Why Try?

I know it's a bad thing that I write every single day, whether I've got anything to say or not. I hope this is okay with you, my innocent victi^H^H^H^H^H readers - however many of you there are (I'm thinking like 6). It's sort of an addictive behavior. Perhaps subconsciously I'm dealing with my awareness of mortality by trying to download myself to hard copy while I still can, in hopes that someday someone will manually re-enter my thoughts and dreams and fears and hopes and the funny bits and poof! I'll live again. (Whoever you are, if you could please add some straight-up hotness, I'd consider it a huge favor - thanx!!)

So today's pointless meanderings are on the subject of the word "try," specifically as in Avis' motto, "We try harder."

They do have pretty good rates on rental cars.

When I was 10 weeks pregnant with Anna* I went on a business trip to a meeting-planning seminar in Cancun. The white-sand beach and the incredible, blue-crystal water were spectacular; the presentations, maybe not so much. One of the high-paid, professional motivational speaker-types was bald, which was popular at the time because everybody thought Stephen Covey was the bug's jugs. (You can still buy day-planners, if you're into that sort of thing, with his name emblazoned on them. You know - Mr. "Seven Habits of People Who Will Shell Out Ridiculous Amounts of Money To Have a Little Common Sense Slapped Into Them." Mr. "Embryonic Dr. Phil." Mr. "Kojak With Sensitivity Training." Mr. - well, you know who I mean.)

So anyway, this guy's big hook (because motivational speakers, much like movie pirates and porn stars, must have a big hook) was that the word "try" inherently represented a defeatist attitude and should never be used. Ever. For anything.

The first half of his presentation, he propounded this theory, then jumped on anyone who accidentally used the word "try" at any point. "Avis introduced the slogan 'We Try Harder,'" he informed us, "and within 6 months their sales had dropped 73%!"

I'm proud to say I called BS on that then (well, you know, inside my own head) because I'm pretty sure if that were true, they wouldn't still be using that as their slogan; which in fact, I am here to tell you today, they are. Also, they have pretty good rates on rental cars. Did I mention that already?

The second half of his presentation, I couldn't tell you about because I skipped out after break and went to sit on the beach.

I wish I'd had a laptop then. I'd have blogged about it. I'd be immortal!

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*I remember this with great precision because I couldn't drink, but the plentiful fresh pineapple really helped with my - oh wait, never mind.