So what are the consequences of falling pray to a bait and switch? I went shopping in my Phillip Lim Nude Cody D’orsay Heels and took a break to have lunch. While my shoes and I were taking a load off, we couldn’t help but overhear a couple arguing over lunch a table next to ours. While we didn’t mean to side-bust on their rather private conversation, my shoes and I were the only company we had for one another. My shoes so happened to be flagrantly eavesdropping, so I had to join them. What initially caught our attention was when we heard, “Well you’ve changed.” Then came, “That’s was not what I signed up for,” and followed by, “Who the hell did I end up marrying? I don’t even know you anymore.” After gathering that they were married for a short time before the shit hit the fan and resentment made itself right at home, I couldn’t help but deduce that the the Mr. pulled a bait and switch on the Mrs.; with the Hubby giving the impression that after getting hitched, things between them were going to be something that obviously is not the case now, according to the Wifey. I began wondering where the term bait and switch came from and my brilliant Phillip Lim’s (so knowledgable about the retail world coming from Barney’s and all) informed, “In regards to buying products, a bait and switch is a misleading tactic making false claims about offering a product that was never intended on being sold, but rather switching the product for a lower quality or a higher sales margin. This is illegal and we can take action against the seller, who is guilty of baiting and switching, in order to get compensated.”
While my shoes were well versed in product knowledge, they wondered exactly how people interpret this term as it relates to relationships. While there’s really no clear definition, when we think some one has pulled a bait and switch, the descriptions always seem to contain the subjective feeling of getting duped. Besides our intuition or having an inkling that a person may not be who he or she seems to be, we enter into relationships under the pretense that what we see (and who we get to know) is what we get. To put in in terms my shoes could understand, I gave the analogy that like knock-offs don’t say “Imitation” on their labels, people-pretenders don’t have “Liar” tattooed in Old English gangster-style across their chests or “Prevaricator” tramp-stamped on their lower backs. Like anything that seems like it’s too good to be true, people still get suckered into the “deal.” Even the most cautious consumer can fall victim to a scammer; however, in regards to relationships and investing our time in our partners, if time equated to money, there are no refunds. I proceeded to explain that if we get thrown for a loop by some one who we found out or even by some one who we perceived did a lot of “false advertising,” the only thing we get in return is a reality check (Nope, can’t take that to the bank). Yes, it’s like getting kicked in the pants, or for shoes, it’s like breaking a heel, but those hard knocks are something we can’t buy. So, we must suppose they are invaluable learning lessons. My shoes then asked the question, “What if a person was a certain way at the beginning of a relationship, but then that person, unintentionally, just changed and no longer feels the same way about something or some one? That doesn’t really that counts, does it?” I had to warn them, since they once vowed to always have my back if they wanted to stay on my feet, that they better not even think about a justification for a bait a shoeitch.
Tags: Bait and Switch, change, life lessons, relationships, Sarah Frances, Shoe Stories
