After I reached 30 (0kay, 35), my birthday somewhat lost its glamour. Sure, I enjoy receiving cards and birthday greetings from family and friends; but I often catch myself lost in thought to actually how old I am when people ask. You see, I believe that age is just a number and your actual birth age is not connected to your mind, thoughts, how you look and act, what kind of music you listen to, car you drive, seniority at your job or how fast you can walk around the block. Most people, when asked, guess me around 10 years younger than my actual age. Maybe its because most of my friends, including my partner, are younger than me; or like me, are young in spirit.
Now when I contemplate my impending birthdays, if my age is not followed by a "0", as in 40, 50, 60...I don't give it much thought. What really does it mean to be 28? 36? 48? 53? Sure, society, or rather our egos, have set deadlines. When I was in my 20s, I thought it appropriate that my annual salary match my age. When I turned 30 I was making $30,000. Check. Done. Unfortunately, today's economy would put a $30,000 salary for a 30-year old in the lower middle class band. In my 20s I dreamt of owning a BMW. This, I thought, would be the penultimate measure of my career success. Today, in my mid-40s, I drive a 7-year old Toyota with over 124,000 miles on it; have never driven a BMW and don't plan on trading my vehicle anytime soon (and it won't be for a BMW). Growing up, and probably due to watching too much television, I thought that success in life meant going to college, getting a job, finding a husband, having a couple of kids, buying a nice house in the suburbs with a couple of vehicles in the driveway. The generational fairy tale of the baby boomers. My life? go to college for one year, get married, buy a small house, quit college with one semester left, have a baby, get a divorce, finish college, date the wrong guys, find the right guy, finish grad school, buy a townhouse. Mmm...never read this in any child storybook. I digress.
I'm sure you're reading this and wondering, what is the birthday bounty experiment?
I like getting free things or sale prices. Rarely do I purchase clothes, books or music unless they are on sale. I even negotiated the price of the furniture we bought new for our townhouse (much to the amazement of K. who never knew you could negotiate furniture - you do this for cars, right?). So, I sign up for emails, text alerts, Facebook groups, and twitter from retail stores that I like to visit. Companies are getting very net-savvy and social marketing is sweeping the country. Companies want to stay connected to you and love when you opt-in for their emails; oftentimes they ask for the month and date of your birthday as a way of enticing you to shop and buy more.
The emails and mailings for my 'birthday bounty' started arriving the first of December. Most of these 'gifts' are good for the month which is great for me. Not only will I partake of some of them (love to go to Caribou Coffee on my birthday for my free drink!), but I also use the incentives to purchase Christmas gifts for friends and family. So far, my birthday bounty consists of:
- Free drinks at Dunn Brothers and Caribou Coffee
- Free dessert at Buca di Peppo
- Free hamburgers at Lions Tap and Ruby Tuesday
- 15% off at Anthropologie
- $15 off at JCPenney
- 20% off Lane Bryant
- Free Shimmer Lip Gloss trio at Sephora
I won't partake of all the birthday offers I have received. And thankfully, these companies don't know my age. I don't need a BMW or a house with a picket fence, I get to go to Lions Tap and get a free hamburger. Now that's success.
