Everyone seems to be going crazy about the new Playstation 5, only recently made available to buy. So many people have ordered it that there is a shortage. And now Amazon is investigating increasing reports that consoles have been stolen in transit. As you now get a “ping!” text message to tell you a delivery has been made, some people are getting the message when no delivery has actually taken place. Others receive a delivery, open the box with glee, and then discover it contains some electrical gadget they did not order, or, possibly even worse, it is full of rice! Well, I suppose that means that they have a good contribution to their post-Brexit, post-No-Deal stockpiling but at £450 pounds it’s rather expensive stockpiling!
As well as getting complaints about failure to deliver, Amazon is having to defend itself against accusations about not doing enough to prevent “scalpers”. What are “scalpers”? You may well ask. I did. I looked it up. The only association I made was with Red Indians (they didn’t call them First Nation People when the old films were made) in the old cowboy films. This 21st century version is different.
In the world of finance, I read, “Scalpers enter and exit the financial markets quickly, usually within seconds, using higher levels of leverage to place larger sized trades in the hopes of achieving greater profits from relatively small price changes.” But at a level more common to the rest of us, “scalpers” buy goods en masse, creating a shortage, and sell them on at inflated prices. Some people are re-selling very recently acquired Playstation 5 consoles on eBay or similar for £2,000!!
Another definition informed me that a “scalper” is:
1) A random person selling tickets to an event (sporting games, concerts, etc.) on the side of the road. Usually this person is normal and just trying to sell an extra ticket. 2) Inversely, a scalper is also the term used for a person who is trying to buy a ticket from someone on the side of the road.
Personally I am not at all affected by this Playstation problem. I am completely hopeless at that kind of activity. My teenage grandson went through a period when he was a bit younger of trying to persuade me to play the FIFA game with him. I was so bad and the football kept going in such random directions that the poor child would fall off his chair laughing!
I am not alone in this. TV and radio presenter Adrian Chiles wrote about it recently. Having read that playing computer games was good for your mental health, especially during these trying times of lockdown, he asked a friend for advice on a game to help him get started. He had had several goes in the past and had given up. Perhaps this would be different. His new try was no more successful though. His friend gave him advice, helped him along the way, chivied him along but poor Adrian Chiles found it all so frustrating that he decided that playing was BAD for HIS mental health, no matter what the general opinion was about it.
I am in total agreement.
I guess I’ll just stick to my normal anti-stress activities: reading, writing, drawing, painting, knitting, going on adventures (aka long walks), finding interesting recipes to try out, and even doing the occasional bit of housework. That’s just a selection. The list is quite endless really!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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