experience was. They say they really care and want to know how you felt about your shopping in their location. They promise a reward of some kind if you do take the time to fill out their online survey.
So, like a dummy, I fill them out. I usually tell them exactly how my shopping experience was and how friendly and helpful everyone was. Some have a sliding scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best. To my knowledge, I don’t believe I have ever marked anyone below a five. Most of the time, the marks are nine or ten. And most of the employees I have some contact with are there to help me.
For some, like fast food places, if you fill out the survey, you get a free something. I have gotten free pancakes at IHOP, free Whopper at Burger King and free Big Macs at Mickey D’s, all for simply telling them how my experience was while I was in their establishment.
But the cream of the crop for surveys is one that enters you in a drawing of a vast amount of dollars. Wal-Mart has a survey that if you fill out you could win $1,000 or one of 750 $100. I have missed several of their surveys because I forgot to look on the back of my receipt. I admit I have never won anything from taking Wal-Mart surveys from anywhere. 
I am beginning to think that filling out those money reward surveys is a waste of my time. They have become something like the lottery to me. You keep hoping you’ll win, but you never do. But like the lottery, I get the feeling if I don’t fill out the survey, that will guarantee me not winning anything. I keep telling my wife that I have a feeling about filling out a survey or even playing the lottery. And that feeling usually ends up being gas. But I keep filling them out, because no one wants to be a loser of free stuff, do we? Yesterday we enjoyed a half price meal at Jack’s because I filled out their survey some time ago. That was worth my time!
Troy Reed
Hamilton, Ala.