Lucky Chairs

What is it about lucky chairs that is so…

I was going to say appealing, but I don’t think that’s it.  We’re drawn to them (or not, if we have enough willpower  lol ) by something.  What is it?

First of all, for the uninitiated, a lucky chair is a chair that lets you sit in it, but only if the  initial of your first name matches a randomly drawn letter; at which point you win a prize, then get unceremoniously dumped from the chair.  What fun!  The chair then immediately picks a new letter.  So, what is it that draws us to such crazy appliance?

Is it the quality of the prizes that you win?  Um, no.  While some of the high profile shops will put some of their best items in the chairs, for the most part the prizes are mere novelties.  Do I really need a party hat, or a mop and bucket, or any of the other semi-cute things that I have won over my SL lifespan?  Not really.

Is it knowing that I’ll at least get something, if I but wait long enough for my letter to come up?  Not really.  I’ve seen the wait be quite long, with a person’s letter being repeatedly passed up by others that are inextricably more frequent.   Just last week, the person that I care about the most in SL was trying, with increasing frustration, to win a party hat for New Year’s.  She saw other letters come up more than once, while hers was seemingly ignored.  I finally gave her one that I had won; she accepted it graciously, but I suspect she really would have liked to win it on her own.

Is it because it’s a pleasant way to while away the hours?  Well, it isn’t, always.  I’ve seen some shops become madhouses when a particularly juicy piece of clothing is, literally, up for grabs, with large crowds of people waiting to pounce on the chair at the first appearance of their letter, regardless of who they step on to get there.   And if there is more than one avatar with that letter?  Whew!  You’d better get out of the way.

It’s just one of those things.  We do it for no demonstrably good reason, but we still participate.

And why would anyone actually have these chairs in their club or business?  To increase traffic, of course, and to lure potential shoppers.  Because when these folks finally get frustrated, or even while they’re waiting, they shop, and even buy, right there at the store.

I admit, I’ve sat in these chairs a lot, so I’m as guilty as anyone else, if guilty is the right word.  Sometimes because I’m bored, and my letter came up, sometimes for the bragging rights (or complaining rights, depending on what I got).  Have any of you SL residents had  any experience with these things?  I’d be interested in hearing about it.