How many times did you reaaaally want something but just convinced yourself that it's not worth it, or that it would never work but never bothered to try? I've personally done this dozens and dozens of times…
But on the few occasions where I just said "fuck it, it costs nothing to ask", I either got what I wanted or I was very politely told it wasn't possible, but a slim chance is always better than NOTHING.
Today I just had an experience like this and it reminded me of how simple it is to ask for things and that I should do this way more often.
My company hired someone to give quick massages to all the employees. You just had to register and pick a time, but the amount of slots was limited.
I wasn't working on the day this was announced so when I got back to work and saw the email all the slots were already full. I was so disgusted because I LOVE getting massages.
Today I arrived and I thought to myself "fuck it, it costs nothing to ask", so I went up to the lady and just said that I didn't register in time and I would love it if there was still a spot available or if someone cancelled.
She said that she was fully booked but the person she was supposed to be with at that time hadn't shown up, and that if they don't come I could take their spot.
After a few minutes of small talk, the person never showed up and I did get my message. She said that was the first time someone didn't show up in the 3 full days she had been doing this so far.
Obviously I got extremely lucky but I was SO glad to have made the effort to just go and ask because I would have never been in a position to be lucky if I had just stayed at my desk mourning the bad timing.
Moral of the story : don't be scared to ask for stuff. Look at it like a free lottery ticket : the chances of winning may be slim, but the ticket is free (the worst they can say is no) so it would be stupid not to scratch it.