Academic

I'm catching up on blogging after traveling and doing some other things, and I noticed this Freakonomics post by Ian Ayres wondering if people are willing to pay a premium to not have a similar economic transaction with obligatory human contact.  Having a professional house cleaning service rather than a chatty weekly housekeeper, buying online rather than at a store, etc.  Of course, it's hard to separate out the "avoiding human contact" aspect from the "avoiding the hassle of driving, shopping, etc." aspect in some of these substitutes.

But I have to say I do this all the time.  I like to get manicures from time to time, and I know that if I go to the one where no one speaks English, I can just sit and relax and not have to answer questions about my kids, family, vacation plans, etc.  These nail salons are usually cheaper than other ones, but I would be willing to pay a premium not to engage while having my precious "me" time.  My gym membership also came with a few free personal trainer sessions.  At our first session, I told the poor guy that I really didn't want to chat while I worked out.  He seemed relieved, actually.

This trend also seems to be changing business models of firms who historically focused on time-intensive personal contact to sell products, such as Tupperware and Creative Memories scrapbooking.  Not too long ago, I tried to buy both types of products without a representative, and could not.  Here, these businesses are not only selling products, but also trying to "sell" job opportunities to become sales representatives.  If customers can buy online, then that selling opportunity is gone.  But sometimes, I just wanted scrapbooking supplies and really didn't want to create a scrapbooking relationship at that time.  So, I went to Michael's and bought cheaper scrapbooking supplies.  Well, recently, Creative Memories began selling online.  I notice now Tupperware does also.  Want to buy Skin So Soft without waiting for an Avon lady to come by with a catalog and leisurely have coffee at your kitchen table -- Avon lets you do that now.

And if you're wondering where the catchy title phrase came from, read the Freakonomics post, which details Charlie Sheen's response to why he was an aficianado of paid escorts.  Just when I thought he might be smarter than I gave him credit for, commenters point out that he is not the first celebrity to explain that he was not paying for sex, but instead paying for someone to leave.