Text messaging for great wins

You're missingone thing: your attention is being directed from spending to winning. Once you're onthat route, entering raffles, draws and competitions becomes cheap.

Here is a quiz for you: How many text messages do you need to send to radio shows before you win a dinner voucher or a hotel stay?

It is all about luck, right? But do you keep track of how much you spend in money and mental space to get, say, Dh300 or Dh500 in return? Text messaging falls way outside the sphere of entertainment for many people, but for others it is a way to communicate with strangers even if they don't get anything in return. They may fill the vacuum of being cut off from family and friends, but in most cases the only winner is the telecom operator or the radio station which collects returns from its callers and message fans.

Additionally, I believe, the questions, or to be precise, the answers, are not really flattering to anyone's intelligence. Take this one which asks listeners to carefully follow an advertisement and then answer a question on a certain product. Don't you see the abuse of your time and money?

If not, and if you think that whole game of sending text messages to win something is much lighter and genuinely harmless, you might be right in a way. After all, what harm can 30 fils a day cause? You definitely won't go bankrupt, it won't affect your cash flow, and the possibility of winning something justifies the minimal spending.

But you're missing one thing: your attention is being directed from spending to winning. Once you're on that route, entering raffles, draws and competitions becomes cheap.

Forget about the 30-fil text message. When it comes to winning a luxury car, for example, you will be easily willing to pay, say Dh200, hoping for the great ride. There is no lack of those spending opportunities, especially with the approach of the Dubai Shopping Festival. Until then, you may turn on the TV, there seem to be enough channels promising a fortune if you figure out why a rabbit doesn't want to eat a carrot.

No schadenfreude

Reading about different psychological problems has always appealed to me with the exception that I usually relate to the symptoms. So is the case, I hope, with many of those who read about physical or mental disorders. However, I think I broke free recently when I read about the Wealth Fatigue Syndrome (WFS) in the Telegraph. Not really a surprise. This syndrome hits the super-rich who lose interest in their possessions of mansions, yachts and jewellery, and become vulnerable to misery just like us who are tired of living from one paycheque to another. They start to spend like crazy, just to cover their sadness and depression, according to a psychoanalyst quoted by the paper.

Poor them, I thought, without even the slightest sympathy.

Relating to the poor sounds much easier. Perhaps because of where I stand between the two extremes. But the interesting side of the WFS is to see how the super-rich are managing their money as their excitement becomes dependent on taking more and more risks financially and physically. So what would they do? Go swim with sharks or take an adventure trip in remote areas. While this may not be an option for people who relate to fatigue more than wealth, it offers another "money doesn't make you happy" example for our relief.