Remember how I whinged about the fact that the order I placed through the city Birkenstock shop hasn’t been filled?
Well, I went and got a refund on my $50 deposit the other day. The shop assistant who served me (the same person who told me that they didn’t prioritise single orders) apologised profusely and said they will no longer be offering to fill single orders, because they can’t fill them! I told her that if I’d known they weren’t able to come up with the goods I wouldn’t have bothered and would have just ordered my shoes online. It’s a pity they’re not taking a more proactive approach and looking at how they can improve their service, rather than just taking the easy way out and ceasing it.
And I am a sucker for their shoes; I succumbed and bought a pair anyway. I couldn’t get my Londons, instead I now have some Casablancas. (Was this the right message to give them? “You didn’t fill my order but I’ll buy from you regardless…”)
Of course I have since realised that I have more online “presences” than the few I have linked to. I’ve added a couple more but I don’t know if it’s worth listing everything. Especially accounts that have been inactive for a while (six months or longer), and that I can’t be bothered to expend any more energy into. At some point you have to wonder how many online accounts you really need - is it really worth it? The Librarian in Black recently pondered the same question and stated that “I am starting to find it a rather time-consuming, and, frankly, annoying process.”
Don’t get me wrong, having a profile in Facebook, MySpace, Ning, LibraryThing, or whatever does have its benefits - I enjoy making connections with people and participating in discussions and events and what-have-you, even if I am not the most active or prolific poster, and you never know when an old contact will stumble on you when they create an account on one of those sites. It’s great when someone you haven’t been in contact with for years, messages or emails you as a result of finding your details online. I just wish it didn’t take quite so much effort to maintain all these profiles.
Will it ever be possible, or even desirable, to just have the one uber profile to use as a citizen (so to speak) of the global network? Something that functions a bit like a passport does now - allowing you entry into virtual locations without your having to reestablish your identity every single time you visit.
