The Blue Fox Alley

I ought to be running through the points in my thesis, which is about Saint Augustine’s Confessions, but I find myself spending time to write about an unwarranted bag of chimerical rage that is taking place on the other side of the planet. However, this post is not tl;dr. Yes. This post is about the disappointment of certain fans in regards to the May’n autograph session.

To Those Who Felt Scammed: You Have The Right To Feel Disappointed

There is a big misunderstanding about some commentators and bloggers being ‘uncaring and indifferent‘ towards the sad plight of the disappointed May’n fans. There is a need to bring this out into the open and it is that No One Is Denying Your Right To Express Yourself. Although the disappointed fans have been subjected to rather sordid and harsh comments by others, this ‘victimization’, as some fans might perceive it to be, is does not mean you are now allowed to express your feelings. If the ‘satisfied’ fans had blogged about how great the autograph session, would it not be the case that the subsequent retort by the disappointed fans be a demand for the former to ‘shut up?’

So basically, no one is stopping you from being disappointed, especially if you had traveled from your home country down to Singapore to attend the event.

It is about expectations.

I believe those who have a better understanding than I do have already stated that the organisers were inexperienced, thus, there were parts of the event that need improvement. The main irk, which has been the source of fuel for the unnecessary dorama, is that the Diamond-pass holding fans were not told that they were going to be receiving ‘whiteboards’.

With the lack of knowledge, what we non-Japanese fans did was to purchase the Diamond pass with our expectations being that the autograph session would allow us to get May’n to sign a personal item of ours. If the disappointed fans had been told that they would only be receiving ‘whiteboards’, perhaps things would have been different. Our future plans are based on expectations.

But then, who is to judge whether it was worth the money purchasing the Diamond Pass?

So now there are people who feel ‘scammed’ because all they got was just a ‘whiteboard’ and people are asking whether the Diamond pass was worth its price. What the Diamond pass promise was a place in the exclusive VIP area of the concert, which guaranteed a good close-up look of our dear Miss Mei Nakabayashi aka May’n, a handshake, and the grant of an autograph from the singer herself.

Disappointed fans claim that the denial of a request to have May’n sign their personal items has rendered the Diamond pass dubious of its worth. Putting the fact that we were all ill-informed, I would like to make a humble inquiry: is there a right way to value the worth of the Diamond Pass? The satisfaction in consuming a certain good varies with different individuals, I doubt there is a way to objectively judge the satisfaction that one can derive from consuming a specific product.

Here comes the act of self-defense against this: Obviously you do not know what it means to spend your hard-earned money and to find yourself ‘cheated’. You uncaring bloke whatever.

There are two ways that I can approach as an attempt to defend myself of such an accusation.

1) “I beg to differ when I am subjected to a claim of me being an uncaring brat who is indifferent to the importance of money; logically speaking, I could have spent that money on food and other necessities.”

The above quote would be my answer and this argument would move on to the next phase when the disappointed fans would point out that a non-May’n fan would not understand the significance of seeing the lady live and all that.

If that were to happen, please refer to the precious point about how perceived value is usually a subjective issue. Take me for example, I can never comprehend why some people, especially white-wannabe Asians, drown themselves with overpriced Starbucks coffee while they could spend less money on a cheaper substitute and still get the same satisfaction. It is really depends on the individual’s opinion.

2) I am a May’n fan. I was one of those who paid for Diamond pass and I am pretty satisfied with what I got. From where I am looking, I see Jean-Jacque Rousseau laughing up in heaven at the silliness of this event.

So what do you think we ought to do?

Stop arguing as this dorama has been an insult to the intellect of those who had the misfortune of stumbling upon it. No one is wrong. No one is right. But there is a need for rational discussions between the fans and the organisers if there is to be an AFA next year.

Remember. If you are disappointed, it is your liberty to feel that way and no one has the right to stop you from doing so. Next, this discussion has to end as it is nothing but a case of different expectations. Simply share your thoughts with the organisers so that improvements can be made in the future.

The ‘damage’ has been dealt, the rage has to simmer eventually, and life goes on.

Low level dorama is low level. And oops. tl;dr.

P.S. So I heard Citigroup has been bailed out. I wonder who is next to fall. The car companies?

P.P.S. I really need to work on my paper.