“The first shot is free.”

I look at the item the toothless man shoves in my hand.

It’s a gun.

The American’t instinct™ awakens the second I grab it.

Like it’s second nature, I raise the gun, take aim, and pull the trigger.

BANG

…

THUD

The small red cup gets knocked down.

“Okay that was pretty good! Let me make you a deal. If you hit 2 more cups you can get a prize! It’s just $10 for 3 shots.”

I know what’s coming next. This is classic sales. Hook em in with a free thing and then give them a second “offer”

Unfortunately I’m in too deep.

The person holding my arm has stars in their eyes. I could very much say “nah I’m good gang” and nothing would happen.

But this is my first time at a fair. Even though I’m aware of all the scams the new experiences are racking alongside an expensive bill.

I’m talking fried OREOS and fried ALLIGATOR, and the worst corndog I’ve ever had teh displeasure of eating.

“Alright let’s do it.” I say fully knowing I’m about to get scammed.

The man smiles ear to ear and hands me a second dart-loaded gun.

Same as usual. Raise the gun, take aim, and shoot.

Bang

Thud

Bang

Miss

The man smiles at that miss. Before he can say anything I take the final shot.

Bang

It’s a miss…

Except the dart hits the wall, bounces back and knocks the cup from behind.

“Congratulations! That was pretty good!” Says the man.

And like clockwork:

“Wouldn’t you want a BIGGER prize????? I’ll make you a second deal. 2 More cups and you can get a bigger prize. Only $10 more.”

I look at the person next to me. Their voice says no but their eyes says yes.

Oh well, what’s $20 more at this point? The fried alligator was more expensive.

“Deal.” I say.

The man shows his missing teeth again and loads up the gun with 3 more darts.

At this point you already know what happens.

Bang bang, drop drop.

I look at the person next to me and tell her to pick what she wants.

Before she can say anything the man comes back

“Congratulations! You have a good shot. If you wa-”

I give him the $20 before he can finish that sentence. “I’m good man. It’ll be that racoon plush. Thanks for the shots.”

And then we get back in the line for the ride we missed due to my inability to say no.

(Yeah, we had to wait an extra 20 minutes because of that little antic. Ride was cheeks too.)

Here’s the interesting thing about it though…

After every purchase I like to sit down and analyze the steps that led up to that decision.

In this case it was a bit of novelty, ego, and because it was fun to shoot the sh!t (literally) for a $0.5 alibaba raccoon plushie.

So even though most people would rightfully say I got fleeced it’s still a new experience.

Cope aside, the big takeaway from this is:

You can make people do unreasonable things by being encouraging and making them feel good.

At every step of the way the toothless man kept encouraging and stroking my pride.

No matter how much I knew it was a scam the compliments kept me hooked.

Then the second paret was the commitment.

This is easily triggered by giving people a taste of the behavior you want them to do. But that just makes me sound like a drug dealer, lmao.

It works the same way with music. Finding an amazing song for the first time that hooks you in will trigger that commitment.

Of course. you don’t have to pay $20 for 7 shots of it.

Such are the wonders of streaming.

Today’s song is something special.

This is by Dirty Dutch artist Droeloe.

He has probably the most unique sound design in the game.

I know that is something you hear at least once a week.

But that is the wonder of electronic music. Finding sounds that stand out and are simply not possible by traditional instruments.

This one is unique and hard to describe. My best attempt would be crunchy but smooth. Dark but bright. Gritty but clear.

It’s genuinely impressive to listen.

And while I can’t make you feel good about listening to today’s song...

I can hook you up and give you a taste. You did sign up to find more music after all.

And if this is your first shot at this artist, well, at least it’s free.

Njoy.

Genre:

Hz

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