I turned-down a free cruise from a paint company and the rep found someone and I got his pool table , which I gave to my grandparents, and he got the cruise. It was a cruise for two and I wasn't dating anyone and I was pretty young and there were all kinds of associated costs, like the ride to the airport, a few meals, tips, gifts I might buy. Plus- I didn't really want to hang-out with gray haired hardware store owners for a week. Around the same time, I entered a contest where John Melencamp would come to your house and throw a party for 200 people. I didn't win, or I don't think I did, but MTV called and said I needed to answer the phone between 6-8 pm on the next Monday, and I made sure to not be at home. And for a few weeks, if the phone rang during those hours, I would ignore it. I had 2-3 friends, not 200, people weren't really welcome at my parents' house, and I like him now, but back then- I was not into Melencamp.