Trickery and Deception - Sea Monkeys

Who remembers Sea Monkeys?

As an 8 year old kid with wide eyes and a penchant for being duped by the cleverest of schoolmates, I was hooked. The magical, intriguing offer on the back of the Archie Comic Book enticed me to send my hard earned money away, for the opportunity to grow Sea Monkeys. Prodded, encouraged and pushed, I filled out the form, paid my $1 plus postage and waited, and waited, and waited for them to show up in the mail.

Oh, how exciting to grow my own pets that would do tricks, AND be the hit of the party. All I had to do was add the “magic crystals” and let nature do the rest. The guy that came up with the Sea Monkey (brine shrimp) invention/deception was a clever trickster indeed. He marketed directly to children, appealing to innocence and the promise of something so much more fantastical than a dreaming, wishing, hoping, child could ever have imagined on their own. He sold a promise and delivered false goods.

Three painful weeks went by until that brown paper package graced my doorstep. Add the tap water, pour in the magic crystals, and voila, MY very own pets to train, watch over, educate, and nurture. In the beauty of the anticipation was a brewing excitement over all the accessories that could also be purchased once the Sea Monkeys were fully-grown and malleable to my wishes. It didn’t take long for my palpable disappointment to blossom over the mismatched promise and delivery. I had been duped.

Fast forward to current day life.

While hiking with a new “friend” we discussed at length the start of my new business as a Medical Intuitive, Reiki practitioner, and my budding new writing career. I was looking for a way to increase my profile and following, as was strongly suggested at the writers conference I recently attended on Maui.

With excitement and anticipation, I explained to her, my newness to social media and how I wanted my business to grow. The offer was made by said “friend”, that if I did an intuitive reading for her, she promised to write a blog about her experience (she is a long time blogger). I agreed. She asked for the reading that day and I obliged. Two hours of my time were delivered with an extremely accurate Intuitive Scan (confirmed by said “friend”).

Three disconcerting weeks went by so I sent a message asking when the blog would be done. Answer – “I never said I would do a blog”. “I don’t have time.” “My post on Facebook is equal in value.” “It didn’t resonate with me.” She promised a blog and renegged. The Facebook post described the session as "interesting". That's it. She confirmed the accuarcy of the session previously. The valuable lesson here for me, while reminding myself of the Sea Monkeys fiasco, and how incredibly disappointed I was in the mediocre offering with all its misrepresentation, I still need to pay attention to where I spend both my time and my hard earned money. I was cheated and duped. She got a free session and I got The Bums Rush.

Lessons are generally unpleasant and lead to questioning motives, intentions, and reasoning behind the act, along with any misunderstanding that may have occurred. I received a series of pleas from the "friend" telling me how wrong I was through numerous unwanted harrassing phone calls, emails, and text messages. They just kept coming with increasing anger and urgency. Thank God for the block and delete features. We agreed on an exchange of a reading for a blog post. It didn’t happen. It’s the Sea Monkeys all over again. It doesn’t matter how many fancy words, innuendos and nuances are suggested in the face value promise, “Open[ing] a Bowlfull of Happiness” could turn out to be a big pile of bull shit.

“Her words were like tinfoil; they shone and they covered things up.” ― Helen Cross

Business Etiquette 101

1. Make a promise, keep a promise. It's a contract.

2. Bartering is as good as cash if the exchange is mutual, and agreed upon.

3. Sometimes a lawyer tells you something you don't want to hear. You still have to pay the lawyer.

4. Make a point of remembering what it feels like to be taken. Then, make sure you never do it.

5. Learn the lesson and move on. Don't fight it. Life is too short to stay stuck in the mud.

Namaste Susan Leev Woodward

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