Many companies, particularly in a society of computer and smart phone users, employ a process called auto-renew to seamlessly tie one cycle of financial obligation to another. It works on the one hand to the benefit of company and lazy customer and on the other hand to the customer’s detriment during forgetful moments. “Shoot! I meant to cancel that subscription, but now it’s too late. Oh, well, next year.” When one has a standing account affixed to a credit card or bank account, such forgetting is easy to do. At the same time, the process breeds in the customer an unconscious feeling of belonging, a bit like George Wendt’s character Norm affixed to the same barstool in the TV series Cheers. Each time Norm enters the bar, the occupants yell, “NORM!” as Norm walks to his regular place at the bar. Yes, auto-renewal is like that. We’re all “Norms” when we use it, and the company is eager to shout our name as we reenter its service or financial commitment. As in the lyrics to the show's theme song, the auto-renewal system is a bar "where everyone knows your name."
Many are content with a life like Norm’s, that is, a predictable life, even in ignorance of a specific and familiar name. Admit it. You have your favorite chair, bar or restaurant, vacation spot, hotel, or pillow. And, of course, your favorite individuals or groups who auto-renew their relationships. Once we’ve given out that personality card number, the whole social system becomes automatic, and we are suffused with a sense of security and, sometimes, complacency. Auto-renewal takes a conscious effort to cancel.
To cancel, we say, “I’m tired of what I do. I want a change for no other reason than I just don’t want to renew. I want to try something different.” But, saying that is easier than stopping the auto-renewal process. So, we go on eating what we shouldn’t be eating in amounts we shouldn’t eat, following some addiction or habit, or seeing the world from the same barstool. Occasionally, we try another barstool or even another bar and forego the auto-renewal process. And when we do decide not to renew, we discover something about ourselves we either did not know or long forgot. And in the discovery or memory, we undergo a feeling of insecurity—at least temporarily.
Auto-renewal, once established, is difficult for us to stop, but once we stop one auto-renewal, we often sign up for another because a life of constantly changing barstools requires a character trait difficult to maintain: The ability to find personal security in the midst of insecurity.
As the world temporarily halts the auto-renewal process because of the Covid-19 pandemic and as the bars lose their occupants and the barstools stand empty of their familiar occupants, each person has an opportunity to learn something new about life, to see from a different perspective, or to remember what was forgotten even in a bar where no one knows a name.
Many are content with a life like Norm’s, that is, a predictable life, even in ignorance of a specific and familiar name. Admit it. You have your favorite chair, bar or restaurant, vacation spot, hotel, or pillow. And, of course, your favorite individuals or groups who auto-renew their relationships. Once we’ve given out that personality card number, the whole social system becomes automatic, and we are suffused with a sense of security and, sometimes, complacency. Auto-renewal takes a conscious effort to cancel.
To cancel, we say, “I’m tired of what I do. I want a change for no other reason than I just don’t want to renew. I want to try something different.” But, saying that is easier than stopping the auto-renewal process. So, we go on eating what we shouldn’t be eating in amounts we shouldn’t eat, following some addiction or habit, or seeing the world from the same barstool. Occasionally, we try another barstool or even another bar and forego the auto-renewal process. And when we do decide not to renew, we discover something about ourselves we either did not know or long forgot. And in the discovery or memory, we undergo a feeling of insecurity—at least temporarily.
Auto-renewal, once established, is difficult for us to stop, but once we stop one auto-renewal, we often sign up for another because a life of constantly changing barstools requires a character trait difficult to maintain: The ability to find personal security in the midst of insecurity.
As the world temporarily halts the auto-renewal process because of the Covid-19 pandemic and as the bars lose their occupants and the barstools stand empty of their familiar occupants, each person has an opportunity to learn something new about life, to see from a different perspective, or to remember what was forgotten even in a bar where no one knows a name.
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