Oh, those darned robot overlords. The Facebook algorithms know just what ads to dangle in front of me so I’ll click. Last fall I kept clicking on an ad for a steel tongue drum. Its meditative tones were so lovely and rhythmic…. plus, if I ordered soon, it was half off! I waited several days before I ordered, but boy, howdy – did I order!
……. and then I waited for confirmation of my order. It took longer than a week, and then another week to say that it was going to be shipped, then much, much longer than a couple of weeks to actually ship. In the meantime, I Googled the ‘company’ and read all the terrible reviews about how people never received their goods. Stupid Lauren – I’m supposed to be more savvy than that!
After I went around admitting to people that I had been suckered, I finally got wind that my package was making its way across the ocean from China. For many, many days I tracked that package, learning its tracking number by heart: LS194396475CN. I’ll be whispering that number on my deathbed.
Anyway, it finally arrived! It looked exactly like a package that had been ordered before Thanksgiving and arrived long after New Year’s should look: battered and smashed.
Fortunately, the actual drum is made of very thick, heavy metal that could withstand the neglect. It’s not as lovely-sounding as the videos made it seem (again, I’m a sucker), but it is safely in my hands. I’ll take it as a win.