The Zen of Coupon Clipping
Earlier today, I apologized to a friend that I was having trouble multitasking and I needed to take a few minutes to refresh. Unfortunately, I felt I did not have the time to spend a few minutes still, quiet and oblivous to the world around me while I collected myself. And then I saw them! Two fliers of coupons waiting to be clipped.
I convinced myself that I could take the time to sit down for ten minutes, flip through them, and cut the few that I save for future use. So I sat down in the sunlight of my bay window and began to browse. This time of year the browsing is so satisfying because of the holidays. The photos of smiling families at tables laden with scrumptious goodies waiting to be devoured reminds me of holidays at my childhood home with my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and hordes of cousins. Now, those days are gone and my cousins have their own families as do I and we are on the way to making our own traditions, and just like in our parents’ day “our family” has grown to include friends and not just the nuclear family.
And then, there are the recipes on each and every page. Every Thanksgiving we always have the tried and true recipes from my mother’s cookbook. In fact, my daughter called to make sure that she had the instructions just right so that her husband and she would be well on their way to having things ready for the oven when we arrive in Tennessee late tomorrow night.
I told her that it really wasn’t necessary for them to continue to do it “just the way Grandma did”. We really could try new recipes. She, of course, disagreed. I guess I will try the ”new” recipes on friends that aren’t as tied to my past, but part of my present between now and New Year’s Day.
And so it was that in a very small window of time cutting coupons and a short phone call from my daughter restored my equilibrium.
January 14th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Earlier today, I apologized to a friend that I was having trouble multitasking and I needed to take a few minutes to refresh. Unfortunately, I felt I did not have the time to spend a few minutes still, quiet and oblivous to the world around me while I collected myself. And then I saw them! Two fliers of coupons waiting to be clipped.I convinced myself that I could take the time to sit down for ten minutes, flip through them, and cut the few that I save for future use. So I sat down in the sunlight of my bay window and began to browse. This time of year the browsing is so satisfying because of the holidays. The photos of smiling families at tables laden with scrumptious goodies waiting to be devoured reminds me of holidays at my childhood home with my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and hordes of cousins. Now, those days are gone and my cousins have their own families as do I and we are on the way to making our own traditions, and just like in our parents
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 am
[...] So it has been pretty engraved in the minds of folks for years, and seemed to have fallen off in the 90’s but rumor has it coupons are making a comeback. A recent study by comScore, an Internet information provider that tracks consumer behavior, found that 53% of consumers say they regularly visit brand Web sites to find promotions. I admit, I still have a tendency to look for the food deals when I see them – Where have I looked? [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:27 am
[...] I thought I would take a few minutes to outline why. You probably won’t come to my site again since you made no mention of the post you linked to on your blog, so I doubt if you will see the reasons for the deletion, but I think it is important to spell it out here for myself. [...]