For once, we got the new one.

That’s right. This isn’t your slightly older cousin’s Canon Rebel. This model, the T6, has only been on the market since March of this year. So it’s got the 18MP sensor, the 9-point autofocus, the light sensitivity range of ISO 100-6400, and the 1080p video recording of the T5 we’ve sold before - plus an improved processor, a much sharper LCD, and built-in WiFi. Oh, and this kit includes the 18-55mm lens, too.

And somehow we’re still selling it for way less than everybody else. How? Because we don’t go along with Canon’s MAP pricing - the “Minimum Advertised Pricing” they enforce on all their authorized dealers.

Now, understand: it’s not that we didn’t want to be one of their authorized dealers. We tried. We ached to be one of the cool kids. We’d hang around their table in the cafeteria, skulk around their corner of the playground, really hoping they’d notice that we were wearing cool new shoes just like theirs. Then we’d realize they had already moved on to some even cooler shoes. We’d slink off home and hate ourselves for being such stupid stupid idiots who would never ever be cool.

But with each rejection, a new feeling started to grow inside us. Maybe this wasn’t worth it. If being outside their clique was so nerve-wracking, imagine how miserable it would be to be inside. To be forced to follow their stupid social rules, to worry every moment that we might run afoul of their code and lose our hard-won membership in a meaningless club. Maybe, just maybe, we were better off outside. Maybe we’d be happier just being our weird selves and not giving a shit about the cool kids, who maybe actually weren’t even that cool.

It’s a lesson we all learned decades ago in our personal lives. The weird shit that made us hopeless in-crowd wanna-bes was the same weird shit that made us unique, individual, happy, even successful as adults. We didn’t overcome our oddities. We are our oddities.

So forget it, Canon. Never mind. We’ll leave you to your entourage of hangers-on and suck-ups. But if you ever do find the strength to embrace your inner freak, you’re welcome to join us on the other side of the MAP barrier. It’s a lot more fun out here.