As a kid I enjoyed running races.  I ran 5 kilometer events and sometimes 10K races that my Dad would run in also.  Of course, you begin to notice the shoes other runners wear or the running kits with the matching shorts and tops that were designed to make the runner look like a sponsored athlete- the ultimate dream of a twelve year-old was to receive free gear.  One item that caught my eye and I finally saved enough money to order was a watch specially designed for runners.  The best feature was that you could program the watch to sound a ‘beep’ to set your stride cadence which in theory would help you stay on pace to run your planned per mile time.  I think the watch even had a calculator to compute all the details of your time after you finished- the second most important part of running was having extraneous information to share with other competitors (especially before you were old enough to enjoy a post-race primitive beverage).  So into the envelope went my order form and payment.  Days passed, weeks, then months and the watch never arrived.  Eventually I think I forgot about it but I was devastated that my progression as an athlete was stalled by a missing piece of equipment.  

I told this story to my kids the other night and they wondered what happened.  I told them my mistake was that I sent cash and therefore somebody on the receiving end was thirty-seven dollars richer and my order form probably found the trash.  My kids wondered why I did not call the credit card company, check the website, put a bad review on the company’s Facebook page.  I had to explain the realities of paper forms, hard currency, limited accountability, and an off-line world.

It was a reminder that sometimes people try to invest with passion into our causes and enterprises.  We pocket the compliment or appeal for more information without a second thought.  What we fail to see is that this individual is ready to commit.  Ready to invest in a more meaningful manner.  They want the watch, they are ready to run with our logo on their gear.  Instead they are left disappointed and disillusioned by our lack of responsiveness.  Some will even use social media and word-of-mouth to share their frustration and others will simply pick another cause.  It is important to remember that sometimes an order for a watch means a lot more.