Great Expectations, part 3

It may not surprise you to know that I continue to be disappointed by my own lofty expectations, but I’m wondering…is it really my fault?

Let me describe some recent examples of when my experiences did not live up to my expectations, and you can be the judge.

• The Illusionist at Palace Theater in SF ($50-65).

First, let me say that I love magic shows, but I don’t go to them very often because there aren’t very many of them in the Bay Area. Pre-covid, world-class magicians would come to my workplace and do a mini-show a few times a year, but that hasn’t happened since the pandemic. I still recall this amazing levitating table act where I was completely mesmerized (and confused) because I could not see the strings that were controlling the table. When I went to Vegas for the first time last year I saw David Copperfield, which I also thought was great. I probably would have tried to see Shin Lim if there were tickets available, but that will have to be next time.

All that to say — when I found out via a work Slack channel for magic enthusiasts that there was a show in SF, I was excited. A fellow employee (that I didn’t know) recommended the show on the channel, and said he liked it so much he saw it twice. Coincidentally, a friend also told me the same thing right before I watched the show, so my expectations were sky high.

Well, let me be the first to tell you that the show was just okay, and I wouldn’t go back to watch a second time. My main problem was the false advertising: according to Google, the definition of illusionist is “a person who performs tricks that deceive the eye.” David Copperfield is an illusionist; he made things appear and disappear on stage, and it was awesome. Kevin Blake did not make things appear or disappear…and one “trick” he performed was just a memory act (he memorized a lot of numbers), with no magic. I will say that the venue was cool and Kevin was an entertaining performer, but he’s not an illusionist, and therefore the show fell well short of my expectations.

• Barbie ($25).

How I feel about Barbie is how I felt about Avengers: Endgame — overhyped and overrated. I don’t understand how Barbie has a 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and how it’s made over $1 billion. Granted, I saw the movie when I was tired, but I definitely closed my eyes for part of the movie, and I found out later that a couple of my friends also dozed off for part of the movie.

Look, there were redeeming qualities about the movie: the set design was cool, and Ryan Gosling was hilarious. I even thought the overall message was fine…it just didn’t have a compelling story and I wanted to go to sleep for parts of it. I’m very confused by all the people out there who raved about how good the movie was because…it just wasn’t.

• AVP Chicago (free* except flight, lodging, and food).

It was my first time traveling out of state to watch an AVP tournament, and I was looking forward to it. Chicago seemed like a cool venue, and many of the AVP athletes rated it as one of their favorites (it’s the “best stop on the tour,” says several Instagram posts). Surely it will be just as fun (if different) than the AVPs in Southern California?

Wrong.

Oak Street Beach is kind of small, especially compared to LA beaches, and not only are there no volleyball courts for regular fans to play on, there isn’t even a practice court for the athletes themselves. I wasn’t planning on playing in Chicago so it wasn’t a big deal, but in my mind Hermosa or Manhattan Beach puts Oak Street to shame. I mean, yes, it was still fun to watch and it was cool to see the Chicago skyline around the courts, but I’d prefer any of the Southern California stops to Chicago.

The experience definitely made me question the judgment of those actually competing in the tournament. More significantly, it dawned on me that what holds appeal for a player may vastly differ from what appeals to fans. Perhaps, I theorized, the athletes enjoy a change of scenery from the familiar Southern California beaches, and also what Chicago has to offer versus familiar LA tour stops. Either way, lesson learned: admiration for the players on the volleyball court does not translate to blanket approval of their recommendations in other aspects of life.

• Baekjong San Jose ($50-100/person)

I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of this popular Korean BBQ chain from Southern California, and couldn’t wait to try it now that it’s finally opened. I had been several times in SoCal and always enjoyed my experience there, but alas, my recent meal at the new San Jose location fell short of the SoCal standard I was used to. First, the service was slow even though it wasn’t that busy (it was a 2 pm reservation, and the meal lasted 2 hours). Second, the pork we had was overcooked and not very good. Third, the beef was tasty, but even the server mentioned that the butcher cut the short rib too thinly, so apparently it wasn’t as good as it could have been. Overall 10 Butchers in Santa Clara was better (and had much better service).

In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter whether my expectations are reasonable or not…because if it affects my experience, it’s incumbent upon me to figure out whether I want to continue this trend of being disappointed (and blogging about it afterwards). The irony is that even a positive experience shared in my writing could inadvertently raise the bar for somebody else. A couple years ago I was waiting for a backpack to arrive, and read some comments online about how somebody said it was bigger than what they expected. Consequently, I was disappointed by how small the backpack was, but only because I was expecting a larger size based on that comment.

Just like that backpack, where one person’s pleasant surprise became my unmet expectation, it’s a reminder that expectations are personal, and sometimes it’s best to simply let them go, and savor the journey, surprises and all. It sounds easier said than done, but it’s probably worth a shot? Either way I’ll keep you posted.