A couple of my dearest friends were in the market for a new table radio. "We had a chance to hear that Bose Wave thing, and it sounded pretty great."
My heart sank. I couldn't let this happen. I'd heard the Bose Wave thing, too, but I had never really paid much attention to it. When I found myself near one, I did whatever I could to turn down the volume. I took this opportunity, however, to learn a bit about it. I visited the Bose Wave website, and was absolutely off-my-ass shocked to find out that it sold for $500.
$500?!
"Yeah, we want something that'll play our CDs and DVDs, something we can plug the iPod into."
"Dearest friends," I said, "for that kind of money, you have lots of options."
I was careful not to push my personal preferences on them, careful also not to be condescending, although I was tempted to trash the hell out of that Bose Wave player. I suggested links to websites where they could learn about other systems — systems that had all the features they were looking for, fell within the same price range, and might even offer greater sound quality.
It wasn't hard.
Time passed. I wondered if my friends had decided to buy the Bose thing after all, or if they'd just forgotten all about it. Then one day, I heard from them.
"We're really interested in the Polk I-Sonic."
I encouraged them to go for it.
Time passed. I became slightly sick with worry.
What if they don't like it? I decided to call and see how they were doing.
"...And, Stephen, our new stereo..."
"Yeah?"
"It's
wonderful. I hear things I never heard before. The sense of space is amazing. It's going to make me listen to all of my old CDs in a completely new way."
Exactly. I was incredibly happy and relieved to hear this.
