Let’s talk about expectations. Everyone has them. They become a problem when yours are different from someone else’s. They are maybe not what we want to happen, but they are what we have mentally prepared for.
I didn’t have many expectations when it came to this class. I didn’t have many friends older than I was and none of them were advertising majors, so I hadn’t even heard of this class until I got the email saying I had been on a waitlist and I could now register. Talking about it before the first day always went something like “Curiousness? What’s that about? I’m curious. (Hur hur hur.)” The people asking always thought they were being clever while really they just induced eye rolls from anyone within earshot. I would always respond with a gracious shrug because I too was curious. I didn’t really know WHAT to expect but I didn’t expect to be blogging. I always saw blogging as a way for me to put my thoughts and ideas into the world somewhat anonymously with small chance of anyone seeing them and an even smaller chance of anyone caring. But then here is this weird, uncomfortable, kinda out-there class that goes “hey, write a blog!” And I’ll be honest, I got scared. It made me nervous because this time people would be READING my things. And grading them. That’s a lot of pressure. I’m constantly asking myself “is this good enough?” because I don’t want to put anything out there that I know people are actually going to see and have them be like, “well that just sucks.” I have about ten posts that I just haven’t posted because they aren’t ‘perfect’ yet. I take criticism hard and it doesn’t help that I’m my own worst critic. Compound that with the fact that now I have followers and I get all itchy posting anything. Knowing that there are people who get an email every time I publish a post is discomforting.Why are they even ‘following’ me? Like, yes, I know how following works on social media, but my motivation for following people is always one of two things: either you entertain me or you inspire me, that is why I will follow you. Am I either of those things? Am I now required to continue being entertaining/inspiring or do I just ignore those people altogether and pretend I’m just rambling to myself? (Which is actually exactly what I’m doing right now, if you think about it.) I’m conflicted.
Not the point. *Exhale*
Done rambling.
So, expectations. What expectations do we have when it comes to cars? How can I talk about VW meeting/surpassing those expectations?
Well I don’t actually drive, so I’ll do this a little differently and talk about my expectations as a passenger. What do I want from a car (as a person who isn’t in the driver’s seat)? Since coming to Richmond I’ve been in three minor car accidents (no one was hurt thankfully) where the fault was not on the driver of the car I was in. Those experiences have put worst-case-scenario safety pretty high on my list of necessary things because other drivers are stupid and can’t be trusted to not kill me.
What else? I want driving to be fun, no matter who is driving or what the destination is. (Everyday motoring pleasure, anyone?) This means I guess a generally simple and straightforward interface, as opposed to something like the car from that Monster’s Inc short “Mike’s New Car”.
Even though I wouldn’t be the one paying for gas, I think I’d still want to feel good about a minimized environmental impact (I still care about the planet!) and so good milage and energy-saving features are preferable.
Comfortable seats, efficient temperature modulators, and a good stereo system. I’ve sat in too many hot cars with crappy vinyl seats and fuzzy, too-loud-in the-back speakers. Part of a good driving experience is the actual experience, and I’m not cool with poor quality workmanship that’ll crap out in five years. For me, enduring value promises a nice car that will still provide a good driving experience in ten or twenty years.
So now how do I present this idea? Brain blast! (pardon my geekout.) Let’s make it a ‘date night’! A girl goes on a blind date with a guy and we are privy to her inner-monologue about her expectations and judgements. She’s standing outside checking her phone her thoughts pop up as text. phone reads six fourty five. [He’s not late yet.] She gets a text from him and it says, “Guy: Hey it’s John, on my way.” she texts back, “What kind of car should I be looking for?” [Let’s see what I’m working with here.] “Black Volkswagen.” is the reply. [A VW? Maybe he cares about the planet…] She gets another text: “Red dress?” and glances up to see a recent Jetta model idling at the corner [Wow, that’s a Volkswagen?]. She walks over and he gets out to come open the door but she says, “I’ve got it this time.” and opens the door herself. He grins and gets back in. As she gets in the car we see a variety of thought-texts: [Clean car, but is it always?] Satellite radio is playing a fairly well-known upbeat indie song [Good taste in music, not too loud.] [Stick shift, so he’s not lazy and he knows how to drive.] She then looks at him as he smiles and reaches out for an awkward handshake and a “Nice to meet you.” (let’s be realistic, blind dates are kind of awkward). We see more thoughts: [Well-dressed but not overdone.] [Bowtie: bonus points] [Nice hair.] [Great smile.] “So where are we going for dinner?” He says, “Well I’m told you like italian and I heard about this great place downtown..” “Joey’s?” “Yeah, actually, have you been there?” “I love Joey’s!” He turns to his dash and holds his phone up to tell Siri, “take us to Joey’s.” [iPhone, reasonable. Not the stupid one either.] The car then links up to his phone and starts giving hands-free directions [Cool, he never has to ask for directions.] At a stoplight he turns and says she can change the song if she likes and with a mischievous grin she takes the phone and tells Siri to play Pandora. He shoots her a momentary look of mild panic as it loads and starts playing a station called “Christmas Favorites”. She laughs as he grins sheepishly “Christmas in August?” “I’m a fan of Christmas music, not gonna deny it.” [Honest, I like it.] They jam out to carols for the rest of the ride and he parallel parks near the restaurant using the backup camera. [Didn’t know they had those in VW’s.] [He can park too, very nice.] as they get out he runs around the car to open her door for her. “I insist.” She rolls her eyes and lets him but opens the door to the restaurant herself and holds it open gesturing for him to go in first. “I insist” she says sarcastically. He laughs and says “touche” as he goes in first. “Reservation for Baker.” [He plans ahead.] As they’re seated and their drink orders are taken he gets a concerned look. “Did I lock my car?” She shrugs and he pulls out his phone and opens an app and uses it to lock his car. [VW does that?] “What? you just locked your car from here? That’s so cool.” He then shows her the app and she plays around with it, accidentally setting off his alarm for a couple of seconds she blushes furiously from embarrassment and he collapses into laughter so she laughs too. She hands the phone back and says, “that’s awesome, not what I expected from a VW.” “Yeah, they’re totally underrated.” [Maybe he’s as underrated as his car, Katie didn’t tell me he was this great…] Fin.
That was fun. I don’t know if anyone else will get a kick out of it, but I know I did. It might be a little too in-your-face and not polished enough, but there’s my idea.
Copy Write Paste 