Smoke and Mirrors

“This hotel does not have a good rating,” I said to my travel buddy as we were looking to select a hotel for a trip.  Anything less-than four- or five-out-of-five review stars was not worth my consideration; this particular hotel had three-out-of-five review stars.

“I like to read what people say with their rating,” my travel buddy stated, “As people sometimes rate hotels low for silly things.”  I began to read the comments with this and other low-rated hotels – anything having three review stars that is; I continued to skip over the ones with less than three stars.

My travel buddy’s assertion proved to be the case in some instances, meaning folks rated hotels low for things such as having a small room when small rooms were the norm in the particular areas we were searching.  Then there were times when the ratings were low for cleanliness, location, or the responsiveness/friendliness of staff.  Those hotels were most certainly a no-go.

Mind you, I use review ratings for many things – from any type of purchase to trying a new recipe.  Additionally, reading the reviews tends to be my norm.  My friend was attempting to encourage me to consider the places that had the middle-of-the-road reviews by reading what people said.

Oddly enough, my travel buddy’s words came back to haunt me.

A couple of friends and I recently decided to book a horseback riding excursion.  The ranch was chosen, tickets paid, and research completed.  On my end, I examined the ranch’s website. Solid.  Googled the location, which was near a well-known town and close to a main interstate.  Check. Last, searched the review ratings for the ranch.  Four out-of-five stars.  We were set.

The day of our excursion arrived and we made our way to the location, carpooling in two separate cars due to logistical reasons.  We exited the interstate and began to make our way toward the ranch.  As we winded through the back roads, the question “where are we” began to skip around the back edges of my mind, as we were traveling a little farther off the interstate than it initially appeared on the map and the roads were twisting into the mountain like a snake; it was also beginning to look backwoodish. I shook off the question, as we were still within a reasonable distance from the main road.  It was a beautiful day and we were about to have a great time.

The GPS led us directly to the ranch.  We were excited! As we made the left into the driveway and up the slight hill – my heart sank.  The buildings were dilapidated, some of the horses looked like they missed a meal or two (or ten), there were piles of old and new horse manure all over the driveway…and everywhere else for that matter.  We had yet to park.  I – in that moment – wanted to leave.

There is much more to be said about the horseback riding excursion, which I may share in a different post…but I’ll sum up our experience by saying: we were bamboozled.  Three hours later we decided to leave without riding any horses; it was a surreal experience. Nevertheless, we laughed and laughed as the experience bonded us even closer as friends.

As we made our way home, I (the passenger) grabbed my phone and googled the ranch again.  Wait – let me stop calling it a ranch.  The website was solid because it did not actually show the full property…just a teeny-tiny portion of it (teeny-tiny).  All other pictures were in a meadow, field, and stream-crossing not in relation to the property.  Additionally, I double-checked the well-known review site I had googled before our excursion. Yep, four-out-of-five stars. However, I clicked to read the reviews, which I had neglected to do before. BIG MISTAKE.

The property did not have a lot of review comments, yet the most recent ones within the last year were all low and horrible.  How in the world did this place even have four stars?  Because one of the property volunteers (as identified in the reviews) periodically reposted the same review, giving the place five stars.  That rating mixed with past decent ratings (over a year old) raised the score. My travel buddy’s words danced around my mind because in this instance, the opposite had occurred.  The review comments had been poor and spot on; they were not rating the place negatively about silly things.  Instead, there was someone giving a false review to make the place appear better than it actually was.

Smoke and mirrors… aka“something that distorts or blurs facts, figures, etc., like a magic or conjuring trick; artful deception.” [1]

Bamboozled.

The aforementioned experiences sometimes ring true when interacting with others.  There are times when individuals’ reputations serve as their review, causing people to determine whether or not they are someone to whom they will give their time and attention.

Thus, I was reminded that just like businesses, there are times when people’s reputations have been given a low score and they have been written-off by others because of silly things, whereas people highly regarded are full of false accolades and dilapidated egos. On the flip side, a questionable reputation may be warranted and a well-respected person worth their salt.

The events written in this post reminded me to do my research, just like when reviewing businesses, to avoid being bamboozled by people.  This research includes observing people’s actions and listening to their words – as they will eventually speak their truth through both their words and actions, revealing what is beyond the smoke and mirrors, which will ultimately be their true beliefs and motives.

[1]Smoke and mirrors [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Dictionary Online, Retrieved October 7, 2018, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/smoke-and-mirrors