I’d like to break my streak talking about the pandemic and instead share something that lifted my spirits a bit this weekend.

One of the lessons I try to impart on my students is that there is often no harm in asking or making requests from others. I’d much rather my students take accountability ahead of time to ask for things like extensions, rather than to come to me after the deadline has passed and ask for accommodation. This is not to say I never grant extensions after a deadline because I know that we all can be absent-minded from time to time.

Case in point – this weekend, I allowed a coupon promotion to lapse from Audible. I had received a coupon code from Audible based on some purchases I had made back in February. The deadline to use the coupon was April 4th, and I kept intending to sign-on from my computer to browse options (I find the app’s interface hard for surfing titles). And yet, at around 1am on April 5th, I realized I had missed out.

The coupon’s value was $5-off any regular purchase, so I wouldn’t be out much if the coupon didn’t work. Nevertheless, I took a leaf from my own book and emailed customer service to ask if I could have an extension on the offer. At best, they would abide by their deadline and tell me “no,” which wasn’t a huge loss to me since I had already “lost” the value of the coupon after the deadline. But, there was no downside to asking and it was entirely upside.

Thankfully, customer service extended the deadline on my coupon, no questions asked. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome and was glad to follow my own advice.

Hope you are keeping safe!

Stay Awesome,

Ryan