The High Cost of “Free” Parasailing

When I was younger, I didn’t value my time very much. There always seemed to be plenty of it, so I took it for granted. Over the years, it has become clear to me that if I don’t value my time, no one else will. A few years ago while vacationing in Mexico, I learned that lesson the hard way.

Andrea and I were enjoying a relaxing week in Cabo San Lucas.

Everything was going well, until I saw the sign – “Free Parasailing!” As adventurous people who appreciate the value of a dollar, we were tempted by the allure of anything free, especially parasailing. Probably too good to be true, but we decided to check it out anyway. As we warily approached the sign’s owner, two thoughts crept into my head – 1) nothing in life is free and 2) you get what you pay for. Undeterred by common sense, we made our way to the front of the line.

Sure enough, there was a catch. To get our free parasailing tickets, we would have to attend a brief presentation on the virtues of owning a timeshare in Mexico. Easy enough. We could sit through a short presentation on almost anything for free tickets. Despite having heard countless timeshare presentation horror stories, I desperately wanted to parasail for free. I figured all we had to lose was just our time.

As the presentation entered its fourth hour, I was fully convinced that “brief” meant something entirely different in Spanish than it did in English, and that we were most likely going to die before it came to an end. Early on, in the interest of easing my guilt, I explained that we were really only there for the free parasailing tickets and that we didn’t want to waste any of their time. Our pleas fell on deaf ears. Apparently our agent was told to close the deal or risk bodily harm, because he would not take no for an answer. We toured the entire facility twice, endlessly calculated the “low, low” costs of timeshare ownership and were passed around to three different sales agents, each with an equally indomitable sales approach. Finally, sensing defeat, our lead agent told us to wait for “the manager”.

We thought about running, but we had already invested the entire afternoon into the venture and were stubbornly determined to get our free tickets. When “the manager” showed up looking quite possibly like the most intimidating mobster I had ever seen, I realized that my choices were limited to either buying a new Cabo timeshare or never being heard from again. Thankfully, he had no desire to kill us and eventually sent us on our way with our precious tickets.

Tired and hungry, but finally free, we tried to enjoy our parasailing. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that parasailing in Mexico is both cheap and fast.

We had given up over four hours of our lives for what ended up being a four and a half minute parasailing ride worth only about $30. Four hours of vacation time no less!

Now, a little older and a little wiser, I realize that my time is the most valuable resource I have. I try to cherish every moment and not haphazardly waste my time on gimmicks that promise untold riches for only “a few minutes” of my time. Take it from me, there’s always a catch. There already aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do everything that I want to. Why waste any of them?

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