Let's not and say we did, or, how I didn't do my Groupon due diligence and ended up wasting $19 (except it was worth $19 not to go to Glamour Shots)

I had stopped falling for Groupon deals after letting a couple of them lapse. But one day there was a Groupon for a $19 photo shoot at Glamour Shots and I thought, "Why not? Be spontaneous!" Since I have no sweetheart and no likelihood of ever having one again, boudoir shots would be of no use to me, but I thought a new photo of me with my violin, with actual makeup and hair styling, might make me feel like less of an old hag. So I fell for it.

I got a notification that the Groupon was about to expire so I called yesterday. They said they were booked up until halfway through December. I said, "Oh, well, let me know if somebody cancels."

They called back later and said they had an appointment today at 1.

The Glamour Shots location is in Raleigh at the Crab Tree Valley Mall and I usually don't go to Raleigh unless I get paid to. Also, I've been sick in bed for four days and thus am not looking my best. But I decided to continue being spontaneous so I staggered out of bed, changed out of my pajamas into actual clothes, and then...

... finally sat down to read reviews of Glamour Shots from all over the country.

Well, this is the most uniformly grisly collection of reviews I've ever seen. I won't quote (you can find them yourself) but to summarize: the poor women who come to get boudoir shots for their husbands sit on the concrete floor in their undies; every session takes four hours or more; makeup which is "airbrushed" on (!!!) looks about as you would expect.

Why didn't I notice when I signed up for this Groupon that they would be airbrushing me?

Here's an odd thing several people mentioned: Glamour Shots cameras are set up to make you look especially blemished and wrinkly so you'll pay more to have all those blemishes airbrushed off. Hmm, this is now two levels of airbrushing, what are the chances you would end up looking like a human being?

The part that didn't worry me, because I am very tough and very cheap, is that many people who go in with $19 Groupons come out having spent multiple thousands of dollars.

For your $19 you get one picture, which takes weeks if not months to come. Oh, and you have to pay $7 to have it mailed to you.

The killer for me: if you want "ownership" of your picture, ie if you want to be able to use it on a website for instance, if you want it on a cd, it costs $140 or more. For one picture.

So I let them know I wasn't coming and forfeited my $19.

So my son said, "Well, I'll take your picture." But I objected: "I just took a shower, my hair is wet." But he reassured me: "That's OK, it will look like you're using PRODUCT."

We went out on the front porch. No makeup, no hair styling, no airbrushing, but ... it took 2 minutes and cost nothing.

In conclusion - I think it was worth $19 not to have to go to Raleigh.

Next time I will read the reviews first.

Below: a "retouching" gif my son sent on this same subject.