A True Tale of free stuff...

Through volunteering, my friend's mother was able to score four free tickets to a sneak preview of "Inkheart" which she was kind enough to share with me.  If you ever get sneak preview tickets, you should always arrive extra early (at least an hour, or maybe more if the movie is really popular) for a couple of reasons.  One, sneak preview tickets are often over printed (meaning they hand out more tickets than they have seats to fill), and two, it's not uncommon for radio stations to do some kind of promo contest before the movie starts (least that seems to be the norm in Nashville).

For knowing that "Antidisestabilishmentarianism" is the longest word in the English language (discounting some scientific term), I was given my choice of a free T-shirt, novel, or journal.  As I'm already swimming in T-shirts and have read the novel, I went with the journal (which being unlined will be a nice lighter weight replacement for the sketch book I carry around).  While it wasn't a huge thing, it did get me thinking about various free stuff I've won in contests over the years.

Waiting in line for Star Wars: Ep I, I won "Beach Boys" tickets.  By call-in radio trivia, I won on seperate occasions free tickets to the Harlem globe trotters, an electric toothbrush (which strange kid that I was I had been wanting for a while), and tickets to the parade of Homes (which I tried to win for my mom, then she never used *sniff*).  In highschool, I won two scholarships.  One was a $500 savings bond for a speech contest, which took a bit of my time, but not any more money than the cost of a blank tape.  The other was an essay contest which paid my tuitition for two years (and might have done for 4 if health issues hadn't popped up).  I also applied and was accept to two different summer programs during highschool that didn't cost anymore than transportation.

I'm not particularly special (beyond the everyone is special sort of special).  I have not won every contest I entered.  I rarely get through on radio trivia questions.  I applied for scholarships and essay contests that I didn't get.  And honestly I was pretty shocked that I did get that Honors scholarships, cause I know I must have been up against some 4.0 GPAs...my G.P.A., while respectable, was at the lower end of the qualifying range.  The uniform factor that allowed me to win what I have won is that I tried.  I raised my hand, I called the station, I filled out the paper work and sent in the essay.

Caution is always wise.  Personal information has become more and more valuable, so I would be reluctant to give my name, address, etc. to a company I had never heard from, there are many scams out there...and most of those mall contests are really out to sell you something.  I'd never give someone my credit card number to "hold my place" for a vacation.  I avoid entering "contests" that require any sort of entry fee as those feel too much like gambling to me.   However there are a lot of perfectly legitimate contests out there.  If you're familiar with the company or organization and everything looks on the up and up, there's no reason to not take a few seconds and enter.  Raise your hand or call in if you know the answer to the trivia question, you might win something fun or useful.